TOPIC:

So I bought a cheap 3D printer kit from China, and this is the tread to document the build an calibration.

I'm still on the easy part of building the mechanics, I've read on forums that the calibration is the time consuming part...

I bought this for two reasons, building anD using it with my son, and hopefully print some model parts when we get there.

Today we erected the structure and connected belts with the trolleys and step motors.

Cool!
What material does it print? How expensive was it?

I've been thinking of buying a 3D printer myself. It will make it so much easier to prototype parts berfore having them cnc'd in aluminum.

Tom

AHAHAH! tamiya is always here. Same the triple key was use for the build

I bought this for around usd 250 shipped. It has a heated bed so printing in ABS is possible altough hard according to most forums I've read. The easiest to print is PLA, so that's what I will try first.

Lars

TommieG wrote:

Cool!
What material does it print? How expensive was it?

I've been thinking of buying a 3D printer myself. It will make it so much easier to prototype parts berfore having them cnc'd in aluminum.

Tom

I'll be following this thread! I've just bought a 3D printer too, the CTC makerbot replica. Yours sounds like an incredibly cheap price.
What software will you use to design your parts in?

I haven't come to 3D design SW yet, but it will probably be some freeware for starters. I have a lead on Autodesk Inventor which I used in my work many yeas ago. If that's cheap enough I might go for that.

I have no illusions regarding the price/quality relation. The printer I got is a Chinese knock-off of the Kossel Mini, but still good enough to start with, if I can calibrate it correctly....

yogi-bear wrote:

I'll be following this thread! I've just bought a 3D printer too, the CTC makerbot replica. Yours sounds like an incredibly cheap price.
What software will you use to design your parts in?

larbut wrote:

I haven't come to 3D design SW yet, but it will probably be some freeware for starters. I have a lead on Autodesk Inventor which I used in my work many yeas ago. If that's cheap enough I might go for that.

Autodesk also have one called Fusion360, its free for hobbyists and people generating under $100,000 a year from it. Thats the one I settled on as its very comprehensive. But there are mainly freeware versions out there.

larbut wrote:

I have no illusions regarding the price/quality relation. The printer I got is a Chinese knock-off of the Kossel Mini, but still good enough to start with, if I can calibrate it correctly....

Thats the great thing about these machines, even it its cheap, you can print many of your own upgrade parts, something I am in the process of doing now. Also there are heaps of places online to buy components from and usually a largish community around most printers so you can learn from other peoples problems.

One issue I didn't expect to come across was the quality of the filament. Apparently filament is prone to absorbing moisture, making it enlarge slightly and also become brittle. This can lead to poor prints and jams. The one I got was just wrapped in a very thin plastic film too, which stuck to the roll and was a pain to get off. So I now only tend to buy the vacuum sealed filament.

Here is a little gift for when you have finished the 3D printer build Should absolutely be printed in red

(PS I haven't tried it myself, but it should be close to the original, I hope)

Thanks, don't know what it is as I'm on my phone now, but it says something about hotshot...

The build is slowly moving forward. Just strated the electics, but still some to do.
Update here soon.

Naaaah, it's just a 3D model of this CRP part: