My Adventures in 3D Printing

I discovered yesterday I missed a part for the bunker bomb. Not a complex part but I was able to hollow it, drill a couple drain holes and slice it in about five minutes.

(the program produces plugs for the holes automatically now too)

The new version is running as I would expect it now. It may be worth consideration at this point
 
A few weeks ago, AnyCubic announced their latest FDM printer, the Vyper - [Pre-order]Vyper

I was lucky enough to snag one at their early bird pricing, and as originally advertised, they've started shipping! Mine should arrive later in the week.

Being my first FDM printer, I would like to experiment with some of the filaments. The Vyper does PLA, TPU, ABS, PETG, and Wood (is there really wood filament?).

Does anyone have any recommendations on which brands to get, or perhaps, which ones to avoid? I'd like to pick up a spool of each and try them out.

Sean
 
It's plastic with wood dust so it looks like wood. Like a cold cast of wood instead of metal.

PLA for the winner and it's biodegradable.
 
I ordered PLA+ from Amazon at a great price, but realized that it is far more flexible than I wanted. Sure, it's good if your object is meant to be flexible, but if it's meant to be stiff like a wall, it doesn't work.

Most printers can handle many filaments, including carbon fiber, but the nozzle should be upgraded to stainless steel if you're going to be printing a filament than can wear down brass nozzles.

TazMan2000
 
Also the teflon tube, at higher degrees while using, for example, ABS, it can produce very toxic fumes. You're okay with PLA at around 190-200°C. ABS melts around 220-250°C which is dangerous for the teflon.
 
I certainly hate it when companies use images like this to market their product. I know they have to show the build size, but they should show it with an object that it printed out...supports and all. The printer just looks like a display stand for any object you had lying on the floor.
Also, if you go to the Anycubic page, the two 5 star reviews are from persons who received this printer for free. Who wouldn't give a great review for something for free? But it seems to be a nice printer for the price point with all the features.


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TazMan2000
 
A few weeks ago, AnyCubic announced their latest FDM printer, the Vyper - [Pre-order]Vyper

I was lucky enough to snag one at their early bird pricing, and as originally advertised, they've started shipping! Mine should arrive later in the week.

Being my first FDM printer, I would like to experiment with some of the filaments. The Vyper does PLA, TPU, ABS, PETG, and Wood (is there really wood filament?).

Does anyone have any recommendations on which brands to get, or perhaps, which ones to avoid? I'd like to pick up a spool of each and try them out.

Sean

I am pretty much exclusively using esun PLA plus right now. I've used it for the props I built for the new Blomkamp flick, and for props I'm making for the new Will Kaufman flick as well. It's very durable stuff. You may have to experiment with the settings on your new machine to find the right temp, but for the Creality CR-10 I'm using I cook the PLA at 205, and my bed temp is set at 60. I don't have auto leveling. Kinda jealous about that, though I don't have to level the bed too darn often. It stays level for several prints.

I've used hatchbox, sainsmart (which I really like), CC3D, and TTYT PLA's with success. I avoid Priline PLA as I've gotten tangles, had it not stick to the bed well, and also not stick to itself well. I had one print that looked great, but broke apart extremely easily. The layers just didn't adhere.

I've only ever used PLA, and PLA plus in my machine.
 
What's everyones thought on Safety with regards to SLA resin printers?

I've just recently got an Anycubic Photon Mono X which I have in a workshop on the far side of the house. It has an open window right above it, I run a couple of the Elegoo air purifiers inside the hood when it's running and I have a Philips air purifier for the room. Obviously I handle everything with nitrile gloves until the resin has been UV cured and I where a respirator and glasses when handling/pouring the resin into the vat and back into bottles and when moving the prints over to the wash/cure station.

I asked the same question on a thread on Facebook and a couple of the guys were like "Don't have it in your house at all", "It's industrial chemicals that are super deadly" etc etc. But then I see like Adam Savage (all hail the Savage) and Norm printing in what look like normal rooms (I think Norm has a room in his house for printing), and I'm really confused now as to what level of safety I'm supposed to take for resin printing?

Any thoughts would be welcome!
 
I certainly hate it when companies use images like this to market their product. I know they have to show the build size, but they should show it with an object that it printed out...supports and all. The printer just looks like a display stand for any object you had lying on the floor.
Also, if you go to the Anycubic page, the two 5 star reviews are from persons who received this printer for free. Who wouldn't give a great review for something for free? But it seems to be a nice printer for the price point with all the features.


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TazMan2000
Agreed on the photo! As far as reviews go, they just started shipping these, so I expect more reviews will be posted as folks start receiving theirs.

What's everyones thought on Safety with regards to SLA resin printers?

I've just recently got an Anycubic Photon Mono X which I have in a workshop on the far side of the house. It has an open window right above it, I run a couple of the Elegoo air purifiers inside the hood when it's running and I have a Philips air purifier for the room. Obviously I handle everything with nitrile gloves until the resin has been UV cured and I where a respirator and glasses when handling/pouring the resin into the vat and back into bottles and when moving the prints over to the wash/cure station.

I asked the same question on a thread on Facebook and a couple of the guys were like "Don't have it in your house at all", "It's industrial chemicals that are super deadly" etc etc. But then I see like Adam Savage (all hail the Savage) and Norm printing in what look like normal rooms (I think Norm has a room in his house for printing), and I'm really confused now as to what level of safety I'm supposed to take for resin printing?

Any thoughts would be welcome!
I have my Mono X near a window and it seems to be enough to handle the fumes. The AnyCubic resin definitely has a smell, but it’s not terrible. Conversely, I’ve been experimenting with some Siraya Tech resin and that stuff stinks!

I handle everything with nitrile gloves. I consider myself pretty neat, but the resin gets everywhere.

Sounds like you’re pretty well covered, IMHO!

Following up on my previous post, I ordered a spool of each filament type from Amazon. I went a variety of Amazon Basics and Overture brands. Will report back on how they work!

Sean
 
Been messing around with Siraya Tech’s Tenacious resin, which is designed to be very flexible.

The objective is to determine an optimal mix ratio with a standard or ABS-like resin for my upcoming Mando build that will give the armor a bit of flex. This is a Mando hip plate scaled to 50% printed entirely in Tenacious. Pretty impressive stuff!

Sean
 
What's everyones thought on Safety with regards to SLA resin printers?

I've just recently got an Anycubic Photon Mono X which I have in a workshop on the far side of the house. It has an open window right above it, I run a couple of the Elegoo air purifiers inside the hood when it's running and I have a Philips air purifier for the room. Obviously I handle everything with nitrile gloves until the resin has been UV cured and I where a respirator and glasses when handling/pouring the resin into the vat and back into bottles and when moving the prints over to the wash/cure station.

I asked the same question on a thread on Facebook and a couple of the guys were like "Don't have it in your house at all", "It's industrial chemicals that are super deadly" etc etc. But then I see like Adam Savage (all hail the Savage) and Norm printing in what look like normal rooms (I think Norm has a room in his house for printing), and I'm really confused now as to what level of safety I'm supposed to take for resin printing?

Any thoughts would be welcome!
I had a lot of reservations about resin due to so many complaints about the smell.

I can confirm it is way out of proportion to reality.

If you look at previous posts of mine, you will see I was going to put this thing out on the floor, rather than in the inspection room, due to the smell.

Well, someone (possibly in this thread) said the alcohol smell is stronger than the resin, and for Elegoo brand at least, that is absolutely true.

Wear gloves, glasses and unless well ventilated, a respirator. Put the paper towels down on the bench before you do anything. Get a printer without an exhaust fan for the printing chamber. My Mars 2 (non-pro) is a pro without the fan. One user (also possibly in this thread) said when the pro stops printing the fan keeps going, so it pumps the stink into the room. Mine does not smell at all until I open the lid to remove the object(s) or add more resin.

I’m washing with denatured alcohol which is a less offensive smell than reagent grade isopropyl. But I do use the latter for final cleaning of the film.

I clean my build plate with acetone and I think that really helps keep things stuck.
 
I got an Elgoo Mars and got my feet wet with that. Pretty inexpensive and produced great results. Then I bought the Phenom L. The results I’ve produced since then are beyond belief. This thing is a workhorse that’s just dead reliable and works. I like the larger prints, so it was a no brained to go big on a printer. As an example here’s a 1/1 Vision with zero post processing.
 

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Dude, so jealous!

After I cut my teeth on the Mono X, the first thing I wanted was a bigger printer to do full helmets and armor.

Maybe someday, but in the meantime, I’ll drool over that Vision print…

Sean
 
Finally got the Anycubic Wash and Cure Plus unboxed and set up. This thing is a beast compared to its predecessor, the Wash and Cure 2.0. The Plus was designed to go with the Mono X, so you can take the build plate off the printer and put it right in the cleaning basket of the Plus.

I recorded a quick unboxing and review video, which will be coming along with a series I’m doing on 3D printing.

Sean

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I also received and unboxed the Anycubic Vyper - their latest FDM printer and my first FDM machine!

Setup took about 30 minutes, and then I kicked off the auto-leveling feature - nice!
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After a few false starts, got the test file to print! While the print lines are visible, I was impressed at how clean the final piece came out!
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Really excited to add this to my toolset. With both an FDM and resin printer, I’ve got the best of both worlds.

Going go try a larger piece today and see how it goes.

Video also in the works!

Sean
 
Nice! I do hope Anycubic will come up with a similar model but with a bigger buildplate somewhere down the line. Anycubic's always built reliable and sturdy machines: I have an Anycubic Mega X and an Artillery Sidewinder v4 and in terms of reliability, the Mega X is a beast of a workhorse. I've had issues after issues with the Sidewinder and one of ny major gripes with it is inconsistent print lines especially with tall prints. No such issue with the Mega X.
 
After successfully printing the test file on the Vyper, I downloaded and configured the slicer software, Cura.

I then sliced the owl file using Cura and reprinted. This will help me dial in the settings for future prints.

Having fun so far…

Sean
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