My Adventures in 3D Printing

[masterjedi322]

As an engineer, using 3D for practical applications is pretty amazing. Your example is a great one of how you can replicate difficult-to-find vintage parts for repairs.

I also have a few house projects I’m using 3D printing for.

Sean

 

[ID10T]

HEre we go.

Printing version 3 right now. Hopefully I'll be able to tap these... If so, I'll do another run with longer cure time on each layer and use ABS-like resin.

 

[masterjedi322]

ICYMI - AnyCubic just dropped 2 new lines of printers - New Arrival

The Photon M3 line of resin printers, which look like upgraded Photon Monos. The coolest feature of these is the automatic resin filler, which I’m hoping will be available as a separate add-on for the older Photon printers. They also have an M3 Max, which is a larger resin printer. I would have liked to have seen something slightly larger as to compete with the Peopoly Phenom L or the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K…

The Kobra series of FDM printers. These look like a hybrid of their Vyper and Chiron lines. I’ve been on the lookout for a larger FDM printer, and given my success with the Vyper, I went ahead and grabbed the Kobra Max - Kobra Max

Sean

 

[ID10T]

What is the toughest resin out there?

I’m currently using Elegoo “ABS-like” resin which is much better than standard resins, but is there something with higher toughness?

 

[xeno]

What is the toughest resin out there?

I’m currently using Elegoo “ABS-like” resin which is much better than standard resins, but is there something with higher toughness

Siraya Tech Blue, is supposed to one of the toughest.

 

[ID10T]

Thanks, I'll look into that.

 

[Godspeed]

ICYMI - AnyCubic just dropped 2 new lines of printers - New Arrival

The Photon M3 line of resin printers, which look like upgraded Photon Monos. The coolest feature of these is the automatic resin filler, which I’m hoping will be available as a separate add-on for the older Photon printers. They also have an M3 Max, which is a larger resin printer. I would have liked to have seen something slightly larger as to compete with the Peopoly Phenom L or the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K…

The Kobra series of FDM printers. These look like a hybrid of their Vyper and Chiron lines. I’ve been on the lookout for a larger FDM printer, and given my success with the Vyper, I went ahead and grabbed the Kobra Max - Kobra Max

Sean

ICYMI - AnyCubic just dropped 2 new lines of printers - New Arrival

The Photon M3 line of resin printers, which look like upgraded Photon Monos. The coolest feature of these is the automatic resin filler, which I’m hoping will be available as a separate add-on for the older Photon printers. They also have an M3 Max, which is a larger resin printer. I would have liked to have seen something slightly larger as to compete with the Peopoly Phenom L or the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K…

The Kobra series of FDM printers. These look like a hybrid of their Vyper and Chiron lines. I’ve been on the lookout for a larger FDM printer, and given my success with the Vyper, I went ahead and grabbed the Kobra Max - Kobra Max

Sean

Interesting... the Max has dual Y rails for the bed. Thats a pretty nice addition to add some stability to the bed.

 

[masterjedi322]

I received my AnyCubic Kobra Max this weekend. Setup is very similar to the Vyper other than the vertical support rails and the print bed having to be clipped to the heater.

I took my time, ensuring every bolt was tightened, belts tensioned, connectors seated, etc. Auto-leveling went off without a hitch, and the owl test print worked first time!

Out of the 4 printers I now own (others are AnyCubic Photon Mono X, Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K, and AnyCubic Vyper) this is the first one that’s worked “out of the box”

With the large print volume, I’m excited to see what I can make on this thing!

Sean

 

[kalkamel]

I received my AnyCubic Kobra Max this weekend. Setup is very similar to the Vyper other than the vertical support rails and the print bed having to be clipped to the heater.

I took my time, ensuring every bolt was tightened, belts tensioned, connectors seated, etc. Auto-leveling went off without a hitch, and the owl test print worked first time!

Out of the 4 printers I now own (others are AnyCubic Photon Mono X, Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K, and AnyCubic Vyper) this is the first one that’s worked “out of the box”

With the large print volume, I’m excited to see what I can make on this thing!

Sean

View attachment 1562976

I've definitely got my sights on this printer. I currently have an Anycubic Mega X and an Artillery Sidewinder X1 and was originally looking to upgrade to a CR10 Smart Pro, and then this came along.

 

[masterjedi322]

As is common with 3D printers, as soon as I got one, I wanted something bigger...

I had been eyeing up the upcoming Prusa XL, but $2k is a lot for printer, and I actually think it might be too big...at least for me.

Someone I know recommended I check out the CR10, but as I'm pretty familiar and happy with my AnyCubic machines, the Kobra Max was a perfect match for me!

I wish they had included a flexible build plate, but I'm sure someone will make one.

Sean

 

[karmajay]

At this point I would never buy a printer that doesn't have self leveling for sure!

 

[masterjedi322]

Meanwhile, I’ve been (slowly) working on a Mandalorian Chapter 1 build. I’ve been researching and preordering a lot of the components over the last several months. Given the popularity of the character, there can be a long wait for things like the flight suit and leather goods. I’ll start a separate thread for the build…

…but I ran off my first armor piece on the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K. It took almost 48 hours to print, and came out pretty good. Some banding where I had to refill the resin, and a slight layer shift but it should be easy enough to clean up and it’s getting painted anyway.

Really excited about getting the rest of the armor printed!

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

I wasn’t sure where to go next with the new Kobra Max, so I decided to print another Mando chest plate to see what it could do…

Some 70 hours later, and it finished! This was the longest FDM print I’ve ever done and only the second print run on the Kobra Max. Again, I’ve done no tweaking, calibrating, or anything. This thing is just cranking stuff out right out of the box!

And yes, I know the print is ugly with lots of layer lines, but I was looking for a quick print as I need a chest and back plate to take measurements for the bandolier, so I set it up on low quality, so 0.28 layer height. This piece will not be getting finished. It’s just for measurement purposes.

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

Really loving the Kobra Max!

Needed a few measurements for the Mando leather goods, so printed the right shin pieces. Again, I have done nothing to this printer as far as calibrations go (although I fully intend to).

Sean

Shin halves (oriented upside down for ease of supports):

Shin cover strip:

 

[kalkamel]

The standard Kobra uses a direct drive, I wonder why Anycubic switched to Bowden for the Max.

 

[masterjedi322]

The standard Kobra uses a direct drive, I wonder why Anycubic switched to Bowden for the Max.

They made some interesting design decisions with this latest wave of printers...

You'd think the Kobra Max would just be a bigger version of the Kobra, but the Kobra has a totally redesigned print head whereas the Max seems to have the Vyper's print head. Kobra has a flex sheet whereas the Max is glass. Kobra is direct drive. Max is Bowden... the list goes on.

IMHO, the Max seems more like a Vyper/Chiron hybrid. I'm guessing they were originally going to do the Max to satisfy the demand for a larger Vyper and then came up with the Kobra. As to not make it seem like the Max would be a step backward, they just called it a Kobra Max, even though it's very different compared to the standard Kobra.

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

Helping a friend print his Boba Fresh armor, but first, I had to replace the FEP on my AnyCubic Photon Mono X. A simple enough repair. Just tedious with all the screws.

This was the largest print I’ve done on the Mono X. You can see I used the entire z-axis with a portion of the finished piece still being In the vat. Again, I used a 9:1 mix of ABS-like resin with Siraya Tech’s Tenacious.

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

Mando back plate done!

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

Boba’s neck plate, printed on the Phrozen Sonic Mega 8K

Sean

 

[masterjedi322]

Been chugging away on my friend’s Boba Fett build along my with Din…

Sean

Din’s left shoulder pauldron. Some small printing artifacts, but easy to clean up…

Boba’s left gauntlets - beefy!