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3D printed CNC Mill

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3D CNC Mill

So you have made a 3D printer and I would guess fallen in love with making things.

why not trying to make this 3D printed CNC?

So what do you print with your new printer , well I suppose once you have made all the plastic parts that made up your 3d printer and you are happy with the quality of the spares you want to move on to something different , and here it is a 3D printed CNC Mill in which you can engrave all sorts of things like acrylic , wood , and maybe engrave your own pcb’s , now that has got to be a great addition to your workshop.

So where do you start – Well a lot of searching about brought me to the item below.

F6P10PJHW4OICRT.MEDIUM - 3D printed CNC
3D printed CNC

This mill is designed that most of the parts  can be 3D printed. Its design to be modular so you can easily change the size of the machine by changing either the sides or the front and back plates. Its accurate enough to cut and drill circuit boards, and small enough to fit in the boot of your car.

Almost any good CNC software can be used, but for a beginner I would recommend Easel it is very easy to use and is plug in an play.

I used an UP printer using ABS plastic, and there is a common problem with most printers is that they print holes around 1-2% undersize, so the the holes for the bearings, bolts and nut has been drawn little oversize to compensate. I cant predict how they will fit with other types of printers or materials.

The sides and back are made with 2 layers of 3mm acrylic which can be laser cut if you have access to a laser cutter. Alternatively you could print the DXF files full size and cut and drill the material by hand.

  • The finished sizes of the machine are Z axis (up down) 50mm X axis (left right) 275mm Y axis (forward back) 170mm
  • Outside dimensions are 400mm wide, 400mm deep and 300mm high.
  • What you need to make this
  • The 3D printed parts
  • FPWFHNLIB0MMUU8.MEDIUM - 3D printed CNC
    3D printed CNC parts

I use core electronics for most of the electrical items as they provide a very quick service, but Ebay or your local jaycar or radioshack should also have most of these items. The fastens from core come in packs of 10 with nuts. Some of the parts, such as the threaded rod and bright steel rod is just easier and cheaper to go to local hardware or engineering supply than to find them on the internet.

Just a note on the rods, You could use “bright” “ground” “stainless” or “chrome” rod there is a big difference in price with bright begin the cheapest and the most likely to be delivered bent, rusty and damaged, so check before you hand over you cash. If your like me and pull things apart you may be able to scavenge some of the parts to keep the cost down, chrome rod is commonly used in printers and photo copiers, and old laptop charger and a cordless drill motor also found new life in this project. In addition you will need around 520 grams of abs filament to print all of the parts

No Laser cutter ?

If you are in the US you can purchase a kit from AlexCphoto. He has redesigned the 3D printed parts so they look a little different but the fit on the laser cut sides without modification. So have a look at his work on step 30 and Look out for his helpful tips and advise in the comment section.

Alex now has an Ebay shop so 3D printed parts are available here.

If you are in the UK I can help you get everything you need

Neon Green 3D parts

Black 3D parts

Links to the parts
10 Pcs 40 Pin Headers – Straight
40 Pin Break Away Male Header- Right Angle-10 Pcs
Breadboard-friendly 2.1mm DC barrel jack
Arduino Uno R3
Dupont Wire 20cm Female / Female 100pcs Pack
Stepper motor – 200 steps/rev, 12V 350mA
Stripboard – Large
10 sets M3 * 30 hexagonal standoffs mounting kit
10 sets M3x16 screw low profile hex head cap screw
10 sets M3x20 screw low profile hex head cap screw
10 sets M3x25 screw low profile hex head cap screw
10 sets M3x30 screw low profile hex head cap screw

10 sets M3 * 6 nylon screws

Fly nuts

Heat Shrink Pack

Mesh cable guide

DC motor You can also get these from a cordless drill or photo copier

This hardware was from ebay.
linear bearings 8mm
linear bearings 12m
Mini chuck
CNC-5mm-x-8mm-Stepper-Motor-Jaw-Shaft-Coupler

Easy driver board

608 bearings

5V 2-Channel Relay Module 10A

List of fastens. I’ve try to be as accurate as possible… I’m not that good at counting, But the list should be very close to the amount you need.

Some Instructable members have reported that the 3mm and 8mm brass nuts don’t fit. You need to also have the correct spanner size nuts. The 3mm has a 6mm spanner size and the 8mm has a 13mm spanner size. (as measured across the flats)

  • M8x1.25 Brass Nuts X 6
  • M8x1.25 Steel Nuts X 62
  • M8 Flat Washes X 24
  • M8x1.25 Threaded rod 420mm long X6
  • M8x1.25 Stainless Threaded rod 420mm long X2
  • M8x1.25 Stainless Threaded rod 130mm long X1
  • M3 6mm nylon stand-offs X14
  • M3 10mm stand-offs X6
  • M3 30mm stand-offs X18
  • M3 Nuts X192
  • M3 Washes X85
  • M3 6mm bolts X8
  • M3 10mm bolts X24
  • M3 15mm bolts X44
  • M3 20mm bolts X38
  • M3 25mm bolts X20
  • M3 30mm bolts X20
  • You will also need
    • 12mm bright or ground bar 400mm long X4
  • 8mm bright or ground bar 110mm long X2
  • Laptop charger at least 4 amps again ebay can help this one works well19V 6.3A FOR TOSHIBA PA-1121-04 LAPTOP AC ADAPTER SUPPLY CHARGER
  • 10x10x10x1.6mm U channel aluminium 400mm X4
  • 0.8mm x 8mm sheet metal 400mm X4
  • Some members have reported that the STL files are not working correctly, they seem to be corrupt form some servers. Try downloading the mill zip folder or getting the files from thingiverse
    • There is a very long and exhaustive build document here , complete with lots of pictures including the arduino files and grbl setup.
    • If you have any problems building this let me know and I will try to help.
    • Download Files
    • See you next time

Rigid.ink Review

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Rigid.ink a UK based company that makes their filament in the UK, which means if you live in the UK you can get fast delivery. They sell PLA, ABS as well as speciality filaments: flexible PLA, HIPs as as well as others. So let’s get to the chase, how does this filament  fair in the sea of 3D printing filaments.

Let’s start with the tolerances, most of the filaments they sell have 0.03mm tolerances which I can vouch for. These are very good tolerances. This is important to produce consistent high quality models. Many brands, especially the cheap ones, have very bad tolerances which is not too good for your printer and they will produce poor, inconsistent models.

rigid.ink
Good Filament diameter

One thing Rigid.ink certainly do not lack on is colour. Rigid.ink offer just about any colour from solid colours to translucent colours. In PLA choice there are 21 solid colours as well as 3 translucent colours. This makes for quite a choice however another great thing about rigid.ink is that fact that they let you buy 10 meter samples if you don’t fell like committing to a full 1 KG roll. The colours are good as well; they are consistent, bright and vibrant.

rigid.ink
3D Printed penny balista made out of Rigid.ink blue PLA

Rigid.ink offer lots of variates of filament from the normal ones to the more ‘exotic’ ones. They, of course, offer ABS and PLA in the plentifully range of colour they provide. They also offer soluble support filaments such as HIPs. On top of all that they sell specialist filaments like PETG, flexible PLA. There are not as many colour options in the specialist filaments yet the colours are still on par with the main colours in terms of quality.

rigid.ink
3D Printed model of Pikachu made out of Rigid.ink trans green PLA

What about customer service? Due to how good the customer service was I had to add it to this review. It is clear that Rigid.ink want to provide high quality filament to its customers. They send you emails to make sure everything is ok and allow you to reply if something isn’t. I have emailed them asking questions about their filament and I got a quick, clear answer. What about packaging and delivery? Well delivery for samples of 10 meters of ABS or PLA is free in the UK and if you choose to order filament from them (on their website) if you buy over £50 worth of value delivery is free in the UK. When you order a sample or a 10 meter long bit of filament it comes in a sturdy, re-sealable, air tight, metallic bag with Rigid.ink logo on. On the bag it tells you that you can place your rolls of filament into it to keep moisture out and keep your filament fresh. With samples you also get a small bag sweets, nothing to do with filament, yet  it will probably help you pass the time for the print you are doing with the sample filament. With 1KG rolls; each roll comes in its own box in an air tight sealed metallic film. Unlike the sample packs the film is not re-sealable however you might as well get a free sample with your order for you 1KG rolls. The 1KG rolls are spooled onto a sturdy spool with double holes at certain intervals to put the lose end of your filament into when you store it. Overall the customer service and packaging is excellent and something you will not get with cheap Chinese filament.

rigid.ink
Rigid.ink filament bag

So let’s get to the ‘million dollar question’: How does it print? Well the simple answer to that is, great! With Rigid.ink filament I have always gotten great prints out of it. The layers appear smooth and are consistent. The colour is also very nice and vibrant on the models I print. Bed adhesion is very good as well, the prints stuck very well to numerous print surfaces such as painters tape. Warping is excellent: in PLA warping is next  to nothing even without a heated bed, and ABS is also good. ABS warping is is very little on my Prusa i3 without an enclosure with a heated bed. To be honest there isn’t much to say about the quality of prints, they come out looking amazing!

rigid.ink
3D Printed Darth Vader made out of Rigid.ink orange ABS

What about price then? Well the PLA and ABS filaments cost £27.95 (40.84 US Dollars, correct as on the 04/02/160), and of course more exotic filaments such as flexible PLA or PETG cost a few pounds more. So what’s the value like then? Well personally I think the value is good, you are paying for a premium filament and the service that goes with it. This filament prints so much better than the filament that I used to buy off Amazon for £20 (29.21 US Dollar, correct as on the 04/02/16) from China.

Overall then I without a doubt recommend Rigid.ink for their filament and their service as well as value. It may be tempting to go for the cheaper brands for £20 but you will get much better prints with decent filament, so do your printer justice and get some decent filament. If you choose to buy from Rigid.ink you can use my referral code to get £5 off your first purchase : http://r.sloyalty.com/r/uB3HHJEvtV7H.

[AMAZONPRODUCTS asin=”B00RLSV1HU”]

Autotune PID what it is and how to use it

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Autotune PID is a feature that is included in Marlin and most branches of it to help determine the best settings for the hot-end temp control.

So what does it do? Well simply put it heats up the hot-end and cools it several times to determine the optimum setting for the heating element part.

PID tuning refers to a proportional-integral-derivative control algorithm used in most “reprap” style machines  for hot ends and heated beds.

PID needs to have a P, I and D value defined to control the nozzle temperature. If the temperature ramps up quickly and slows as it approaches the target temperature, or if it varies by a few degrees either side of the target temperature, then the values are wrong, and you need to run Autotune

So let’s look at that part of it in marlin here is a sample of the code from one of my machines

// PID settings:

// Comment the following line to disable PID and enable bang-bang.

#define PIDTEMP

#define BANG_MAX 255 // limits current to nozzle while in bang-bang mode; 255=full current 2014-8-27

#define PID_MAX 255 //255 2014-8-27

#ifdef PIDTEMP

//#define PID_DEBUG // Sends debug data to the serial port.

//#define PID_OPENLOOP 1 // Puts PID in open loop. M104/M140 sets the output power from 0 to PID_MAX

#define PID_FUNCTIONAL_RANGE 10 // If the temperature difference between the target temperature and the actual temperature

                                 // is more then PID_FUNCTIONAL_RANGE then the PID will be shut off and the heater will be set to min/max.

#define PID_INTEGRAL_DRIVE_MAX 255 //limit for the integral term

#define K1 0.95 //smoothing factor within the PID

#define PID_dT ((OVERSAMPLENR * 8.0)/(F_CPU / 64.0 / 256.0)) //sampling period of the temperature routine

// If you are using a pee-configured hot-end then you can use one of the value sets by uncommenting it

// Ultimaker

   #define DEFAULT_Kp 22.2

   #define DEFAULT_Ki 1.08

   #define DEFAULT_Kd 114

/*

// Prusa r2d2 I3 2014-8-27

   #define DEFAULT_Kp 17.52

   #define DEFAULT_Ki 0.62

   #define DEFAULT_Kd 123.43

*/

This section is where you update your PID settings after you have run the Autotune

Here’s the code to run Autotune – M303 E0 S200 C8 Let me break it down so you can see what each part of this isM303 the machine CODE TO START AUTOTUNE E0 the hot-end to use S200 how hot we want it to get in this case 200 degrees. C8 this is how many cycles we want to run the Autotune you need to run it at a minimum of at least 8 times I do it 10 times but that’s me How do we use this?Well now that we know what it does let’s use it in a program you can use one of the FREE and popular programs either Promtierface or Repeater-host both of them work just fine first connect your printer to the software then in the space where you can enter g-codes type M303 E0 S200 C8 press enter and just wait it does take a few minutes you should see some results scroll on the screen like this

pid2
heat your hot-end before you run the PID Autotune

Info:PID Autotune start

00:10:51.020 : bias: 39 d: 39 min: 149.51 max: 153.52

00:11:10.066 : bias: 39 d: 39 min: 149.12 max: 150.85

00:11:27.180 : bias: 37 d: 37 min: 149.41 max: 150.80

00:11:27.181 : Ku: 34.12 Tu: 17.11

00:11:27.181 : Classic PID

00:11:27.182 : Kp: 20.47

00:11:27.182 : Ki: 2.39

00:11:27.183 : Kd: 43.79

00:11:44.316 : bias: 37 d: 37 min: 149.41 max: 150.80

00:11:44.317 : Ku: 34.12 Tu: 17.14

00:11:44.317 : Classic PID

00:11:44.318 : Kp: 20.47

00:11:44.318 : Ki: 2.39

00:11:44.319 : Kd: 43.85

00:12:01.616 : bias: 37 d: 37 min: 149.41 max: 150.80

00:12:01.618 : Ku: 34.12 Tu: 17.30

00:12:01.618 : Classic PID

00:12:01.619 : Kp: 20.47

00:12:01.619 : Ki: 2.37

00:12:01.620 : Kd: 44.27

00:12:01.624 : Info:PID Autotune finished ! Place the Kp, Ki and Kd constants in the Configuration.h or EEPROM

(This is an abbreviated list you should have a total 8 test and then it will give you the classic PID this is what you need)

At the end you will get three values, the classic PID Kp, Ki, Kd.

pid1
PID Autotune testing temp

You will need to open and update the default values in Configuration.h in the Marlin Software.

#define DEFAULT_Kp 20.47

#define DEFAULT_Ki 2.37

#define DEFAULT_Kd 44.27

Then re-upload the firmware and you all set your hot-end is tuned for that machine.

If you can write to EEPROM on then you can do this

M500 P20.47 I2.37 D44.27 and that will write it to the EEPROM

Or temporarily you can use but not save it to the machine and you will have to do it every time you power up the  3d printer

M301 P20.47 I2.37 D44.27

Well there it is how to use Autotune for your hot-end this will help stabilize you temp on the hot-end and help make nicer prints.

Here is the wiki page for Autotune http://reprap.org/wiki/PID_Tuning

3D Printing a Gun Pt.1

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3D printed gun
Partial printing of a 3D printing gun

Ever since I started 3D printing, I have been interested in the possibility of 3D printing a gun. As a young adult I was a firearms instructor at a Boy Scout summer camp. There I learned how keep cheap .22 rifles and Remington 870 shotguns working.
3D printed guns are a hot button topic for gun control advocates. The government is struggling with how to classify them, with Cody Wilson of Defense Distributed fighting for his 1st and 2d amendment rights to host the files for the Liberator pistol.
Even though the files for the Liberator are officially removed from DD’s website, they can be found on any light or dark web file sharing site. Other 3D printers are freely making and sharing the digital files for 3D printable guns. Groups like FOSSCAD are actively 3D printing and testing their gun designs.

Semi-auto possibilities on 3d printed guns

Recently Popular Science published an article about a 3D printed semi – automatic machine pistol. This gun fires 9 mm rounds with a 9 round magazine.

This Shuty-MP1 is advertised as 95% 3D printed, with major metal components coming from store-bought Glock parts. The barrel, hammer, firing pin, bolts, and springs are all metal. The store bought parts do not require any form of registration.
The Shuty – MP1 is built on an AR-15 lower receiver. As a 3D printed lower it does not require registration with the government.
This gun is actually a combination of different technologies. It combines the Glock pistol parts with the AR-15 lower in a package that can be mostly 3D printed. Derwood could only fire 18 shots before the barrel mounts started to melt.

While this gun may appear scary, it is more a thought experiment and engineering challenge then gun. With current materials, 3D printed guns simply do not have the strength or thermal properties to take the abuse of firing.

However, that does not mean some are trying to advance 3D guns.
Defense distributed recently had a bounty hunt for the Mark Forge 3D printer.

This printer has had a long wait list, and the company blocked DD from ordering their printer. The Mark Forge is unique because it can 3D print in Kevlar, fiberglass, carbon fiber or Nylon. All of which would be stronger materials suited to 3D print a gun with. A while latter, DD did pay out the bounty for the Mark 1 printer.
3D gun enthusiast are waiting for DD to publish the files for a Kevlar or carbon fiber gun.

My project, PM522 Washbear .22 LR revolver – 3d printed guns

I wanted to see if the 3D printed gun was as radical or dangerous as hyped. I should point out here that in the USA it is legal to make your own homemade gun as long as you do not sell it. I have passed the state background checks to own a firearm in Colorado.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCZfIwuS4JM
When I looked for a gun to 3D print, I decided on the Washbear due to its simple design. Unlike the Liberator with its single shot barrel, it was a revolver that would be more enjoyable to shoot.

Finding the Files – 3d printed guns

When it comes to finding the digital files for 3D printed guns, I can see why gun control advocates are scared shitless. It took less than a minute of searching in google to find the digital files.
Due to ITAR restrictions, 3DprinterChat is not allowed to publish the digital files for any gun, and I will not share them either.

3D Printing the Washbear Demo – 3d printed guns

Before I go head on into a firing version, I wanted to do a demo print to see how the gun actually prints. This version is a non-firing proof of concept demo.

washbear 3D gun - 3d printed guns
Partial 3D printed Washbear revolver, featuring the frame, grip and trigger

The demo is printed with 10% infill instead of the recommended 100% solid infill. I know if I print these parts solid as recommended, it will take a week at least to 3D print this gun. It is not printed in ABS or Nylon as recommended. These are not materials I have printed in yet, nor do I have them on hand to print. I do not have any intention of firing any type of round out of this demo piece.

Time Crunch – 3d printed guns

It has taken 2 days so far to print the grip, frame, and some smaller parts. I’m still not finished with everything for the gun. This print is with the quickest draft print quality I can do on my printer.
The main problem I’ve hit so far is the fit of the parts. The design for the gun was made with very tight tolerances. The Washbear was really designed to be 3D printed on a high end SLS type 3D printer, not a hobby grade FDM printer.

3D printed gun - 3d printed guns
Partial printing of a 3D printing gun

All the parts are about 0.05 mm too big to fit. In just trying to dry fit the pieces, I can tell that I’ll be spending a lot of quality time ironing, filing and sanding to get them to fit.

Already this 3D printed gun is taking far too long for any criminal to seriously consider it. I’ve purchased guns from a store and passed the background check in 10 minutes, which is 1/10th of the time it takes to 3D print some of the small parts for this gun.

Assembly – 3d printed guns

If anyone is afraid of a gun being ready to fire off the build plate, you need to quit smoking the Colorado pot. I have not finished all the parts yet after 2 days. It will take another half a day at least to sand and smooth the parts enough that they will function. The final assembly into anything close to a function revolver will take a couple more afternoons at this pace.

Reflection – 3d printed guns

If I was a nefarious criminal, a 3D printed gun is not the way to go. If I wanted a illegal or untraceable gun, I’d go to a dark city alley and buy it out of the trunk of some dealers car.

It has taken two days to 3D print so far and that is for the demo version. This gun so far has been a test of my 3D printers’ capabilities. I still have not made a complete demo. My next post will hopefully cover all the assembly into a working demo.

3D Printer AUTO-CLEANING! | A must have!

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In this tutorial you will learn the basics about scripting in G-CODE to make your 3D Printer AUTO CLEANING procedure , and also Moving bed forward after print scripts.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S1xoH0h2za8

Before we begin, what you will need:

  • Basic knowledge of g-codes (if you don’t, check my another tutorial about g-codes CLICK HERE )
  • A fully operating 3D printer
  • Some “wasted” space on your bed
  • know your printer sizes (example: after homing, how much can i move X, Y, and Z?

Now that we got everything lets begin:

How to know my “limits”?

First, open your favorite host software and send a “home all” command, and make sure the positions will be zeros!

after it, you need to move the X and Y axis to the other side, clicking +x and +y.  go to the max possible distance

NOTE: you might be limited by firmware settings, in this case, you need first to check how much space can you move the X axis beyond the limit, than increase the value on configuration.h.  alternatively you can just move your glass a bit to the left/right and find a place for dropping the filament

After that, you now know your limits!,

now we will find a place to drop our filament,

How to find a place to drop the filament?

You will need somewhere to drop the wasted filament, it can be anywhere off the bed, maybe a broken corner, maybe some wasted space, check out how is mine:
IMG_20160204_122748

Is outside the printable area (glass) and reachable by the nozzle. after knowing where you want to drop your filament, you need to write it in coordinates (X and Y, y can me homed or 0)

The script

I want that my printer, before it start printing,my bed to 110ºC

  • Heat my bed to 100ºC
  • heat my nozzle to 200ºC  (just pre heating)
  • make my filament go back (retract) for 5mm (to avoid oozing)
  • go home
  • do auto-leveling
  • heat the nozzle up to 230ºC
  • move nozzle to the right corner, on the deposit area
  • extrude 10mm (5mm is of the retraction) of plastic while moving forward on Y
  • start printing

How we do this? using some G-codes!!!

First a brief introduction of what they will do:

  • G1 = Move to somewhere, while extruding (if you want)
  • M104 = Heat the nozzle to a certain temperature and WAIT for R (R is a minimal temperature before letting the host do something
  • M140 = Heat the bed to a certain temperature and R (same as above)
  • G 28 = Go home (if no axis define will go on all)
  • G29 = Auto bed leveling (must have it configured)
  • G90 | G91 = Set to Absolute/Relative Positioning

M140 S110 ; this will heat the bed to 110 degrees

M104 S180 T0 ; this will heat the nozzle to 180 degrees

G91 ; set to relative

G1 E-4 F600 ; retract filament

G90 ; set to absolute

G28 ; home all

G29 ; auto leveling  (dont write this if you dont have!)

G1 X0 Y0 Z0 F4800 ; go to the zero point

G1 X195 Y20 F4800 ; go to the starting waste point

G91 ; set relative

G1 X180 Y80 E15 F600 ; go to the end waste point extruding 15mm of plastic all the way

G90  ; set to absolute

Now, how will i write this on my 3dprinter?

FIRST, change it to your values!, on the line most softwares allows you to use ; as a commentary (example, some program languages use // or /*  –  */ )

SECOND,  check is the G and M are capital! and check for erros

Now you just need to run it and see if it works!, if it doesn’t, check the positions

also remember to clean it sometimes, the filament will probably go down because of the movements, but is better check it

BONUS SCRIPT

Moving the bed forward after the end of a printing

If you got this far you probably already know how to do it. but if you didnt got the g-code spirit, i’ll show you how.

you can download it here, but please help us keep our work by subscribing!

[CMDM-download id=1351]

Good Luck!, and if it has helped you, share with your friends!

How To Hot Iron Finish a Rough 3D Print Using a Clothing Iron

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Hot iron finishing
Use a clothing iron to smooth out rough 3D prints. A Makerbot spool holder in progress.

3D printers like to think that the print comes clean off the build plate of their printer. After a couple long and complex prints, the reality of  Finishing prints.

Brims, rafts and support material leave sharp jagged edges around the print. Supports create rough bumpy points on flat surfaces. Overhanging and bridging surfaces still droop and curl on the print. Other overhangs do not lay down right for a clean flat layer.

While some of this can be potentially fixed by playing with the support settings, who has the time or material to 3D print multiple attempts?

If you have a large item that took 8 or more hours to 3D print, you do not want to reprint it. It is better and faster sometimes to process it with some elbow grease instead.

Tools used in hot iron finishing - Finishing prints
Tools used in hot iron finishing. Tin foil, Sealing iron, IR thermometer.

For this blog I’ll show you how to use a clothing iron and soldering pen to quickly smooth out all the rough spots on a 3D print.

With all tools, please read the safety instructions. Because this involves melting plastic, consider using this in a well ventilated area.

Tools for Finishing prints

  • Aluminum Foil: This keeps the 3D print from melting and sticking to your iron.
  • Clothing Iron / Sealing Iron: The black iron pictured in this blog is a sealing iron, designed to seal plastic bags in butcher shops. It is smaller and easier to use compared to a large clothing iron. You can find them in hobby shops or online.
  • Soldering iron: Find a quality one that you can control the temperature with. Avoid cheap ones that are designed for wood burning. Also consider an soldering iron with changeable points. I use a blunt point in this blog.
  • Thermometer: I used a IR thermometer to check the temperature, but you can use a meat thermometer as well.

Some of the parts that I show in this blog are for an upcoming 3D printed gun project.

Hot Iron Finishing prints

  1. Get your iron to a temperature that is just low enough to make the plastic gooey.
The frame of a 3D printed gun with loose layers. - Finishing prints
The frame of a 3D printed gun with loose layers.
  1. Place the Aluminum foil over the 3D print that you want to smooth out. Keep the foil as smooth as possible to keep the wrinkles from imprinting into the 3D print.
Use tin foil to cover the part. - Finishing prints
Use tin foil to cover the part.
  1. Apply even pressure as you slowly move the iron over the part. Watch the foil for tears as you move.
  2. Check the part frequently. You will feel the 3D print change as the plastic melts.
Using the sealing iron to melt the loose plastic down. - Finishing prints
Using the sealing iron to melt the loose plastic down.
  1. Remove the foil to let the part cool.

Soldering Finishing prints

Soldering irons are good for the small crevices and holes that need to be cleaned out in your 3D print. You can also fix small flaws and edges with this process. If you have loops or ragged edges, this is a great way to smooth them out.
1. Chose the point that you want to use for your job. A blunt point is good for general purpose soldering, but flat points are good for scars created from support materials. Make sure the point is screwed snugly into the soldering iron.

Rough edge to smooth down. - Finishing prints
Rough edge to smooth down.
  1. Turn it on and let it come to temperature. If you have a cheap iron, have a wet sponge nearby that you can use to lower the temperature as needed.
  2. Lightly pass the soldering iron over the area to fix. Move smoothly to melt a thin layer at time. Don’t stop or press down, as you will burn the spot.
Using the soldering iron to melt down a rough edge - Finishing prints
Using the soldering iron to melt down a rough edge
  1. You can keep melting the plastic down, but let it cool after a couple passes. If it gets too gooey the plastic will ooze and flow in ways you don’t want.

Both of these methods are a quick way to process 3D prints. They will take some practice to master, but I have found that they are a great way to smooth and polish a rough 3D print.

Top 3D Printer Adhesives

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3d Printer adhesives
3d Printer adhesives

3D printer adhesives you should try

Adhesives is a must for almost everyone using a 3D Printer and it can certainly be a real pain in the b.. if you buy the wrong one. We put together a small list of different 3D Printer Adhesives for your bed, try one of these. and tapes. Enjoy!

Make your own Opinion by the comments below each product.  I tend to “stick to” Wolfbite MEGA click here to read more about that one.. (see what I did there… 😉

WolfBite Premium heatbed solution – 3D printer adhesives

is a premium glass bed adhesion solution specifically engineered to bond Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS) plastic printed parts directly to glass 3D printing build plates without lifting (also known in the industry as “warpage”). WolfBite also enables the smooth release of parts after printing. One light application of WolfBite can be used for several prints. After applying WolfBite, printing can commence immediately, with either a heated or room-temperature bed. Airwolf 3D formulated the proprietary solution to promote excellent adhesion and to make printed part removal easy.

[WooZoneProducts asin=”B00SG2TDUM”][/WooZoneProducts]

This stuff works as advertised. I was dubious at first, but figured it was worth a try. This has completely replaced Kapton tape and ABS slurry on our Replicator 2X. Properly applied, Wolfbite is not far from amazing. While the bed is hot for printing, parts stick fast to the glass plate. When the bed cools, parts break free with minimal force. Most parts have zero curl. Sometimes large, flat parts curl a tiny bit.

It is amazing how securely stuck the parts are when the bed is hot. If we get impatient and try to remove a part from a still-hot bed, some glass will come up with the part–oops! So we have to remind ourselves to let the bed cool to room temperature before trying to remove the part. I use a fan to quickly cool the bed.

Modifying our Replicator 2 to use this method was easy but not entirely trivial: I bought some borosilicate glass from McMaster-Carr. The glass is held down to the aluminum build plate using double-stick Kapton tape from Ted Pella. Then we put a shim at the z-axis zero switch to compensate for the height of the glass. At first we ran the bed a little hotter to try to compensate for what we thought would be a cooler surface, but now we feel that the standard 110C is fine, as long as we let the bed “soak” at temperature for a few minutes before printing. We feel all this modification was worth the effort.

Airwolf claims a (surprisingly short) shelf life after opening the bottle. I had a bottle open for months and it appeared to work fine until it was consumed. A little does go a long way if you work intelligently. Ours is deployed in a student lab, so we run through a fair bit of the stuff.

WolfBite Nano – 3D printer adhesives

is a premium glass bed adhesion solution specifically engineered to bond Polylactic acid (PLA) plastic printed parts directly to glass 3D printing build plates without lifting (also known in the industry as “warpage”). WolfBite Nano also enables the smooth release of parts after printing. WolfBite was exclusively developed at Airwolf 3D in collaboration with noted polymer chemist Professor Miodrag “Mickey” Micic, Ph.D., a department chairman at Cerritos College in Norwalk, CA. WolfBite Nano is applied with a Polyurethane foam brush directly onto glass, eliminating the need for tape. One light application of WolfBite Nano can be used for several prints. After applying WolfBite Nano, printing can commence immediately, with either a heated or room-temperature bed. Airwolf 3D formulated the proprietary solution to promote excellent adhesion and to make printed part removal easy.

[WooZoneProducts asin=”B00XV5HFR2″][/WooZoneProducts]

This is the best thing I’ve found so far to get PLA to stick reliably and repeatedly. It’s more work to release the parts after printing, but it’s not all that difficult. I’ve never had to soak my print bed to get a part to release with WolfBite Nano but I have had to really work at it getting something under the bottom of the part.

It works but can become undone every once in a while and it takes long to dry and apply coats. But otherwise it works!!

I agree with the one other review as of this writing, that the Wolfbite NANO for PLA is not nearly as good as the original Wolfbite for ABS.

Wolfbite NANO takes a long time to dry, and even then it’s tacky. The tackiness interferes with bed leveling: I use a piece of paper to gauge the distance from extruder to plate, but the paper gets stuck to the Wolfbite NANO.

If I really slather on the Wolfbite NANO, then I get better bed adhesion, and thus flatter parts, than with painters’ tape. But then the part is difficult to remove from the bed, and I end up soaking the bed in water for a while to break the part free.

Addicore Kapton Tape Sheets  – 3D printer adhesives

Can withstand extreme temperature, vibration, and other demanding environments when you 3D print with kapton. Polyimide film with easy-release liner release backing. Silicon adhesive leaves no residue

3D Printing Application:
• Kapton tape can be used to coat heated build plates
• Provides easy release of printed parts as they cool
• Fits Makerbot, Afinia, UP, and other 3D printers with build plates smaller than 8″ x 11″
• Pre-cut rectangular sheets

[WooZoneProducts asin=”B00JPTKFRU”][/WooZoneProducts]

This Kapton Tape is exactly what I needed for my print bed! I was using the manufacturer recommended glue sticks for the longest time to create a stickable surface for my printer

it’s what it says it is. prints well and a bit prone to damage when a fussy print won’ come off the bed. I’d love to see a thicker kapton in bulk sheets like this, but the really thick stuff comes in pre cut smaller squares and is a terrible value compared to this product.

Purchased for a MakerBot replicator 2x. This Kapton tape was exactly what I needed, its larger than the base but is easily cut down to size. The extra can then be used to patch the tape if it tears while trying to remove a part. Comes packaged in a sturdy envelope and the backing is made to be easily removable.

Gizmo Dorks Polyester Film PET Tape  – 3D printer adhesives

is ideal to use on top of a 3D printer bed platform such as glass. If using filament such as ABS, a heated build plate is required. The heat transfers well through the PET tape. Adherence to build platforms is sometimes troublesome, but ABS and other filament adhere remarkably well to PET tape. In particular, PET tape has equal if not better adherence than traditional Kapton tape. Application of PET tape can be done dry, which involves rolling the PET tape on to your printing surface. However, a more efficient method is using a wet method which involves spraying the surface with water so that the PET tape can be repositioned. Additionally, this allows the PET tape to be lifted to squeegee out any air bubbles. If you do not have a squeegee, then a credit card can be used.

PET tape can be easily removed without leaving any residue behind. The tape has an upper temperature range of 425 F or 220 C. PET tape has a silicone adhesive, and the PET film layer measures 1 Mil thick. The dimensions of this roll of tape are 6.25 inches wide by 100 feet in length.

[WooZoneProducts asin=”B00W4DZJMK”][/WooZoneProducts]

I had received a roll of this to try for an unbiased review, I have a printrbot simple metal. I’ve upgrade the bed to a heated surface. So far so great! This is much better than the blue tape I’ve been using. I’ve been able to get prints off the bed easier and on the plus side, no more little lines from the tape gaps. I’ll be buying more of this when I run out.

The roll of tape comes nicely shrink-wrapped inside the package. It’s an extremely wide roll at around 6″, which is wide enough to cover my printer’s whole build platform. Having the tape be so wide means that you no longer have to carefully line up pieces of tape next to each other on your print bed, and also gets rid of that seam line that inevitably appears on the bottom of your prints no matter how carefully you line up your pieces of tape.

One major advantage this film has over polyamide is that ABS will stick to it at lower temperatures. I get the same performance at 95C that I do at 110C on polyamide. This translates directly into more printing per day, safer printing, and less wear on the machines. I was given a discount on this product in exchange for an honest review, and I stand by my statements.

Gizmo Dorks blue painter’s tape – 3D printer adhesives

is the go-to and cost effective way of covering your 3D printer bed plate. Plastic filament such as ABS or PLA stick well to this tape while also being forgiving enough to let go when your print is finished. The tape is easy to apply and remove, with strong adhesion. The tape is 6.25 inches wide, so you don’t have to worry about stringing small 1 inch wide tapes together to form zig-zag rows. For most printer beds, you’ll only need one piece of tape. The roll is 100′ long and 6.25″ wide, so one roll will last through plenty of your prints.

[WooZoneProducts asin=”B00LAJNM7S”][/WooZoneProducts]

It’s “ok”. It isn’t spectacular if you’re using PLA, but it isn’t bad. As another reviewer stated, it is not as good as 3M painters tape when it comes to PLA sticking to the surface.
It does stick to the glass build plate quite well, and holds up well. This stuff is also thinner than the 3M stuff, so be sure to relevel your build plate.

This tape is a perfect match for the Dremel Idea Builder 3D printer. It covers just about the entire area of the build platform. The fact that the tape is so wide means you won’t have lines under your prints when comparing to parallel strips of 3M BlueTape.

Bought for use with my 3d printer. Tears easily when using scraper

Arduino based Traffic Light Simulator

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Build Your own

3D printed Arduino Traffic Lights

A little bit off topic for the 3D printer community , but then again maybe not , for those of you who design and create 3D models then this little blog will enable you to create Traffic lights simulator on a breadboard – insert some light emitting diodes , do some cabling and program the arduino.

arduino - traffic lightsElectronic-Components - traffic lights

If you are into modelling then you could design and print the traffic lights once you understand how it all goes together.

Traffic Light design and stl files

Instructions

Print out all the pieces and super glue them together. Place a battery in the base with one wire going from ground and three wires going from power. Connect each of the three powers to a different color 10″ LED, and connect the ground to a snap. Solder a ground wire to each of the LEDs and connect each of these ground wires to a snap. Bring all the LEDs and wires through the traffic pole and then super glue each of the lights into one of the three holes in the head. Have all the snaps coming out the of hole in the back of the head so they can be connected together and the LEDs will light up.

casep1p2p3p4

Click here to download the .STL Traffic lights <–

Brief history of Traffic Lights

Traffic lights, also known as traffic signals, traffic lamps, traffic semaphore, signal lights, stop lights, and (in technical parlance)traffic control signals, are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations to control conflicting flows of traffic.

The world’s first, manually operated gas-lit traffic signal was short lived. Installed in London in December 1868, it exploded less than a month later, injuring or killing its policeman operator. The first safe, automatic electric traffic lights were installed in the United States in the late 1890s.

Traffic lights alternate the right of way accorded to road users by displaying lights of a standard colour (red, yellow, and green) following a universal colour code. In the typical sequence of colour phases:

  • The green light allows traffic to proceed in the direction denoted, if it is safe to do so and there is room on the other side of the intersection.
  • The yellow (or amber) light warns that the signal is about to change to red. In a number of countries – among them the United Kingdom – a phase during which red and amber are displayed together indicates that the signal is about to change to green. Actions required by drivers on an amber light vary, with some jurisdictions requiring drivers to stop if it is safe to do so, and others allowing drivers to go through the intersection if safe to do so.
  • A flashing yellow indication is a warning signal. In the United Kingdom, a flashing amber light is used only at pelican crossings, in place of the combined red–amber signal, and indicates that drivers may pass if no pedestrians are on the crossing.
  • The red signal prohibits any traffic from proceeding.
  • A flashing red indication is treated as a stop sign.
  • In some countries traffic signals will go into a flashing mode if the controller detects a problem, such as a program that tries to display green lights to conflicting traffic. The signal may display flashing yellow to the main road and flashing red to the side road, or flashing red in all directions. Flashing operation can also be used during times of day when traffic is light, such as late at night.ProcessWhat I will be going through is the coding first using the arduino ide , followed by breadboarding the circuit ,followed by connecting the arduino and the breadboard together and running the compiled code.plus a parts list.Parts List1 x Arduino1 x Small breadboard7 x Jumper cables3 x Led’s in Red , Yellow , and Green3 x 220 ohm resistors1 x cable to connect your arduino to your computerAnd the arduino ide from www.arduino.ccThe Arduino

    I would guess that most of you use an arduino to control your 3D printer with a firmware sketch for Marlin or Repetier – There are others out there plus if you a programmer you could create your own.using C or C++ which the ide supports.

    The arduino ide automatically checks for programming errors , if you have a problem it will give a brief error message and which line is effected.

    Once you have a working program the sketch is compiled and uploaded to your arduino – overwriting whatever is on your arduino.

    Please note  – do not use the arduino that runs your printer because you cannot extract the contents .!!

    A little bit about the arduino – basically it has loads of pins available for use which basically can be used as inputs and outputs.

    As a default the arduino makes all pins “inputs” as a standard so when programming if you forget to state what you want the program will still compile but not work.

    The Program

    Create a new sketch and name it TrafficLightSimulator

    This is what the sketch looks like with no code.

    void setup() {
    // put your setup code here, to run once:

    }

    void loop() {
    // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

    }

    You need to add all the variables next

    int red = 13; // pin being used for output to red led
    int amber = 12; // pin being used for output to amber led
    int green = 11; // pin being used for output to green led

    A quick note about pins – their state is either HIGH meaning a signal goes to them or LOW meaning no signal.

    Setup pins

    pinMode(red,OUTPUT);
    pinMode(amber,OUTPUT);
    pinMode(green,OUTPUT);

    Loop that makes it all work with timings for the light changes , in the delay setting 1000 = one minute.

    ChangeLights();
    delay(15000);

    The Full sketch

    int red = 13;
    int amber = 12;
    int green = 11;

    void setup() {
    // put your setup code here, to run once:
    pinMode(red,OUTPUT);
    pinMode(amber,OUTPUT);
    pinMode(green,OUTPUT);
    }oid loop() {
    // put your main code here, to run repeatedly:

    changeLights();
    delay(15000);
    }

    void changeLights(){
    // green off, amber on for 3 seconds
    digitalWrite(green,LOW);
    digitalWrite(amber,HIGH);
    delay(3000);

    //turn off amber ,then turn red on for 5 seconds
    digitalWrite(amber,LOW);
    digitalWrite(red,HIGH);
    delay(5000);

    //red and amber on for 2 seconds (red is already on)
    digitalWrite(amber,HIGH);
    delay(2000);

    //Turn off red and amber , then turn on green
    digitalWrite(amber,LOW);
    digitalWrite(red,LOW);
    digitalWrite(green,HIGH);
    }

    I have put in as many comments as to what is going on.

    So save the file and press the tick to verify all is well it will say DONE COMPILING and you will see in the terminal window.

    Sketch uses 1,204 bytes (3%) of program storage space. Maximum is 30,720 bytes.
    Global variables use 15 bytes (0%) of dynamic memory, leaving 2,033 bytes for local variables. Maximum is 2,048 bytes.

    Click upload and it gets sent to the arduino.

    Building the circuit

    If you are new to electronics just following the diagram below

    trafficlights_bb

    Download the files by clicking the picture below! 

  • downloadOnce my new video camera arrived I will update the post with a videoThanks for dropping by , If there is another arduino related project that you would like me to cover , let me know.   

How To Finish / Polish Your 3D Print

5
Some of the tools used in 3D printing along with the printer. A Taz 5 tool tray goes under the y arm of my 3D printer to hold them all.

3D printing is an amazing and artistic process. Like all artistic endeavors, it will require some tools and processing to Polish 3D prints with a good smooth for final items.

Tools – Polish 3D prints

Apart from your 3D printer, you will need a set of the following tools to process your 3D print. Before you go further into debt with these, look around the garage or with your friends / family to see if they have any to spare.

Some of the tools used in 3D printing along with the printer. A Taz 5 tool tray goes under the y arm of my 3D printer to hold them all. - Polish 3D prints
Some of the tools used in 3D printing along with the printer. A Taz 5 tool tray goes under the y arm of my 3D printer to hold them all.

Here is a list of the tools that I use, including their uses. If you get a Lulzbot, they include a tool set to get you started.

  • Hobby Knife: Keep it sharp to cut through support material and trim rough edges. If you use disposable blades, you can strop them with a piece of leather on scrap wood to keep them sharp.
  • Wire Cutters: Cutting filament and support materials.
  • Needle Nose pliers: Pulling jams from the printer head. They can also be used for cutting filament and removing rafts and support materials.
  • 1 inch Putty knife / Oyster knife: These are essential for scraping the print off the build plate, and separating rafts and support material. You can also smooth out wrinkles in the blue painters tape you put on the build plate.
  • Small / large scissors: The small scissors are great for cutting away blobs and bad spots as the first layer of a print goes down. Large ones are good for cutting open boxes of filament.
  • Metric tape measure / metric calipers: You need a way to estimate location and size of your parts, as well as quality control of your prints.
  • Dental / soldering pick set: This is a tool I use all the time. I use the hook to scrape blobs off the hot end, and the straight pick to help start the first layer of a 3D print. There great for getting support out of holes and corners of your 3D print.
  • Soldering iron / pen: This is great for smoothing down rough edges and melting holes. Practice using them on spare prints before working on one for a client.
  • Hobby Drill: This is for cutting off large chunks of support, or drilling holes. Consider getting a 2 mm and 3 mm drill bit so you can drill holes that fit your filament. I also use a cutoff wheel to hack through a lot of support material quickly. Be really careful and run the drill at the lowest RPM possible. You can melt through your print with these drills.

    IMG_8438 - Polish 3D prints
    Some of the electrical tools I’ve used on 3D prints. supper glue is good for quick repairs, just not for your fingers.
  • Triangle File and Sandpaper: Both are good for smoothing any rough spots. Use a wet/dry paper rated for plastic.
  • Clothing Iron: Yes, a clothing iron can be used to smooth a 3D print. I’ll cover my ironing process in a future blog.
  • Thermometer: A meat thermometer or a IR thermometer will work to check the build plate temp.
  • Metric Allen Wrench Set: You will need them to maintain your printer. Most 3D printers use cap or socket head screws.
  • Flashlight: It helps to see the 3D print from different lighting angles. You can use it to see if there are extrusion problems, or to see inside the hot end of the extruder head.

Support Material – Polish 3D prints

Support material is used to support parts of the print that are overhangs or bridges that would droop otherwise. Most 3D printers use the same material for printing and support.

Part before finishing to remove supporting material. - Polish 3D prints
Part for an upcoming 3D printed gun before finishing to remove supporting material.

The first thing to consider with supports is how much you really need. Play around with the percentage setting in your slicing program to find the smallest percentage that will still support your print. The less you use, the less you’ll have to remove at the end of the print.
Second consider how you lay the part on the build plate. If you play with the orientation, you may find a way to lay the part down so it uses minimal support material.

IMG_8446 - Polish 3D prints
Support material removed from gun part.

I found the best time to remove the support material is while the print is still warm.

IMG_8443 - Polish 3D prints
Using a soldering pick to clean support material out of a hole.

Depending on the print, you will have to use all your cutting tools.

My favorite is to use the needle nose pliers. Grab the support material at one end, and roll the pliers around to peel the support material off.

Brim – Polish 3D prints

Brims hold 3D prints to the build plate, and are good for prints with tight curves and sharp edges. However they do stick to the print, and will leave a sharp edge if you’re not careful.

Use your needle nose pliers to grab and peel off what you can. After that you will have to get close and personal with your hobby knife, files and soldering pen. You can melt the edge smooth with a soldering pen or iron.

Polish 3D prints

      3D prints can be mechanically polished like any other plastic. I encourage you to use elbow grease before you do any chemical processing.
ABS can be smoothed with Acetone vapor. This is popular, but the process can be dangerous. I have not tried this process, and if you do, please do your research before you blow up your work space.

There are other chemical solvents to polish PLA, but they also are petroleum based solvents. Always use these chemicals in a well-ventilated area, and read all safety instructions.

This will be Legen…wait for it… dary!

3

Hi guys,
My name is Lays Rodrigues, and today I received an invitation to post on this blog.
So, I accept, and a few minites later my head start to sppining, because my first post will be the first impression that you will have about me. But i don’t have the habit to run of the challenges.

Talking about Qt and C++ on Campus Party Brazil, Sao Paulo - host for 3d printing
Talking about Qt and C++ on Campus Party Brazil, Sao Paulo

So, first things first.
My name is Lays Rodrigues,I’m 23 years old, and i’m a student of Computer Science at Universidade Federal Fluminense on Rio das Ostras, Rio de Janeiro – Brazil, my hometown. And since May 2015, I start to develop a printer host for 3D printing.
I’m a newbie on using open source software in my daily basis, but the world of Open Source and Free Software catch my attention after I started to went on events about this subjects. So, I started using Ubuntu, later Debian and now I’m using Fedora 22 as my OS.
I started work with the 3d printing world almost a year ago after a friend came to me with a problem: The printer hosts on the market like Repetier Host don’t have a good performance on GNU/Linux environment, cause they are writing on C#. So after a few weeks of conversation and brainstorms, we decided to make our on printer host. So was there that the Br-Print3D project started. And since I’m engaged to make better and simple printer host for 3d printing.
This is my main project today. Br-Print3D is the first printer host open source write on C++ and Qt.
You can get more information about my project on bellow links:
brprint3d.wordpress.com
facebook.com/brprint3d

I’m really proud of my work, because the version that we have of Br-Print3D today is a stable one, and we made really good models print, with a great quality.

Millenium Falcon 0.2mm - host for 3d printing
Millenium Falcon 0.2mm
Skull 0.2mm - host for 3d printing
Skull 0.2mm

So, I hope made a great job on 3DPrinterChat, and thanks Hakan for the invitation. =D

That’s all folks!
Lays Rodrigues

3D Bio Printing: DNA, Organs, Tissues & Nano bots

2
Complex shapes made with DNA

3D printing physical objects is a remarkable technology all its own. To go from an idea to sold matter in the span of a few hours is a paradigm shift in manufacturing. What about 3D printing living tissue? In the movie ‘The 5th Element’,  Used Bio Printing in a chamber that combines FDM, SLS, and LOM printing technologies from a few surviving cells. The final result is a perfect genetic clone of the original Lelu.

While this technology is a few decades away, 3D bio printing is not a new technology.

3D Printed Tissues

     The main application for 3D bio printing is tissues and major organs. There are millions of people in need of an organ transplant. Thousands die every year without finding a tissue type match.
But with 3D bio printing, organ transplants can be a thing of the past. Instead of trying to find a matching organ from a donor, you can now 3D bio print it from your own healthy cells.

The University of Wakefield is already pioneering this technology. They have produced skin and artery grafts that are clones of the person. The skin grafts alone may save thousands of burn victims lives. Instead of undergoing a painful skin grafting procedure, new skin can simply be 3D bio printed in a lab.
The arteries can help people that have heart bypass as well. Instead of cutting the replacement artery out of the leg, a 3D bio printed artery made in the lab can be inserted into the heart instead.
Bio printing organs will be the next major milestone in custom medicine. Already a kidney has been bio printed. Wakefield is currently working on FDA approval for 3D printed organs, and such bio printed transplants will be completed in a human within a couple decades.

Bio Insurance

Imagine the possibility of this alone. You could set up a tissue bank that stores healthy tissue samples, and have them on standby in case you need them. This would be an insurance policy against future organ damage or catastrophic injury. If you know you are prone to alcohol abuse, you can store healthy liver samples in your 20s, and have it ready to replace your liver when it goes in your 40’s.
This tissue bank would be huge for the military. The military can store tissue samples for soldiers, and bio print new tissue as needed for wounded soldiers. This custom medicine would speed the soldiers recovery and reduce complications latter in the veterans life.

Bio Printed Nano Bots

Nano scale technology is also an intriguing medical frontier. Using something smaller than the cell, these futuristic bots hold the promise of attacking cancer without the miserable side effects of chemo therapy, or repairing damage to the body from the inside.
3D printing can possibly be used to 3D print nano scale bots for us. Instead of using chemical processes to try and mix the bots in the lab, future nano bots can me 3D printed by high resolution 3D bio printers.

3D DNA Nano particles

In a previous blog I wrote about how I made a model of DNA for education. In an article published in the Journal of Nature, DNA itself is used as the construction material for nano particles.

DNA formed into 3D shape with specialty CAD program - Bio Printing
DNA formed into 3D shape with specialty CAD program

DNA can be thought of as a type of biological building brick. It can be cut to specific lengths, and the ends have a miter cut to join to other DNA segments at an angle. This means that DNA can be formed into unique nano particles.
Björn Högberg of the Swedish Karolinska Institute has designed a CAD program that can actually do this DNA modeling. This 3D modeling can produce DNA nano particles with complex geometry. From this CAD program, the lab produces a list of DNA segments to build with, much like a material list.

Complex shapes made with DNA - Bio Printing
Complex shapes made with DNA

They then order commercially available DNA segments and mix them so they can self-assemble in the lab.
By using the DNA CAD program, doctors can design nano bots built from the patient’s own DNA. These nano bots can then be used in the patient to attack cancer, fight infections, or rebuild damaged tissues.
3D bio printing is the future of custom medicine. From tissues to nano bots, 3D printing technology will revolutionize medicine.

How to NOT Be a 3DHubs Noob

4
Please spend quality time online before 3D printing

3DHubs is an international printing service that connects the public to local 3D printers. This is a great service for anyone that wants to make money back on the purchase of their 3D printer. 3D printers can put the printer to use when they are not using it themselves. If you are starting a 3D printing business, 3DHubs can be a way to attract customers while you build your online brand.
The public can also benefit from 3DHubs. Depending on the location, consumers can shop for a local 3D printer. If you just one a handful of 3D printed items for a project, outsourcing the job to your local hub is more economical then buying a 3D printer.
In light of this, 3DHubs and other 3D printing services are plagued by the following types of noobs. These are the customers that fit the saying “The customer is always right, even if their an asshole”! These are all based off of real customers I’ve dealt with on 3DHubs.

Unit of Measure Noob

design meme - 3DHubs
Just because you can design in US standard, you shouldn’t

Advanced CAD programs will let you design an object in US standard, but that does not mean you should. 3D printers and their slicer programs are built around metric. 3D printers are built with metric parts, and print in tenths of a mm. When you try to print in standard, many slicer programs will distort the print.

Graphic artist are just as bad about submitting objects they design in picas, not realizing that they are actually trying to build a 3 dimensional object.

Another noob mistake is trying to 3D print something too small or large for the printer. I’ve had customers try to print something so detailed that it was smaller than the resolution possible with any 3D printer. These small details simply would not print in any material.

To avoid measurement problems and rejection from the 3D printer, just model your design in mm from the start.

omg cad - 3DHubs
Dream all you want, your design still sucks.

OMG I is a CAD Mazzter

     I’ll admit that I’m guilty of this one. I just finished my CAD certificate from a local VoTech college, and there are time I feel I can design anything in CAD. This hubris is common in all designers.

    Let me share my humble pie with you. You can design whatever you want digitally, but that does not become a 3D printable object. If your think you can 3D print something with 10 overhangs and internal structure without some support and get it in one piece, you are not a CAD master.

The Bad Magician

douch customer 1 - 3DHubs
Cheap asshole. I may be cheap but I ain’t free.

The bad magician tries to turn an order for one (1) 3D print into 10. They think that 3D printing is cheap. This customer thinks your 3D printing from the goodness of your heart. They think your time and effort is free.

First off, nothing in 3D printing is free. Second, we have a 3D printer that is amortized for the time that we put on it. Finally, 3D printing filament may be cheep, but it is not free.

If you want to order 10 3D prints that is fine. Just expect to pay for 10 3D prints up front. I’ve canceled orders in 3DHubs for customers that try to change the production number on me.

The Time Sucker

lumbaugh weekend - 3DHubs
It’s not that I’m lazy, its that you just don’t know!

Cosplayers are guilty as sin for this. Hubs understand that there are sites that share amazing cosplay props, and they are cool to 3D print.

It is one thing to 3D print Rea’s blaster or a Kylo Ren’s Light saber, its another to 3D print an entire Stormtrooper suit.

3DHubs recently gave a discount on the Fallout PipBoy controller. This amazing 38 piece file will take a week for a Hub with a single printer to complete. If you want someone to commit a weeks’ worth of printer time, please expect to pay for it.

These large files take a serious time commitment from a Hub with a single printer. The material alone may be more than the printer will have on hand, so they will have to order a bulk spool of filament.

Please remember that many Hubs have a day job and can’t run a large print job during the day.

I’m an artist

You did not read my Hub profile. - 3DHubs
You did not read my Hub profile.

This is similar to the CAD master. Graphic artist are guilty of this 3D printing oversight. They think that desktop 3D printers can 3D print in multiple colors, without looking at the capabilities of the Hub.

While polyjet and LOM type printers can print in full color, FDM desktop 3D printers can’t (yet).

      If you want a full color print, you are welcome to 3D print in plaster or paper with a 3DHub that has that type of 3D printer. But don’t send the file to someone with a desktop printer. Even with a dual extrusion head, you’ll only get two colors out of a desktop 3D print.

I Wants me a 3D print

This is the worst noob of all. This noob somehow managed to design something that resembled a shape, and wants it 3D printed without understanding what 3D printing actually requires.smartes man - 3DHubs

        The .stl files have large overhangs, gaps, manifold errors, or other technical problems that keep them from printing. They don’t know what supports, rafts and overhangs are. They also do not want to pay for the said support material and processing.

      This noob is also the most persistent. They think they are the center of your Hub universe, and they want their 3D print in 5 min.

Resolution Snob

This noob is someone who does not understand what resolution is. They read an article that tells them 0.1 mm resolution will produce a fine smooth print. They don’t realize that 0.1 mm resolution takes a large chunk of time.

  ramsey rage - 3DHubs    What’s worse is they don’t need 0.1 mm for the print job. Hubs know when your just testing a part that can be printed in 0.3 – 0.4 mm.

           Time and again, I’ve gotten an order at 0.1 mm that takes 30 hrs for a part that does not justify it. Like the time sucker, these resolution snobs suck time out of your life for a 3D print that is not worth the resolution.

Things to remember with 3DHubs

Please understand that we love to Hub and put our 3D printers to good use. We just get tired of the ignorance of certain noobs. 3D printers have a unique set of technical skills, as well as the machines required to do the 3D print job.
3DHubs is a great service for 3D printers, but please respect our technical expertise.