It's good to see so many using 3d software.

[gnappi]

I've been thinking of an entry level 3D printer, and as a long time dyed in the wool Linux user my software choices may be a bit more limited than Win users but it's a small sacrifice to not have to be using MS stuff anymore.

That said, I started diddling with Blender and as an ex-programmer I REALLY find it hard to believe that coders STILL setup program defaults as if they had an 8086 processor, 32k of RAM and a 10 megabyte drive.

Egads, NOT enabling reading .stl files (and having to import) and 3d printing? No info on how to enable / configure specific printers? With enormously fast processors today, several gigs of RAM in the typical PC and terrabytes of hard drive space?

Rant off

I just started struggling with Blender and will hope to find it works out before investing in a printer.

[Rcmaveric]

I am long time linux user aswell. I use FreeCAD to design. Cura to slice. Both run native. If you need to interface with the printer to trouble shoot or calibrate, use Pronterface or Pronsole (bundle package, Pronsole is just a terminal version with no GUI). Also native Linux. If you need to write firmware VSCode is native and if you need to flash bootloaders, Arduino IDE is also linux native. I have been doing this for a few years and this what i have settled on.

I felt Blender is more model orientated and was having a hard time making mechanical things. FreeCAD has parametric bindings in an excell style format. So if my tolerances are off, i can just change one number in the sheet and it updates the whole model. FreeCAD is what i primarily use. Used TinkerCAD for about a year and half. Its CAD with training wheels. I have since redisigned all my models in FreeCAD. Its good practic.

You can use an older computer but once your model get complex, the low performance shows. My new gaming computer now does in 15 seconds what used to take my 13 year old computer 15 minutes. Lessons learned on complex models lol.

For printers, cant go wrong with any of the Creality printers. I have an Ender 3 and Ender 5. Sales are pretty regularl. Just jeep an eye out on Banggood, Aliexpress, Amazon and other sights. Two of those sites are Chinese but its cheaper to order it straight from them. Most have a local warehouse. Only upgrades i make is a silent main board and BLTOUCH (because i suck at bed leveling). I am big fan of Bigtreetech mother boards and parts.


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[bangerjim]

I have found (owning 2) that 3D printers are a basic waste of copious amounts of personal time. I have always found 3D software rather difficult to use. That is why I rely on the engineering team in my engineering firm I own to handle that sort of project generation. This has NOTHING to do with boolits, guns, molds, gun parts, but rather large industrial construction projects and control panel fabrication. Once they have all that carp done, I review and approve the final project drawings generated.

Once you have the 3D model completed in the 3D software you choose, you need to strain it thru a slicing program into a language your specific printer recognizes. It slices the model into many single layers for the extruding head of the printer to follow.

Once that is done, you sit back, and adjust the various software parameters of the specific printer (generally taking at least 6-7 tries to get it exactly right for that object your trying to produce). Then........(pant, pant).......finally you go to the PRINT function and go away for 10-25+ hours to wait for the printer to complete it's assigned monotonous tasks.

Not for me.

If I need a part, i use my 4 milling machines and 5 metal lathes to make the part...in metal, wood, or plastic! Finished with perfectly smooth surfaces.................in a couple of hours or so. 3D printed objects can and do require a significant amount of manual clean-up to be presentable/usable.

3D printers for REAL life for personal use are not ready for prime time yet. Just like all electric cars and total solar/wind power grids.

Just my observations/2¢ worth over the past 3 years.

Do what you want and what ever "floats your boat".

Good luck in your quest for personal 3D printing tasks.

bangerjim

[dverna]

I have found (owning 2) that 3D printers are a basic waste of copious amounts of personal time. I have always found 3D software rather difficult to use. That is why I rely on the engineering team in my engineering firm I own to handle that sort of project generation. This has NOTHING to do with boolits, guns, molds, gun parts, but rather large industrial construction projects and control panel fabrication. Once they have all that carp done, I review and approve the final project drawings generated.

Once you have the 3D model completed in the 3D software you choose, you need to strain it thru a slicing program into a language your specific printer recognizes. It slices the model into many single layers for the extruding head of the printer to follow.

Once that is done, you sit back, and adjust the various software parameters of the specific printer (generally taking at least 6-7 tries to get it exactly right for that object your trying to produce). Then........(pant, pant).......finally you go to the PRINT function and go away for 10-25+ hours to wait for the printer to complete it's assigned monotonous tasks.

Not for me.

If I need a part, i use my 4 milling machines and 5 metal lathes to make the part...in metal, wood, or plastic! Finished with perfectly smooth surfaces.................in a couple of hours or so. 3D printed objects can and do require a significant amount of manual clean-up to be presentable/usable.

3D printers for REAL life for personal use are not ready for prime time yet. Just like all electric cars and total solar/wind power grids.

Just my observations/2¢ worth over the past 3 years.

Do what you want and what ever "floats your boat".

Good luck in your quest for personal 3D printing tasks.

bangerjim

DAMN,

I wish you had not posted that. Your thoughts on 3D have been my feeling for a long time; but then when I saw what the guys on the Bullet Collator thread accomplished I started thinking maybe I had been too negative.

[Handloader109]

It all depends on what you want to accomplish. I bought cheap entry level $200 machine several years back. Used to a lot, but was always struggling with it. Designed a simple 3 piece device for my laser and found I could sell. I bought a new Prusa mk3s and it just prints. I use petg as it is way stronger for my parts than pla. and so far, after selling over 300 of these over 2 years, ,no one has asked for refund or broken one.
It still can be a pain when I print something new, but I print a LOT of jigs for my lasers. The Prusa is accurate, I usually print once and jig works, parts fit. The machine has paid for itself with just making jigs. I actually use Shapr3d, an iPad program that has recently introduced a windows version. Totally different manner of creating designs, which I actually like. You can get free version but it restricts number of designs you can save and quality of exported stls. 3d printing isn't prime time for a lot of things.. I'll sure give that the BangerJim. but it has its place.

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[GWS]

I have found (owning 2) that 3D printers are a basic waste of copious amounts of personal time. I have always found 3D software rather difficult to use. That is why I rely on the engineering team in my engineering firm I own to handle that sort of project generation. This has NOTHING to do with boolits, guns, molds, gun parts, but rather large industrial construction projects and control panel fabrication. Once they have all that carp done, I review and approve the final project drawings generated.

Once you have the 3D model completed in the 3D software you choose, you need to strain it thru a slicing program into a language your specific printer recognizes. It slices the model into many single layers for the extruding head of the printer to follow.

Once that is done, you sit back, and adjust the various software parameters of the specific printer (generally taking at least 6-7 tries to get it exactly right for that object your trying to produce). Then........(pant, pant).......finally you go to the PRINT function and go away for 10-25+ hours to wait for the printer to complete it's assigned monotonous tasks.

Not for me.

If I need a part, i use my 4 milling machines and 5 metal lathes to make the part...in metal, wood, or plastic! Finished with perfectly smooth surfaces.................in a couple of hours or so. 3D printed objects can and do require a significant amount of manual clean-up to be presentable/usable.

3D printers for REAL life for personal use are not ready for prime time yet. Just like all electric cars and total solar/wind power grids.

Just my observations/2¢ worth over the past 3 years.

Do what you want and what ever "floats your boat".

Good luck in your quest for personal 3D printing tasks.

bangerjim

No, probably not for you. But for the rest of us who don't have lathes, mills, machine shops, 3d printers are wonderful. Great enablers for many who don't have your options.

The learning curve isn't as easy as some things.....but way easier than learning to use your equipment.....people go to school for that.

For me the first project was making a T-Rex skull for my Grandson. It didn't take 6 tries, just one.....and I got the files on Thingiverse.



For "my" design projects I either use Autocad, or the free DesignSpark Mechanical, if I want to share with TylerR's Bullet Feeder project. As far as "6 tries", maybe that's common for most at first, but only while on the short learning curve getting comfortable with your printer and slicer. Curve is way shorter than learning to machine steel, like your company does.

3D printing plastic is good for two things....prototyping, and hobby recreation. Not really made for manufacturing to sell.

Second "big" print was for another Grandson, this year.....an early Christmas present.....



As for my own toys......4 collators for bullet and cases....5 bullet feeding dies that work as good as anything manufactured. LED lighting systems for my progressive presses, and that's only in the first 16 months. Floats my boat just fine......and btw, the printing time is long, but I don't have to watch it happen, I'm busy at other things I do, with wife and family and work......and it's faster and way cheaper than buying commercial products and waiting for them to ship.

I only write this, to encourage people who may be discouraged by your post. We are not all machinists with factories.

I'm a building designer and builder of nearly 48 years. I hear they build buildings with 3D printers. Obviously not with the kind printers we can buy, and I'm as skeptical as you are about 3d printers that attempt to machine.......but who knows....maybe it'll take off some day....3D printing with steel? A bit far out now, but who knows?

[HollowPoint]

For each stated goal there are multiple ways of arriving at a successful conclusion. From a hobbyist's point of view perhaps, there are many more options for arriving at ultimate success. From a purely business and manufacture perspective where the goal is producing as quickly and cost effectively as possible, the options may be slightly more limited.

Although I'm a hobbyist first and foremost, I do own metal working machines including a CNC mill. Since delving into 3D printing, I've found that I can reach my goals a bit faster with my 3D printers than with my CNC mill for fabricating prototypes. On top of that there is some internal geometry I can achieve through 3D printing that I could never achieve using traditional milling operations.

In fact, I've just recently decided to sell my CNC mill and just get a smaller-footprint manual vertical mill to replace it with. This will allow me to invest in a larger format 3D printer and further my aspirations of success with some of other design ideas I hope to tackle in the near future.

I believe I stated the following in one of my ongoing project threads here on the 3D print pages already but, "I do NOT believe for a minute that 3D printing will be replacing traditional machining within my lifetime as the go-to means of fabricating ever-evolving ideas but, I am one-hundred percent sure that 3D printing is here to stay."

In the same way that conventional machining has evolved into what it is today, (and continues to evolve) 3D printing will begin to catch up with and possibly overtake machining as the go-to method of industrial advancement in the not-too-distant future. Perhaps not in mine or your lifetime but it is coming.

HollowPoint

[kingrj]

3D printing is very useful in the shooting sports! You design a part..print it..if it fits then have the part CNC's from metal...Was able to make a scope base for a pistol that was NOT available anywhere else..I use FreeCad as well bye-the-way....

[uscra112]

@bangerjim - I'm in your corner. By the time CAD became the rule rather than the exception, I was in management, and simply hired a CAD mechanic whenever I needed one. In consequence I never learned CAD, not even 2D, never mind 3D.

OK, not quite as bad as all that. I inherited a copy of Anvil1k in 1993, which I can find my way around in. But at my age, (77), I'll let the grandkids muck about in 3D. One of them is already armpit deep in printers, at the age of 16 no less. If I need anything "printed", I'll farm it out to him.

[FishHunter357]

I've taken many a courses in drafting and 3D modeling in the current 3D modeling programs like SolidWorks and Autodesk Inventor and use them on a daily basis for work. They are very easy achieve high tolerance 3D prints from but there is also such thing as design for 3D printing. I design a lot of prints for production equipment and parts that see high stresses that are 3d printed in plastic and metal. I couldn't imagine trying to do that in something programming based as you mentioned. Onshape is free and seems to be very close to Inventor. I would think you would get the hang of it quickly since you're able to program the other type. I have it on my Motorola phone and PC.

[pworley1]

Some things just need to be made by mill and lathe, the way that I do it, and some things are just as good or better printed. I can see the place for both.