Who does 3D printing?

Chasefooo said:

ToolAA,
What filament material did you use? Just regular PLA?
also, why not just 100% infill?

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for most shapes very little is gained (other than time and weight) from going to 100% infill

kohburn said:

for most shapes very little is gained (other than time and weight) from going to 100% infill

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Would you say the same for a lower? I've been playing around with settings to print a finished custom lower with no fit issues, and works properly. If it works well i want to try doing lost wax cast in aluminium.
I started printing with .3mm nozzle ABS but have since changed to a .8mm with PLA with much better success (probably going to take it back down to a .6/.5)

Any tips would be appreciated!

Chasefooo said:

Would you say the same for a lower? I've been playing around with settings to print a finished custom lower with no fit issues, and works properly. If it works well i want to try doing lost wax cast in aluminium.
I started printing with .3mm nozzle ABS but have since changed to a .8mm with PLA with much better success (probably going to take it back down to a .6/.5)

Any tips would be appreciated!

Click to expand...

for lost wax casting PLA is definitely the best choice, it burns out clean and is the easiest to get a finish finish with. you would want minimal fill material to have to burn out, but not so little that you start seeing register lines on the outer layer from where the fil makes contact.

if trying to print one to use as is then I would actually use solid fill since most of it is thin wall to start with. I think trying to get a nice finish from it with layers oriented the correct direction will be difficult without a dissolvable support material. I would also likely add external reinforcement to the body similar to how the polymer80 lowers are beefed up. One safe bet when dealing with structural parts is to set it so you have enough walls to build up to ~ .12" or 3mm, inside of that you can choose the fill based on how large the wall area is for rigidity.

I use a .4 nozzle for most things.


its a fun hobby.

I've printed PLA, PLA+, HIPS, ABS, ABS+, nylon, PETG, and TPU (similar to ninjaflex)
I'm going to be trying my hand with some carbon filled polycarbonate soon.

Thanks for the info!
I've been running a home-built printer for the last few years which has seen many revisions. Hard printing ABS on such a large part. Someday i will buy or build a much more capable and rigid printer with 2 extruders for melt away supports. But for now I've decided to stick to PLA for ease.
Once I take the time to sit down and redesign the 3d model I downloaded, I will definitely add more support and reinforcement with a cool custom look to it!

Photo is of most successful .8mm PLA print with no support. Mag well fit is too tight and will take some work.

Chasefooo said:

ToolAA,

What filament material did you use? Just regular PLA?

also, why not just 100% infill?

Click to expand...

I was using PLA. Like Kolburn noted printing 100% infill really does not add that much more strength to the part. In retrospect if I could make it again I would use about 30% infill and a thinner wall thickness but print thinner layers slower to get a better finish.

Chasefooo said:

Thanks for the info!

I've been running a home-built printer for the last few years which has seen many revisions. Hard printing ABS on such a large part. Someday i will buy or build a much more capable and rigid printer with 2 extruders for melt away supports. But for now I've decided to stick to PLA for ease.

Once I take the time to sit down and redesign the 3d model I downloaded, I will definitely add more support and reinforcement with a cool custom look to it!



Photo is of most successful .8mm PLA print with no support. Mag well fit is too tight and will take some work.

Click to expand...

That’s one of the biggest issues I am having too. Internal diameters seem to always be 5-10% too small. My usual strategy is to make a test print of only a small section and use that to check the fit of critical parts.

ToolAA said:

That’s one of the biggest issues I am having too. Internal diameters seem to always be 5-10% too small. My usual strategy is to make a test print of only a small section and use that to check the fit of critical parts.

Click to expand...

Thanks for the tips! Cool to see other professional/hobbyists in the field on here.

took an Anet A8 and upgraded it to dual print heads this weekend. also picked up a spool of carbon filled polycarbonate (high temp printing, must have all metal hot end) I look forward to seeing how strong this stuff can be.

ToolAA said:

That’s one of the biggest issues I am having too. Internal diameters seem to always be 5-10% too small. My usual strategy is to make a test print of only a small section and use that to check the fit of critical parts.

Click to expand...

It's not really that Internet diameters are "too small", it's that they're designed for CNC usage, and filament shrinks and 3D printers tend not to be quite as precise.

Pay for an RMR slide cover? Not when I've got OpenSCAD and a 3D printer!

Not quite done yet with the aesthetics, but it fits quite nicely as it is, which is a good place to proceed from.