LCDR Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 I am not fully up to speed in this subject, but it does crop up from time to time and I would appreciate some guidance from the more knowledgeable if you on here.1 - How much detail can be printed on (a) the cheaper domestic printers, and (b) by commercial printers?2 - What does a domestic printer cost to buy and to run?3 - how much does a 'one off' print job about the size of a locomotive body produced commercially cost?4 - are there any restrictions as to size and the material used e.g. do these machines only print in plastic?5 - What are the requirements for producing the drawing to drive the printer, does it require a specialist software package to prepare the drawing?6 - Have any of you done any 3D printing, if so how did you like the result? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Answer to number 2.Anything from under £500 to many thousands depending upon spec. Answer to number 4.Domestic models can print in various 'plastics', size limited to the machine frame and range of movement of its print head, resolution varies model to model and with material so review the specs.Specialist commercial machines can even print aero standard parts in exotic metals like titanium.Once you have the specific printer material capability spec then you can google and look at the various material types and suitability for various jobs. Answer to number 5.Sketchup Make is a brilliant free (for non-commercial use) software 3-D drawing package, that is fairly easy to learn and has specific output for 3-D printing as required. The software and associated website has many tutorials to get you started and expert areas for when you become more competent.http://www.sketchup.com/products/sketchup-make Answer to number 6. No but I wish I had, along with a lathe and many other things... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted July 21, 2016 Share Posted July 21, 2016 Answer to number 3 one of my tank loco bodies is around £27-28 for the rather grainy white strong flexible plastic around £50 in Frosted ultradetail (depending on th exchange rate - I use a company that prints in the netherlands). Below is one of mine in undercoat awaiting its first sanding down and second undercoat./media/tinymce_upload/5ec1a765efaa9c100c1f8ffe644d5771.jpgGWR 517 However, my most sucessful prints seem to be coach bogies /media/tinymce_upload/3f7abaf599a67523b248d41a9b6c68bb.jpgGWR American for Hornby Siphon G & H and Lima Siphon G Though I'm probably most proud of my 6 wheeled siphons (currently two versions):/media/tinymce_upload/612f42abf64c75eaaa41a0368f897703.jpg Although all of the above were printed for me commercially. I would also ike to add that all the above were designed for use around Hornby cmponents (wheelschassis couplings etc) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted July 23, 2016 Author Share Posted July 23, 2016 Thank you RAF 96 & 81F,81F they look good., did you prepare the CAD for them? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted July 23, 2016 Share Posted July 23, 2016 Thank you RAF 96 & 81F,81F they look good., did you prepare the CAD for them?Yes, although I use AutoCAD for work I do not have easy access at home so I used a free package called Tinkercad which allows you to build thins up out of cubes, cone sheres et and trim them. The only downside is the smootheness of curves is not great and these require a bit of work to get them smooth. Myy main solution for this is to sprey with Halfords indercoat and lightly file back the ridges to the plasric and respray, sometimes two or three times. (taking care tomask of the flat bits with detail so as not to get too much paint on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahBunyan Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 1 - How much detail can be printed on (a) the cheaper domestic printers, and (b) by commercial printers?Most home printers can do 0.5mm detail, some even go down to 0.2mm detail (by detail I mean embossed/engraved detail). You must also keep in mind other criteria like min supported wall thickness and min unsupported wall thickness. 2 - What does a domestic printer cost to buy and to run?All I know is that it's not that cheap. But roughly starting at 500 quid for a good one. 3 - how much does a 'one off' print job about the size of a locomotive body produced commercially cost?Depending on size, something the size of a LB&SCR E2 can be rougly 25-35 quid. And something the size of say a Class 60/66/92 can be over 80 quid. 4 - are there any restrictions as to size and the material used e.g. do these machines only print in plastic?Yes, depending on the type of printer there are restrictions, usually the size of the printing table. There's a variety of materials, nylon based, plastic, even wood. Most recently China 3D printed homes in concrete on a giant scale. 5 - What are the requirements for producing the drawing to drive the printer, does it require a specialist software package to prepare the drawing?I use SketchUp, it's free and by far the most powerful and easy-to-learn software. I actually learnt how to use SketchUp without any tutorials for help. I did it all by myself and it took me a month and a half. I'd be more than happy to help you out. 6 - Have any of you done any 3D printing, if so how did you like the result?Yes, incidentally I just received my first set of 3D prints, I was contemplating on whether to post them here or not. Afterall I do run a small hobby/business and I was afraid many would mistake it for advertising. I do have an online shop on Shapeways, though I mostly dabble in T gauge (1:450) I have a couple of OO gauge detailing parts for Hornby models so I didn't want it to come across as advertising. I can give you my feedback based on Shapeways only, I tried two materials - WSF and FUD. WSF was too grainy for my liking and the post-printing work i.e. wet and dry sanding is just too time consuming. FUD on the other hand is much much better and requires less post-printing work (I have dileberately not sanded my FUD parts just to see it's final outcome). T gauge (1:450) Indian Railways 4-6-2 WP Class/media/tinymce_upload/8d02486405eb51878ba322ab56fd9f48.JPG /media/tinymce_upload/489d48801670a84034b9a8c5c26cb3dd.JPG T gauge (1:450) GWR Lineside Huts/media/tinymce_upload/019adb78f7b9ab674e01e686b7ef1848.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/190196282ed75c8c5991372fa6a9f329.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/af71cedc76c4ae4ba141ffdacab8d1bf.jpg T gauge (1:450) GWR Pagoda Waiting Room/media/tinymce_upload/79188f93353cb6471754256f8ecb7fd2.jpg T gauge (1:450) GWR Water Towers/media/tinymce_upload/c05c471a58d7168f2198b13c73d542d5.jpg/media/tinymce_upload/4ba2f855d1b52213e0d463401b1892b0.jpg HO gauge (1:87) Indian Railways SAN DL700 Industrial Shunter/media/tinymce_upload/1b2c85adfea2c37f09fa74553959b75d.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/8c96959c7cc69ce789da308d5b90e502.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/5540986199ef15717ff68c3430b7834e.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/1c4cb86ee4f1403475506f65e396809b.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/13622659d1becc85873eafba986e812f.JPG/media/tinymce_upload/88fafb140d29e1dfff1c980233ee5d4f.JPGNote: The transparent plastic is Shapeways' FUD (Frosted Ultra Detail) a good material that is slightly brittle but also flexible. Finish is pretty smooth and requires the least amount of post-printing work. The white plastic is Shapeways' WSF (White Strong and Flexible). By far the best in terms of robustness but severely let down by it's grainy finish. If you need any more advice and/or tips feel free to ask Adam for my email ID. I'll be more than happy to help you out especially with learning how to design stuff using SketchUp and also 3D printing. Hope my post has been useful to you in some way or the other. Cheers!Jeremiah. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Nice work Jeremiah. I dare say in the not too distant future we'll all own 3D printers, they'll be as cheap as ordinary ones. What is the dimension of the coin? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Howbi Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 @ WTD.................the coin is 27mm diam.........HB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Thanks HB. Having never visited India I didn't have a clue. Flown over it a few times though. 😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeremiahBunyan Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Nice work Jeremiah. I dare say in the not too distant future we'll all own 3D printers, they'll be as cheap as ordinary ones. What is the dimension of the coin?Thanks WTD....I agree, we'll all have our own 3D printers soon. The coin is 2.5cm wide. Cheers!J Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
walkingthedog Posted July 25, 2016 Share Posted July 25, 2016 Thank you JB. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ73 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Hiya :)Well I have just spent the last 79 weeks building my own 3D Printer :) If you want to see how I got on then you can see how I built it b/c I have done a build & review on my YouTube Channel - Goto Jimyjames73 on YouTube, then click on Playlist, then click on 3D Printer Build & Review. It comes from a week by week Mag & build it week by week - complete in 90 Parts by Eaglemoss. In the mag it tells al about 3D Printing & shows you how to use both SketchUp & Blender - both 3D design modelling software (I have found SketchUp easier to use). If you want to know more about the Vector 3 3D Printer then go to :- http://www.3dprinter-collection.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JJ73 Posted July 26, 2016 Share Posted July 26, 2016 Me again just to answer your Q's.1. The V3 can produce some detail but not much as it is only a small 3D Printer, not sure about commercial printers.2. Well as my V3 3D Printer came in weekly parts, Issue 1 - £1.99 all other issues 2 to Issue 90 @ £6.99 apart from 2 issue @ £14.99 due to 2 parts being exspenive!!! Once built, all you have to buy extra is the PLA or ABS Filament.3. Not sure.4. As I said above there is restrictions as to size of the V3 Printer, but it does talk about in the magazines that other people building larger 3D Printers printing Larger objects, & no not only can you use plastic but amazingingly enough in the magazine it also talks about people building special 3D printers to print out Food, brick to build building with, body parts - any thing really!!!5. Well 1st you need to design the object to print - you can use either SketchUp or Blender (SketchUp is easier to use), then you need a Print Program to print it out with, I use 3D Create & Print which you can d/l for free from www.3dprinter-collection.com6. Well even though I haven't quite finish building my V3, it is complete enough to do some actual 3D Printing, I had a go at doing some 3D printing but found a part was "faulty" which ment it could not print well :( If you go to my YouTube channel Jimyjames73, click on Playlist, then click on 3D Printer Build & Review you will be able to see how I got on!!!I hope that my 2 entries/replys help :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LCDR Posted July 26, 2016 Author Share Posted July 26, 2016 Lots of good stuff there folks! Thank you all. Much food for thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 As I have bought five Hornby short clerestories recently I thought I should try to hollow out and reduce the wall thickness of the interiors I produced for these coaches. To my delight the revised prints arrived from shapeways today and the work although they do feel a bit more delicate they are still robus enought to handle with care. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
96RAF Posted January 14, 2020 Share Posted January 14, 2020 I have one 3-D printed prototype loco body and it is not robust. The plastic it was printed from feels as if lacking in strength and as though it may crumble in years to come. I appreciate materials improve and some are better than others for a particular purpose so maybe this rapid prototype would be OK if printed in a different material. Costs of reasonable quality home printers are coming down with at least one less than £200. There is an active review section on RM Web forum 3-D printing section. I have been tempted to buy but then again laser cutting has also tempted me, so sitting on the fence for now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
81F Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 I have been 3D printing for a few years now via Shapeways and my early items show no sign of degrading. Some of the plastics are fragile, but this can be overcome by using the appropriate thickness for the material or bracing from behind. I would add that my Siphon J body is no less weak than a Lima Siphon G except that when it breaks it shatters rather than splits The coach interiors I have printed feel quite flimsey but the flexible material I used is quite durable. Besides once inside the coach they are protected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now