3D Printing

Interesting technology just keeps getting cheaper. A Chinese company called Anet is now selling a 3D printer for under $200. (Way under if you watch the sales - Mine cost $157) This model A8 has a bed size of around 10" square and can lay down very fine layers of plastic thereby making pretty much anything you can create a 3D computer model of.

I ordered my Anet A8 from Gearbest and waited for it to be shipped to the mountain. I also ordered a roll of orange PLA plastic filament to use for my first prints. Anet A8 link to Gearbest

It takes about a day to assemble the printer from the various parts. The manufacturer has posted the assembly instructions as a YouTube video so you can watch and pause as needed. There is also a very active Facebook community of folks who own these and provide hints and operating techniques.

I made a mistake in assembling the printer. I applied Loctite to the fasteners to prevent them from vibrating loose in operation, but did not know Loctite has a deleterious effect on acrylic. The Anet A8 frame is made from acrylic sheet. The Loctite caused the acrylic to crystalize and easily fracture wherever there was a fastener.

I got rather good at re-bonding acrylic and re-enforcing the frame with parts I manufactured on the printer.

The user community posts all kinds of things to make on the website "Thingiverse"
Thingiverse link

You find what you'd like to make and download the files and prepare them for printing using a 'slicing' program.

One of the items you can print is this drone - Drone link

For the short term the printer is set up on the dining table

These are some of the first prints off the machine. They include frame re-enforcements and holders for the spools of plastic filament.

 

Front frame brace

This is an enhanced version of Z axis limit switch holders

Rear frame brace

A pretty good test of the printer is the creation of the lifeboats on the Titanic

These print in two halves that are later bonded together along the center

 

More stuff - the U boat conning tower was fun, but not a very accurate model to start with

These are 1/24th scale two post car lifts that are going into a model of a shop we hope to build

HO scale pickup truck in grey primer as well as a 1/100th scale print of the same truck plus a cartoon character

Next I tried a large and rather time consuming print. This is a scale model of the house that used to be sold thru the Sears catalog. This is the Puritan model. It prints in three levels.

You can check the accuracy of your printer by printing a calibration cube and measuring with calipers. My machine is right on the mark for accuracy.