March 2021, Contest Topic: Your 3D Printer & Printed Items

[No_1]

March 2021, Contest Topic: Your 3D Printer & Printed Items

Show us your 3d printer as well as the items you print. Vote for the best submission who will get a Cast Boolit Bumber Sticker.

Good Luck!

[Earlwb]

OK, I'll start it off. I am using a little Monoprice Mini V2 printer. A pic of some of the things I have made so far.

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[Daekar]

I'll play. I've got a mildly-upgraded Ender 3 Pro hooked up to an ancient laptop that doubles as my reloading PC.
279378

In the last year I've printed a lot, but the things I think are most impressive-looking are:

COVID faceshield holders for local medical workers (OK, they're not impressive looking but they were important)
279379

A copy of an ancient Egyptian cat statue in bronze PLA filament that actually oxidized like real bronze:
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An articulated model of a Battletech/Mechwarrior MadCat - or Timberwolf, for you Clanner scum out there.
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My wife has given me a to-print list... which is really a design-this-in-CAD-then-print-it list. I feel like that's a victory in comparison to her eye-rolling attitude towards casting.

[wilkesevans]

Man... the Timberwolf takes me way back. Mechwarrior 2... Jade Falcon

[MOA]

I wonder what the next advancement in printing will be.

[44Blam]

I'll play. I've got a mildly-upgraded Ender 3 Pro hooked up to an ancient laptop that doubles as my reloading PC.
279378

In the last year I've printed a lot, but the things I think are most impressive-looking are:

COVID faceshield holders for local medical workers (OK, they're not impressive looking but they were important)
279379

A copy of an ancient Egyptian cat statue in bronze PLA filament that actually oxidized like real bronze:
279380

An articulated model of a Battletech/Mechwarrior MadCat - or Timberwolf, for you Clanner scum out there.
279381

My wife has given me a to-print list... which is really a design-this-in-CAD-then-print-it list. I feel like that's a victory in comparison to her eye-rolling attitude towards casting.

Back in the day I was damn good at Mech... We even played in the pods at DaveNBusters -- the Battle Tech.

[Earlwb]

I wonder what the next advancement in printing will be.

They really need better plastic filaments for 3d printing, if you want to print firearms parts. The plastics available so far aren't really suitable for printing gun parts yet. Except maybe low stress or no stress parts. I haven't tried using an expensive resin printer yet. Maybe the resins they use are better suited for gun parts. whatever that resin is thta they use to make false teeth with might do the trick. I did print up a couple of magazines, but the spring costs more than to just buy a complete plastic magazine at the store. But the 3D printed mags are only good for maybe slow firing, not for rapid fire and even then the tabs may break off.

I would like to see the plastics get to the point where we could print up scope mounts, front and rear sights, etc. That would save a lot of trouble and hassle when you need something.

There is something of a huge learning curve with 3D printers too. You have to learn to use a 3D CAD program, a 3D slicer program to create the print files with, and how to use your printer too. sometimes the 3D files work properly on one brand of printer but a little off with a different brand printer. Thus you have to tweak the 3D file some to work on your printer. It is a hobby in unto itself.

I wound up printing a ton of Warhammer 40K stuff for my son. I was mainly printing Radio Control Quadcopter parts for myself though. I used nylon, PCTPE and TPU filaments with practice runs using PLA or PLA+.

I think that the neatest thing I saw was that some 3D printers are accurate enough to print up plastic ball bearings as one unit. The ball bearings, inner and outer races all as one print not separate. Not all printers can do it though.

[Tunkkis]

They really need better plastic filaments for 3d printing, if you want to print firearms parts. The plastics available so far aren't really suitable for printing gun parts yet. Except maybe low stress or no stress parts. I haven't tried using an expensive resin printer yet. Maybe the resins they use are better suited for gun parts. whatever that resin is thta they use to make false teeth with might do the trick. I did print up a couple of magazines, but the spring costs more than to just buy a complete plastic magazine at the store. But the 3D printed mags are only good for maybe slow firing, not for rapid fire and even then the tabs may break off.

I would like to see the plastics get to the point where we could print up scope mounts, front and rear sights, etc. That would save a lot of trouble and hassle when you need something.

3D printed guns have seen a remarkable amount of development in the last three or four years, and it seems like the rate or improvement is yet accelerating. A lot of that development is fueled by Americans, so in most cases the only part that really needs to be printed is the legislated part. There are a myriad of proven designs of handgun frames and rifle lowers.
If you're European, like me, things get more complicated. The laws are much more restrictive, frames and receivers, barrels, bolts, sometimes even magazines are restricted. That's why printing is less prevalent and more important here.There are only a few fully/mostly printable guns out there. There are of course the Liberators and the Songbirds, the slightly more complicated Liberator 12k shotguns, and most importantly the semi automatic FGC-9 carbine. Then there's also the fella on Twitter working on his own printable 50 cals. Magazines are also made to get around capacity restrictions.
Oh, and most of this is done on 200$ printers cheap PLA.


There is something of a huge learning curve with 3D printers too. You have to learn to use a 3D CAD program, a 3D slicer program to create the print files with, and how to use your printer too. sometimes the 3D files work properly on one brand of printer but a little off with a different brand printer. Thus you have to tweak the 3D file some to work on your printer. It is a hobby in unto itself.

Of course there is a learning curve, there's a learning curve to anything. The thing with 3D printing is that its learning curve is much more modest than any other method of manufacturing, making it an excellent choice for home hobbyists, who want to make parts, as one-offs or quasi mass production, but can't justify machine tools or injection molding.

[HollowPoint]

I know I'm a few months late to this party but I thought I'd post a couple of pics anyway of some of the things I've managed to print after upgrading from my Creator Pro filament printer to an Epax X1 resin printer.

The photo of the printer is a generic photo. The photos of the molds I've been able to print and successfully use are my own design. I've also been able to download some of the free STL files offered on various online sites that offer such things for free.

I'm presently working on a 9mm bullet mold print. I hope to have it done or at least start on the prints by the end of this month. The hold up now is in waiting for the proper 3D print resin to come back in stock.

HollowPoint