Thanks for you links and detailed explanation! Yes I would be new to 3DP if I purchase this machine. I would mainly want to print off all of the accessories for the drag chain as a starting point following the settings listed in the stl file by muddy feet. I’m sure I would find other uses for it after that.
Is there another printer you would recommend? I thought about the Prusa i3 MK3 but didn’t really want to spend that much money on one to start off with.
In my opinion (and there defiantly people who disagree with me) I think the Prusa while a great printer, your paying for the name and Prusa branding. The Enders are great printers as are a lot of other brands.
Instead of recommending a particular brand/model let me take this approach:
As a newbie to 3DP I would suggest you find a machine that comes fully assembled out of the box. Getting a machine that will take you several hours of “build time” might be a bit much and if you get frustrated; sour you from 3DS all-together. There is some crazy stat out there that ~70% of all 3DP’s never get used beyond their first print or two. A lot of that is due to people opening the box and like all things … ahhh I’ll get to that when I have a free weekend. (you know the ending to that story)
So I would look at something with good reviews (a GREAT support Forum - like this one) and requires very little for you to get it insert some filament and navigate the software and print something. If the difference is save $100 and maybe get to it or spend $100 more and have it assembled and ready to its a no-brainier in my mind.
Also another KEY feature on a 3DS that will save you a ton of potential frustration is Auto-Bed leveling capability. If your bed is off even a few thousands you could end up with a gunked up hot end that is tough to recover from both dealing with cooled hardened on filament as well mentally.
Hope that helps, I know its not the “hey buy a Brand Model-X” you were looking fro in your request but I hope it helps guide you to a better place in the end.
Thanks Alex. I’ll do some more research and see what else is out there.
Overall, I was comparing the idea of buying a 3DP (filament & necessary tools) and printing all of the accessories versus buying them if the total costs was going to be about the same. If I purchased the machine and was able to keep costs in that range, in the end I would at least own a cool new machine and gain another area of knowledge.
If this isn’t really a feasible approach, then maybe it’s best I just purchase all of the accessories from the fine gentleman here that have Etsy shops. I just kinda feel that in the long run, I (my wallet) could benefit from printing my own items but I would love to hear an honest opinion on those that currently do it.
I agree with Alex - that’s all great advice. I have a Prusa MK2 and CR10. The usability of the two is night and day. But the Prusa was close to $900 vs $349 for the CR10. The only reason I got the CR10 was to increase the build volume, which I have needed in the past. There are ways to get around limited build size, but having a larger format printer is simply easier. I haven’t been tracking the 3DP market recently but there is a lot of buzz around the Ender, but I guess it does take some time and energy to get it printing well, whereas the Prusa pretty much prints great out of the box.
If it matters, before getting my printer I used the 3D print community to get things printed - find someone near you that can print things. I guess 3d Print Hub is now defunct, so that’s not an option any longer.
In the end, if you have bigger plans for your printer, then an investment makes sense. But if you only want a few parts for your OF, then just order them from Etsy and give the little profit to the author.
I lean towards Tom’s advice. I have a printer here and have still bought a few parts from folks on the Forum. Unless you really want to get into the 3DP game (and it is fun) then it will be MUCH cheaper to buy parts and support your OF Family than it would ever be to buy a printer and all the parts etc. needed to print your own.
To give you an example Donnovan the Elbow piece that Rowdy sells for his vacuum arm. NOT all 4 parts just that one part took me 4.25 hrs to print. sure it cost me about $0.50 worth of filament but at any time in that print things can go to crap (filament sticks, runs out, object dislodges from the bed) and your back to square one.
Again if you have a burning desire to learn and be a 3DP then jump in with both feet, if your looking at this AT ALL from a Cost Saving Perspective… I’d support the great folks on the forum intead.
Hope that helps as I’ve beaten that 3D Printed horse to death.
-Alex
Thanks Alex and Tom for sharing with me! Much appreciate advice.
I’ll weigh my options but will most likely lean towards purchasing from the members here and support their efforts! My Onefinity won’t be here until February so I have time to obtain what I need.
I purchased the Creality Ender 3 Pro on Amazon Prime Day for less than $200. Because @MyersWoodshop mentioned the Hatchbox brand, I also purchased a spool of black PLA. Use his affiliate link to purchase. I have been printing all kinds of things, not only the all of the drag chain components (including a couple of mess ups), but upgrades to the Ender and calibration prints. I would highly recommend downloading and installing the Custom Supports plugin if using the Cura slicer and selecting “Tree” supports when printing out the ends of the drag chain supports. They have some interesting geometry that needs a lot of support and I found the tree supports did an excellent job, if not a little overkill. A 1kg spool of filament goes a very long way!
In looking at some of the parts, I agree with Glenn (@ghestrada) - I see printability issues with some of parts. Not insurmountable as they have been printed, but perhaps a different design would be easier to print without supports or other odd orientations.
@ghestrada - did you print the drag chain or just the connectors? I know I’ve seen people who have printed the chain, but at $14(US), I can’t see spending the time?
I ordered the actual drag chains (3x) themselves from Amazon
Having printed drag chains for the Ender, I thought there is no way I was going to go thru that again! The ones from Amazon are well made and have very smooth movement.
Just curious, how long did it take for you to get the machine set up and learn the software enough to start printing? Is constant calibration needed between prints?
This was my first adventure into 3D printers, so I came at it as a total nube. And since this is my first CNC, I treated learning the 3D printer as a warmup - primarily learning the workflow and tools.
To assemble and get ready for printing, probably a couple of hours. Discovering and watching YouTube videos, many, MANY hours. I have only printed items from Thingiverse, so I haven’t gotten into design (yet). I am trying to learn Fusion 360 - mainly because it can be used to output for both machines.
I immediately upgraded the bed springs and extruder feeder while assembling the machine the first time, and this was based on the recommendations of many YouTubers. It did take some work getting the bed trammed, mainly because I was chasing that last .01 of an inch (waste of time) and didn’t realize that all adjustments should be at operating temperature, not cold.
I am very fortunate that the bed that came with it is nice and flat out of the box. I don’t think that I need to upgrade it right away. Once I got it dialed in, I really haven’t had to adjust it - I think the stiffer springs really help to keep it set where I want it. I found that bed adhesion is very important. I found that you need to have a clean bed, use an aid like Aquanet hairspray, and use a “brim” when printing large parts.
Hope this helps. My son and I have had a lot of fun finding things to print out. We even did a piece for his Warhammer 40K. Here is a picture after he painted it:
Earlier in this thread @muddyfeet mentions the sizes (at the controller end they are Molex micro 3.0mm, and at the machine end are Molex mini 4.2mm), but not the specific part numbers. I do recall someone from @OnefinityCNC providing them at some point - I don’t know what thread it is in. It would be nice to simply purchase a full cable set with properly lengths for drag chains (and a drag chain upgrade option).
Could you please,
Size of Drag chains and where purched,
Amount of extion cables and length.
Love your setup, very clean and organized.
I’m new to CNC and should get my woodworking 1F with lazer in late December . I plan to make my setup as close to yours as possible.
Thanks for sharing your OUTSTANDING setup .
In my setup, I’m using 15mmx30mm drag chain for X and Y axis and they’re all 1M long. These were purchased on Amazon.
As far as the extension wire goes it depends where you mount your controller. But I would suggest going with the longest length onefinity offers. Currently in my setup I’m using the orginal coil cable, where I had to stretch it out making it fit inside the drag chain. So far it works and fits along with the laser cables inside drag chain but in the future I’m planning on making newer wires that will run directly from motor to controller without extension wire.
Greg,
Thanks for the information. Looks as if I’ll have a little work to do to get my setup the way I want it. I just ordered from your Etsy site both options. Didn’t get free shipping or a military discount😒
