3D printers thread

[Matjy Pilulgri]

Behold the Volcanus MEGA Max! A 3D printer big enough (52x52x150) to produce a human being.

[Matjy Pilulgri]

Simple 3D printed tiny doll

[ChikkinNoodul]

I'm still saving for my first RepRap, it will probably be some DIY kit based on the Mendel design (Prusa or something similar). Might go for the Rostock or some other delta design though.

Of course, that's not just about getting a 3D printer, that is about building your own 3D printer. It might take me days or even weeks before everything is adjusted to the precision I need, but I'll learn more about 3D printing than any other way. Open source hardware, open source software.

The funny thing about RepRap 3D printers is that all the plastic parts are 3D printed, so if you come up with an improved version (or if anybody else does and publishes their design), you can just 3D print the new and improved parts and upgrade your hardware. The power source is a standard PC ATX power supply, so if you want to print ABS instead of PLA, all you need to do is get a bigger power supply, plug it in, adjust the heating in your slicing/3D printing software, and build an enclosure around the 3D printer to keep the heat inside. (Most basic RepRap designs come without a case, you need to build your own.)

EDIT: Of course there are many 3D printer makers that offer preassebled and preadjusted Reprap models. You'll pay twice as much for those, but they're ready to go when you buy them. You won't learn as much about how they work though. Also, after watching the first video, I might want a Reprap Vulcanus instead. Not a huge one, just a regular one, maybe 30x30x30cm or 40x40x40.

[Matjy Pilulgri]

Move over blocky printers, here's a 3D printer arm!

[Matjy Pilulgri]

I'm still saving for my first RepRap, it will probably be some DIY kit based on the Mendel design (Prusa or something similar). Might go for the Rostock or some other delta design though.

Of course, that's not just about getting a 3D printer, that is about building your own 3D printer. It might take me days or even weeks before everything is adjusted to the precision I need, but I'll learn more about 3D printing than any other way. Open source hardware, open source software.

The funny thing about RepRap 3D printers is that all the plastic parts are 3D printed, so if you come up with an improved version (or if anybody else does and publishes their design), you can just 3D print the new and improved parts and upgrade your hardware. The power source is a standard PC ATX power supply, so if you want to print ABS instead of PLA, all you need to do is get a bigger power supply, plug it in, adjust the heating in your slicing/3D printing software, and build an enclosure around the 3D printer to keep the heat inside. (Most basic RepRap designs come without a case, you need to build your own.)

EDIT: Of course there are many 3D printer makers that offer preassebled and preadjusted Reprap models. You'll pay twice as much for those, but they're ready to go when you buy them. You won't learn as much about how they work though. Also, after watching the first video, I might want a Reprap Vulcanus instead. Not a huge one, just a regular one, maybe 30x30x30cm or 40x40x40.

That's great to hear that someone on the doll forum is saving for a 3d printer.
I hope you are going to make dolls with them. I have too many expenses to save money for this myself.

We're almost there with everyone being able to print their own doll.

There's printer with a large enough build - Volcanus
There's a printer shaped like an arm, to make the build volume potentially infinite - MakerArm
There's the sculptify David that works with cheap pellets instead of expensive filament - Sculptify David
There are printers that are fast - Carima 4S / Carbon 3D / Gizmo 3D printers
There are printers that can print electronic circuits - Voxel 8
There are printers that can (almost) print themselves - RepRap

Put all of those together into one printer, and you have a printer that can build your own doll.
Buy a couple of Arduino's, and you can build your own robotic girlfriend.

[ChikkinNoodul]

If you have access to any 3D printer, you can 3D print all the plastic parts of the Vulcanus, since it's a RepRap project. All the other parts that you need - Arduino, stepper motors, gears, extruder head, metal parts, screws, nuts, bolts, etc. - can be bought for less than 300$ if you don't need the giant version. If you do need the giant version, however, the metal parts will be a lot more expensive. Not the stepper motors, electronics, gears, extruder, etc., since those are the same, regardless of printable volume.

It's safest to go with a thoroughly tested and working RepRap design if you want to build your own. So far, most of the popular designs are based upon the Prusa i3, which is in turn based upon the RepRap Mendel. Delta designs like the Rostock are becoming popular, but they're quite complex, and more expensive to build. The Vulcanus is a very young RepRap design, but it seems very promising.

You can't print anything really soft though, not soft enough for a nice love doll. You can get TPE filament, and you might be able to tweak the temperature and speed settings so that your 3D printer - RepRap or not - can make something halfway decent out of it, but it will still be rather firm. One thing you CAN do, however, even with standard hard plastic filament like PLA or ABS, is to build BJDs of any size, from tiny 4" ones to life size BJDs. If you use a small printer, you'll need to print out many small parts to be glued together, but that's not necessarily a problem.

If you modify the printer design to work with multiple aligned extruder heads, you might be able to print composite material objects. That way, you might interweave firmer and softer types of TPE, and use hard ABS for bones. There are already some industrial grade 3D printers which can do that, but I don't know if anybody has ever hacked a RepRap for that.

Besides, I would suggest that anybody who wants to 3D print a lot should get a filament extruder, so you can make your own filament from pellets. You can also recycle old 3D printed parts, like botched 3D print jobs, or worn out RepRap parts (always print spare parts before the ones currently in use wear out). Or even PLA yogurt cups.

[Matjy Pilulgri]

2016


2026

[DollAfficionado]

Holy crap! That printer is huge!

[Matjy Pilulgri]

Holy crap! That printer is huge!

The T3500 or the Aerosmith one? (Admittedly, they were thinking it would be achieved by cloning.)

[Soultaker781]

That huge delta printer looks awesome! I bet it's expensive though. I'm getting a 3D printer next month. It's called The Beast. They had a Kickstarter last year and you can pre-order it on their site now. It has a build volume of 18 x 17 x 27 inches which is huge. The DIY kit is about $1,900 and it's supposed to start shipping in February. It comes with 4 hot ends which lets you print 4 of the same models at the same time. Would be pretty cool to print a doll mold with this printer.

[RoadRoller]

I should be getting my Peachy Printer anytime in the next three months. It's a super cheap laser 3D printer, meaning that it solidifies liquid resin as it gets poured in a container, instead of really "printing" solid filaments. The Kickstarer campaign went extremely well but since they had to do a lot of research, the team took more or less three years to complete the project. Now it works quite fine, and at only 100$, it sounds like the best compromise between quality and price.
It's so cheap because it's made of really few parts, and the only thing that moves is the mirror that points the laser; it spins thanks to magnets, so it's also totally silent.

I will pair it with a Pixelio 3D scanner, which I should get more or less halfway this year. Another 100$ product which uses your phone camera to keep costs low, and can still produce noticeable results using Autodesk 123D Catch and a modern phone.

[DollAfficionado]

Holy crap! That printer is huge!

The T3500 or the Aerosmith one? (Admittedly, they were thinking it would be achieved by cloning.)

The T3500.

We are getting into very interesting and perhaps even dangerous territory with which the next generation will have to deal. It brings up interesting questions like what becomes of one's soul when one is cloned? I am still young enough that I might be able to able to see the end results of this technology drive even as an old fogey.

I never saw that Aerosmith video. Even though all of the "active shooter" recent mass shootings have been debunked as hoaxes, that kind of treatment of kids in school is what could lead to a real shooting.

[MannequinFan]

That huge delta printer looks awesome! I bet it's expensive though. I'm getting a 3D printer next month. It's called The Beast. They had a Kickstarter last year and you can pre-order it on their site now. It has a build volume of 18 x 17 x 27 inches which is huge. The DIY kit is about $1,900 and it's supposed to start shipping in February. It comes with 4 hot ends which lets you print 4 of the same models at the same time. Would be pretty cool to print a doll mold with this printer.

I would be careful of the printers that boast crazy large build volumes. It's mainly just a gimmick.
Just because the machine is big doesn't mean you're going to be able to print that large successfully.

Printing something very tall will take an extraordinary amount of time with a fused filament printer.
The longer a print is in the machine the greater the chances of a print failure, and unfortunately the failures always tend to be near the end after you have consumed a large amount of plastic.
To print larger parts you'll need to at least have an enclosed build area to help reduce warping and layer delamination (cracking). The larger commercial printers all have enclosed build chambers.

I guess I'm a little biased, but for $1900 I'd recommend a unit like this one...
http://afinia.com/3d-printers/h800/
It's virtually plug & play, has a 10" x 8" x 8" build volume and is fully enclosed.

JMHO, but 27" is just not a realistic size to be printing with this type of technology.

[Soultaker781]

I hear you about the bigger the print the bigger chance of failure. That also depends on what type of material you are printing with. ABS has a pretty high chance of failure. I think it would be pretty easy to make a closure for the beast though since it's bed only goes up and down and it's just a large vertical rectangle. Was going to buy some plexiglass sheets and screw them to the sides with one being on hinges so it can be opened like a door in front. I'll post some pictures of the progress of me building it and of the first test prints here in the future. We need more 3D printer stories in here.

[Axel_Fersen]

[quote="MrSingle"]Simple 3D printed tiny doll

You've got to love that our growing technology is still used to create beautiful things. The same tools that chiseled stone streets and marble buildings also created the statue of David and Archangels.