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Official 3DP Thread

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  • Official 3DP Thread

    3DP is definitely taking the hobby by storm. There are plenty of questions out there surrounding the process, quality printers, and so forth. Please feel free to ask your questions or offer your experience and any information regarding 3DP here!
    My YouTube RC videos:
    https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

  • #2
    I can't wait to learn more about this. I'd like to get a Prusa i3 MK3 for Christmas this year. I'm intrigued buy the kit version but a buddy at work has the MK2 that he built and had issues getting it calibrated.

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    • #3
      Figure we can use this thread for all things 3D printer related for the RC hobby.
      • Share your models/prints
      • printer settings
      • Slicer settings
      • printer recommendations
      • printing service requests
      • 3D modeling help
      Here are my designs. Mostly focusing on parts for the 80/90mm Freewing A-10 at the moment.


      Here is a tip:
      If you are planning on printing ABS, make any kind of enclosure to keep out drafts and increase the ambient temperature. This will greatly improve the print quality and prevent lifting of parts from the bed. I just grabbed the largest box from home depot, and added a clear pteg window to see the progress of my prints.

      I use an Original Prusa i3 MK2S. The nice part of this printer is that it is the brand that 3DLabPrint uses for making their planes. When you buy the files from their site, they provide gcodes that will work 99% on a Prusa. It makes it easy for beginners to get into printing those planes without stressing about print settings. I've printed 3 of their airframes without issues with the supplied Gcodes. Currently I am fitting out the MiG-15 with electronics as one of my winter projects. The spitfire and BF-109 was more for novelty

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      • #4
        I have been eyeballing the Creality CR-10S and considering Fusion 360 software for 3D modeling. Looking for input from the experts out there.

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        • #5
          I have absolutely no idea what you guys are talking about. MK2’s, CRs an FPS Fusions. That’s how green I’ll be to this topic. But I’m wanting to learn. LOL

          Youtube, here I come!

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          • #6
            Now we have two 3DP threads. That is how timing goes sometimes. I think it will be best to consolidate on one thread to make everyone's lives easier. I don't have a problem with either one. Just need to know which way to go.

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            • #7
              So do we consolidate here or on Dirty Dee's thread? It matters not to me but I think there should be just one thread.

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              • #8
                I didn't know there was another thread.

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                • #9
                  Yeah, Dirty Dee started one at almost the same time that Todd started this one.

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                  • #10
                    I dont mind whichever way. Though if this topic is more geared towards the 3DPUPs, then it might make sense to keep the thread I made active for the more general discussions.

                    Aros, your thoughts?

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                    • #11
                      Dirty Dee where is your thread? I couldn't find it.

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                      • #12
                        It was in the misc. RC plane chat sub-forum:
                        https://www.hobbysquawk.com/forum/rc...ng-you-name-it

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                        • #13
                          I am going to consolidate Dirty Dee's with this one just to avoid confusion...Dirty Dee I hope that's ok?
                          My YouTube RC videos:
                          https://www.youtube.com/@toddbreda

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                          • #14
                            That works for me

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                            • #15
                              DD, can you please post here what you posted on the other thread?

                              Edit: Sorry, I see you already did or maybe Todd took care of that for us?

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                              • #16
                                First question, I see the box you created to keep the ambient temp up for printing ABS. Is there a recommended minimum temp. for doing that and are there any other materials that would benefit from such? Reason I ask it that I would have to set up a printer in my basement and the ambient fluctuates with the seasons so I have thought of doing a similar thing but I may need to go a step further and rig it with some kind of heater to keep the temp. up and constant. Would also help keep it cleaner in that environment.

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                                • #17
                                  So my printer is in the basement, and it is usually the coldest in the summer since the vent is the first one off the branch, and is still cold with the vent shut to the min position. Not sure on a min recommended temp, but I measured with an IR gun that the box was helping maintain about 85 deg F in the chamber. The top of the box has an opening since the filament spool sticks a bit past the box, but I can probably extend the box by an inch or two and close off the top hole. This will probably increase the temperature easily another 5 degrees. I know people have added lights into their enclosures to act as heaters to increase the temps more, but then you are running into the environmental limits of the electronics.

                                  I honestly use it for every print regardless of material. I rarely get any lifting from the print bed now with either ABS or PLA. And yea, it helps keep the printbed and printer clean from any other projects you are doing in the area (sanding, cutting, etc)

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                                  • #18
                                    Awesome! Thanks. So any recommendations on printers, slicers, 3D software. Filament brands or materials? Maybe things to avoid?

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                                    • #19
                                      Ready to learn something new here! Thanks! :Cool:

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                                      • #20
                                        Probably one of the first things to talk about is the process or steps involved. There may be more information here than needed or wanted and if so, just tell me

                                        1. Design your part
                                        Autocads Fusion3D is a good place to start. You can get a free student license. I use Solidworks, mainly because its available to me through work. For most people its not an option because each installation is around 15K. There are many free 3D cad programs out there, the difference is features and ease of use. It has to be able to save the part as an .STL file. STL is the file format that was chosen for 3D printing. Its not ideal, but was the best one available. It basically renders your part as a collection of triangles of different sizes. Most Cad programs allow you to save the file at different resolutions. If you were to print a cylinder, the outside edge or circular portion would be collection of flat spots or facets all around the perimeter. The number of facets correspond to the degree resolution of your STL file. so if you want a very smooth perfect circle, you can opt for a very high resolution. But as the saying goes "you don't get anything for free", with increased resolution comes increased file sizes which can choke your slicer program which is my next topic. I'll do a separate post on things to consider when designing your part for 3D printing. Recognizing the limitations of STL, the 3D printing consortium is defining a new file format standard just for 3D printing(.3MF). It is not widely supported at this time but will be in the future.
                                        2. Import your STL into your slicer.
                                        The slicer is what takes your STL file and creates what is called a gcode file. Gecode comes from the machining industry and is a collection x,y & z movements for your printer as well as some additional added commands for extruder temp and feed rates. The slicer is probably the most important piece of software because it has all the setup information for your printer. The most commonly used is Cura. Its free and has a pretty comprehensive list of supported printers. If yours is listed, then it makes your job easier. Its not the end of the world if your printer is not listed, it just means you will have to enter configuration information manually. Another slicer program is Simplify3D. You have to pay for this one(149.00). The main difference between the two is the number of knobs you can turn or level of customization you have to get a good print. Believe me, you need a lot of knobs. The slicer is where you decide things like vertical resolution & percent fill. The vertical resolution is more of an aesthetic thing except for small parts where you might want the high resolution. i print almost all at medium, which is .2mm per layer. Keep in mind print time is a major consideration. The higher the resolution, the longer the print. Doubling the resolution doubles the print time. Even at medium, i routinely have prints that take 12 to 24 hours to print. The other consideration is fill. This is where you have to decide how strong you want the part. Open areas within the part are filled with a honeycomb or crosshatch pattern. For airplanes, you would want as low as possible because of weight. I usually use 25 % unless i need a really strong part. Keep in mind that percent fill directly impacts print time. Almost all decisions of this type are compromises.
                                        3. Determine the orientation of your part on the build platform. This is important and goes along with how to design your part. if you have a part that has a raised portion with a 90 degree overhang 25mm up from the build platform for example, your printer cannot extrude plastic over thin air. When you process your part for printing, the slicer will examine your part and anywhere it sees overhangs greater than some degree it will add thin supports from the build platform up to the overhang. The supports will be loosely attached to your part and when you detach from the build platform, you break off the supports. You can see that you want to orientate you part such that you minimize the number of supports necessary. Supports waste plastic but more importantly increase print time.
                                        4. Finally, you can press "PRINT" and hope for the best. I'll get into all the things that can go wrong later "and there's quite a few".

                                        Thats all for now. I have to get some work done. Ill discuss printer features next.

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