3D printing for idiots

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Is 3D printing mature enough that anyone can get a small printer and start making simple things quickly and easily?

I want to start shooting air cooled 911 engine cases with a special heat transfer, high thermal emissivity Cerakote that draws heat away from the source. Heads too of course.

Plugging all of the small holes is easy but cylinder spigot surfaces and other mating surfaces will need to be quickly and easily masked for a variety of case sizes and thought it should be relatively easy to print one-off masks for these areas.

[gtc]

Yes, assuming you are comfortable with the 3d modeling.

Curious to hear how that cerakote works for you. High emissivity is a double edged sword... it would also allow more heat to be absorbed from the nearby exhaust pipes.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

That I am not but I've been wanting to learn for years as I've posted here.

If headers, they would get wrapped. heat exchangers should be OK. Several customers who are shops think I should focus on heads and cylinders though some liked the tidy look for a show car hot rod engine case.

[unclebilly]

Yup. Buy an Ender 3 V2 amd you will be making great prints in an hour.

You can spend more but you sure don’t need to.

[dad911]

Flat surfaces? How about vinyl cutting custom masks?

I can cut vinyl and plastic print.

[fanaudical]

There are some great 3D printers that perform well out of the box.

QIDI makes some larger-size printers that perform very well. I have a few friends that have them and they all speak highly of the brand. They cost a little more but seem to be worth it. You can get a printer with multiple heads that will print PLA, TPU, ABS, etc.

[1990C4S]

In my area some of the libraries have them. Just bring your own material.

Or find someone on Craigslist to do some trial parts for you.

Make sure it works for you before you spend time and money on a machine.

[RNajarian]

Printing is one thing . . . If you can find the *.stl files you’re in business, however if you want to reproduce a broken visor clip, for example, you may need a scanner.

If a visor clip is broken and can be glued together, you scan it and print a strong replacement. I’ve tried 3D scanning a few things with my iPhone 12 with some success. In a perfect world a dedicated 3D scanner gives the most consistent results.

https://www.thingiverse.com/

When I got my printer, I was up and printing pretty quick. There are many websites out there with *.stl files, Thingverse is one of the better ones.

[dad911]

Yeggi is a search engine for STL files.

I use typically use Onshape (free) to design and make parts.

[RNajarian]

Originally Posted by dad911

Yeggi is a search engine for STL files.

I use typically use Onshape (free) to design and make parts.

Thanks for that tip! Didn’t know that. Will give it a whirl.

[1990C4S]

Apparently you can grab step files from McMaster Carr and convert them to print most items they list.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by dad911

Flat surfaces? How about vinyl cutting custom masks?

I can cut vinyl and plastic print.

Hey, thanks, I may take you up on that. Ideally I want something to plug into the case but a simple 2D mask may work. I'm looking at my 2.7 case tomorrow, that will be the test case, errr, case.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by 1990C4S

Apparently you can grab step files from McMaster Carr and convert them to print most items they list.

I think I saw that recently when shopping for some hardware. Nice feature, I love MCarr.

[island911]

Originally Posted by RNajarian

Thanks for that tip! Didn’t know that. Will give it a whirl.

Just know that whatever you design on their servers is not private, unless you pay them.

Originally Posted by Shaun @ Tru6

Is 3D printing mature enough that anyone can get a small printer and start making simple things quickly and easily?...

No.

Seems that anyone ( a whole lot of them) can't even set up a cheap ink-jet printer.

[rusnak]

How about a horizontal fan shroud for the 3.2 Carrera?

[unclebilly]

What app are you using on an iPhone to create an STL?

I use fusion360 or Solidworks to create my own or for kids toys download off thingiverse. There is a cool fly fishing reel on there you can print. It works great.

[David]

I have a Dremel printer at my house that a friend brought over for me to get it up and running since he was having trouble. It was pretty easy to get up and running even though I had no 3D printer experience. I do have Solidworks and Inventer experience and access to which is a bigger issue if you don’t have STL files to print from.

I decided to buy my own printer so I’d have bigger print area, more temperature range and more filament options than the Dremel. I bought a QIDI X-PLUS and so far have been very happy with it although I’ve only printed PLA so far.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by unclebilly

What app are you using on an iPhone to create an STL?

I use fusion360 or Solidworks to create my own or for kids toys download off thingiverse. There is a cool fly fishing reel on there you can print. It works great.

I learned on solidworks, but unfortunately no longer qualify for educational version.

Onshape is intuitively similar. Free, but yes, models are out there for other users to see and use.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by rusnak

How about a horizontal fan shroud for the 3.2 Carrera?

Not yet hobbyist technology.

You could do a non-functional scale mockup.

When I was mentoring a HS robotics team, parts under compression, like wheel spacers, would hold up well. I also printed drilling guides for them, and mockups of parts that we would later machine.

The Ender3 Pros look like a great deal for the money, and get good reviews.

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Pics of a 2.7 case. The oil return tube holes and similar are easy to fill. Ideally, printed plug-in inserts for spigots, case through bolts and head studs and their sealing surfaces would be best. Same with chainbox, oil cooler and for 3.0 and earlier, the sump plate. Even if reusable, and I think one time use is best, being able to print for a variety of cases is the key to making the job both perfect and easy. My sense is I would only do cases with all hardware removed and make some custom connecting bolts on the lathe to join the two sides and shoot as one piece. This makes squirter removal unnecessary but I would still tape them over or make a custom plug.