Anyone own a 3D printer?

[haknslash]

Inventor user eh?

I'm currently sitting in software training for NASTRAN IN-CAD.......we're evaluating it as an alternative to ANSYS.....so far.....meh.

Hehe yup. I’ve been an Autodesk user for going on 2 decades across a lot of their products.

 

[haknslash]

Parts are rinsed and now they’re in my custom built UV curing enclosure. Of course I made it to mimick the design of the Formlabs printer

 

[2kwik4u]

Hehe yup. I’ve been an Autodesk user for going on 2 decades across a lot of their products.

I cut my modelling teeth on Pro/Engineer, but my original drafting experience (when I moved from pencil and board) was on AutoCAD R11. Advanced Solutions is one of the regions largest AutoDesk resellers, and they are based about 5 miles from here, so Louisville is a very AutoDesk heavy town. Trying to think when I started drawing, close to 20 years now I suppose. You know, I could've had a just fine Friday without thinking about that

I have high hopes for cloud based CAD packages, but they just aren't quite there yet for production environments with lots of people. OnShape is a great example. It's a really unique product, but just not quite ready for prime-time I think.

Also, That's a helluva curing enclosure. I used to just give my part a day in the sun and they would harden up just fine. If not then we had a "loctite" brand UV cure hood to use. I've sunburnt myself more times than I care to admit holding parts under that light.

 

[haknslash]

Parts are done. I’ll ship these out tomorrow afternoon @njmr2fan

 

[seanmclean]

Well, that's way cooler than my rinkydink monoprice printer, lol.

 

[njmr2fan]

@haknslash, Those look awesome. Thank you.

 

[njmr2fan]

I can't begin to say how educational and just plain cool this has been. We are now planning to print some of the pictures from this thread so that my son can bring them into his 4th grade class and explain his restoration of the gokart, and now how some obsolete parts were custom printed for it.

 

[njmr2fan]

So I have a few questions. How long would it take to print one of those caps start to finish? How long does it take to cure one once its printed. Does it take that entire tray of liquid to make a part, or does that stay fresh and get used next time? Are we right in guessing that only the part that the (laser?) flashes on is the spot that hardens?

 

[2kwik4u]

So I have a few questions. How long would it take to print one of those caps start to finish? How long does it take to cure one once its printed. Does it take that entire tray of liquid to make a part, or does that stay fresh and get used next time? Are we right in guessing that only the part that the (laser?) flashes on is the spot that hardens?

FormLabs has a really good tutorial on SLA printing.

https://formlabs.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-stereolithography-sla-3d-printing/

 

[haknslash]

So I have a few questions. How long would it take to print one of those caps start to finish? How long does it take to cure one once its printed. Does it take that entire tray of liquid to make a part, or does that stay fresh and get used next time? Are we right in guessing that only the part that the (laser?) flashes on is the spot that hardens?

These 3 parts took about an hour and a half to print. Cure times depend mostly on the geometry of the part and how thick it is. It can vary quite a lot from other parts so it all just depends. I can’t recall exactly how much resin was used to make these parts and their respective support bases but I can find out for you if you’re interested because the software I use calculates how much resin is require per that print job. Orientation of the same pet can increase print times and quality so it’s sort of a black art juggling the two so that your parts are accurate but with the least cost of consuming resin. Yes the laser is what does a ‘partial cure’ defining the part geometry as the build tray moves up. The resins do have a shelf life but I keep mine in a dark closet away from any light exposure so my resins have surprisingly lasted for a long time. I don’t pour them back into the bottle but rather have a bunch of trays for each resin type.