My 3D Printer Needs a Vacation

[gpraceman]

My 3D printer has been getting a workout as I am getting started in this hobby. Most all of these were from STL files that I found via yeggi.com. Though, the oiler stand and the oil storage box are custom. Others designs received minor tweaks.

EDIT:  I basically had a lot of time to kill waiting on my Cousins order with my tools the get going in this hobby, so I had to occupy my time somehow.  The order sat for two weeks in the UK before finally showing up in the US.

Edited March 14, 2023 by gpraceman

[JohnR725]

Unless you 3-D printer belongs to a union or something it hasn't worked hard enough to take a vacation yet. It doesn't even look like you've gone through a whole spool Of filament yet. Out of curiosity which 3-D printer do you have?

[gpraceman]

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:16 PM, JohnR725 said:

Unless you 3-D printer belongs to a union or something it hasn't worked hard enough to take a vacation yet. It doesn't even look like you've gone through a whole spool Of filament yet. Out of curiosity which 3-D printer do you have?

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Oh, you haven't seen my waste basket with the parts that I scrapped. lol  This was all using ABS filament, which was new to me, so there was a bit of a learning curve.  I also tried some things, tweaked the design and reprinted them.  I printed that oils storage box in black, because I used up the purple spool.

I have an Ender 3 Pro that I added a bunch of upgrades to.

Edited March 14, 2023 by gpraceman

[kd8tzc]

I don't know a lot about 3D printers, so I could be off base here, but doesn't the material for the 3D printer cost a bunch?  Meaning, are you saving money making this vs buying some of these?  Don't get me wrong, I think it is cool as can be, but I always though the "stuff" you use to print with a 3D printer was pricey (I honestly have no idea though).

[gpraceman]

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:27 PM, kd8tzc said:

I don't know a lot about 3D printers, so I could be off base here, but doesn't the material for the 3D printer cost a bunch?  Meaning, are you saving money making this vs buying some of these?  Don't get me wrong, I think it is cool as can be, but I always though the "stuff" you use to print with a 3D printer was pricey (I honestly have no idea though).

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It was $17 for a 1 Kg spool of ABS.  That goes a long way.  Many parts cost very little to print, like $1 or less.

Edited March 14, 2023 by gpraceman

[JohnR725]

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:27 PM, kd8tzc said:

but doesn't the material for the 3D printer cost a bunch?

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It depends on a variety of factors like which filament. Or I used to be really cheap I was buying it from somebody who had distressed filament as I would call it would come in a large box because the spool broke when they were spooling it and now it's in a large box it just requires untangling and putting back on the spool. Or their places that will sell filament their closing out a bargain price.

For instance a regular Amazon right now take a quick look my rule used to be $20 a kilo for a spool looks like you can still do that. Some is a little more sums a little less it's gone up a little because plastics have gone up in price. Often times if they're closing it out some  some places you can buy it for in between 10 and $20 a kilo depending upon how lucky you are or how fast you are to the sale

Then there are YouTube videos that claim you can recycle your own filament. Otherwise you end up with boxes and boxes of calibration cubes things it didn't print and other stuff.

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:27 PM, kd8tzc said:

3D printer was pricey

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I suppose you look at the cost of the printer the cost of electricity because reprinting with ABS you have to have a heated bed you look at computer resource time people time and a lot of other time yes it might be cheaper to buy ads but you can't get a customized. Plus you lose out on the fun of 3-D printers.

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:29 PM, gpraceman said:

It was $17 for a 1 Kg spool of ABS. 

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So basically exactly what I'm saying an excellent price for a kilo filament. When you're printing typically everything is hollow sort of it has a support structure but none of the solid objects are actually solid. The support structure makes them very strong without being solid. So a spool a filament can conceivably go an extremely long time. Once you get everything dialed in and all is miscellaneous interesting Problems go away.

 

[Neverenoughwatches]

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:29 PM, gpraceman said:

It was $17 for a 1 Kg spool of ABS.  That goes a long way.  Many parts cost very little to print, like $1 or less.

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Is the plastic ok to use with solvents ?

[gpraceman]

  On 3/14/2023 at 9:13 PM, JohnR725 said:

It depends on a variety of factors like which filament. Or I used to be really cheap I was buying it from somebody who had distressed filament as I would call it would come in a large box because the spool broke when they were spooling it and now it's in a large box it just requires untangling and putting back on the spool. Or their places that will sell filament their closing out a bargain price.

For instance a regular Amazon right now take a quick look my rule used to be $20 a kilo for a spool looks like you can still do that. Some is a little more sums a little less it's gone up a little because plastics have gone up in price. Often times if they're closing it out some  some places you can buy it for in between 10 and $20 a kilo depending upon how lucky you are or how fast you are to the sale

Then there are YouTube videos that claim you can recycle your own filament. Otherwise you end up with boxes and boxes of calibration cubes things it didn't print and other stuff.

I suppose you look at the cost of the printer the cost of electricity because reprinting with ABS you have to have a heated bed you look at computer resource time people time and a lot of other time yes it might be cheaper to buy ads but you can't get a customized. Plus you lose out on the fun of 3-D printers.

So basically exactly what I'm saying an excellent price for a kilo filament. When you're printing typically everything is hollow sort of it has a support structure but none of the solid objects are actually solid. The support structure makes them very strong without being solid. So a spool a filament can conceivably go an extremely long time. Once you get everything dialed in and all is miscellaneous interesting Problems go away.

 

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I pay about $19 to $22 for a kg of PLA+ that I have been getting, so I was surprised to see that the ABS was less expensive.

  On 3/14/2023 at 9:15 PM, Neverenoughwatches said:

Is the plastic ok to use with solvents ?

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Depends on the solvent.  ABS does have good chemical and heat resistance.  The worst that I am going to hit it with is IPA and eventually commercial watch cleaner.

I found this chart.

Rating: 

A – Resists very well. Polymer does not melt, absorb substance, or swell during a week’s immersion (less than 1% change in weight and dimensions).

B – Resists moderately to well. Slight swelling or change in weight (2 – 3% change in weight or dimensions). 

C – Resists poorly. Significant swelling and change in weight of the test sample (4-5% change in weight or dimensions) occurs with prolonged exposure of the polymer.

D – Does not resist. A red colour indicates a significant change in weight, severe swelling (change in weight or dimensions over 5%) or complete destruction of the fibre (2). 

Data for the evaluation of polymers were obtained from our measurements under laboratory conditions and from a scientific publication (1)

Edited March 14, 2023 by gpraceman

[LittleWatchShop]

  On 3/14/2023 at 8:21 PM, gpraceman said:

Oh, you haven't seen my waste basket with the parts that I scrapped.

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My scraps go into a box...the "box of shame."

 

  On 3/14/2023 at 9:18 PM, gpraceman said:

Depends on the solvent. 

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Several years ago, I printed a gas cap for one of my poly gas cans.  Today!!  I was filling the can and discovered that the cap was crumbling.  It was printed with PLA.  I am not sure if the crumbling was due to the gasoline or the sun...as it gets a lot of sun.

  On 3/14/2023 at 9:18 PM, gpraceman said:

The worst that I am going to hit it with is IPA and eventually commercial watch cleaner.

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I have done a little testing with PLA and L&R amoniated cleaner.  No sign of interaction.  Limited experiment.

[gpraceman]

Added another one to the bunch. To aid in pressing the hands on squarely.

[JohnR725]

  On 3/14/2023 at 11:30 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

My scraps go into a box...the "box of shame."

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Yes the box of souvenirs. Somewhere seen on one of the YouTube channels a suggestion that you could recycle the box of shame or souvenirs.  but that does bring up the problem of if you're printing with a variety of filaments different types then you can't really recycle but if you're printing with specifically one type conceivably you could recycle. Then a course there's the other amusing problem of typically you might be printing with different colors over time. 

  On 3/14/2023 at 11:30 PM, LittleWatchShop said:

Several years ago, I printed a gas cap for one of my poly gas cans.  Today!!  I was filling the can and discovered that the cap was crumbling.  It was printed with PLA.  I am not sure if the crumbling was due to the gasoline or the sun...as it gets a lot of sun.

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One of the interesting things with filaments are what exactly are they? A couple years ago a 3-D printer group came into existence in Seattle looks quite promising with  quite a few people coming to the meeting we had several of them and then they disappeared as fast as they came into existence? But during one of the meetings they had somebody from one of the filament manufacturing companies and he was explaining how the letters only referred to a substance or a chemical basically. Or simplistically every different filament manufacture will use or can use different quantities of each of the substances meaning of that they can be some variation I'm guessing in how well they hold up to chemicals.

Oh and that little difference of properties is why  if you're changing the different filaments brands especially if you're looking for the cheapest they all have slightly different printing properties because of the chemical makeup's not being identical.

[Fralex]

Wow, your 3D-printed watch cleaning machine looks great. Used cleaning machines are impossible to find where I live, and new ones from Elma cost more than I make in a year. That puts hobbyists like me at a real disadvantage, so I have to clean everything with little brushes and lighter fluid

I will also try to make my own cleaning machine in the near future. I have no technical knowledge nor a 3D printer so I will have to improvise.

Lo and behold my preliminary plan for a DIY watch cleaning machine

P.S. It was not drawn by a kid

[gpraceman]

  On 3/15/2023 at 10:25 PM, Fralex said:

Wow, your 3D-printed watch cleaning machine looks great. Used cleaning machines are impossible to find where I live, and new ones from Elma cost more than I make in a year. That puts hobbyists like me at a real disadvantage, so I have to clean everything with little brushes and lighter fluid

I will also try to make my own cleaning machine in the near future. I have no technical knowledge nor a 3D printer so I will have to improvise.

Lo and behold my preliminary plan for a DIY watch cleaning machine

P.S. It was not drawn by a kid

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Sometimes you've just got to work with what's handy.  Seems possible.  How would you raise the basket out of the jar?  Maybe some way to raise and lower it vertically.

[Fralex]

  On 3/16/2023 at 5:19 AM, gpraceman said:

Sometimes you've just got to work with what's handy.  Seems possible.  How would you raise the basket out of the jar?  Maybe some way to raise and lower it vertically.

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I was thinking to leave enough clearance between the cleaning basket and the bottom of the jar so that when I press the button to release the mixer beaters, the rod (and basket attached to it) will be lowered in the jar so both of them can be removed (together with the jar). 

Edited March 16, 2023 by Fralex

[gpraceman]

  On 3/16/2023 at 1:25 PM, Fralex said:

I was thinking to leave enough clearance between the cleaning basket and the bottom of the jar so that when I press the button to release the mixer beaters, the rod (and basket attached to it) will be lowered in the jar so both of them can be removed (together with the jar). 

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If you can raise and lower it vertically, you can pull the basket up out of the liquid but still inside the jar and then spin off as much liquid as you can.  This will keep your rinses cleaner for longer.

[gpraceman]

I've added some other things to the collection.

Redesigned the tweezers stand to make some other tools handy.

On my workstation there was a keyboard tray that was doing me no good.  Then I discovered the Gridfinity storage system.  This seemed like a great solution to use that space to keep certain tools and supplies handy.   I printed up all sorts of bins and customized holders to fit into the base grid.  As my needs change, I can rearrange, add, and remove bins.

[djbenefit]

Here’s mine!

[gpraceman]

  On 4/6/2023 at 4:54 PM, djbenefit said:

Here’s mine!

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Looks like a good collection.  Do I spy some Gridfinity bins?  I like that parts tray in the tin.

[djbenefit]

My whole house is decked out in Gridfinity!

That tin is an altoids container.  It works great for movement parts.  

[gpraceman]

  On 4/6/2023 at 9:55 PM, djbenefit said:

My whole house is decked out in Gridfinity!

That tin is an altoids container.  It works great for movement parts.  

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This is my first use of that system.  It's perfect for making useful storage in an otherwise useless space.

Altoids container.  I like that idea.