3D Printing Aquarium Parts

[Enigma]

Originally Posted by Seriak

That is scary. I wonder how complex of an item it could make. Scary times, when people can print their own guns etc..

If I could print a new magazine for my old Parker Hale 35-06 I'd be thrilled! My Win 94 30-30 could use a couple of new parts, too. It costs me $50 to get a new screw from the US.

[ScubaSteve]

I would not use the OpenGun project as any indicator of the 3D printing field. There was tremendous backlash from the 3D printing community over that one. Even the company who gave them their 3D printer got ****ed off and showed up at their door and took the printer back. It's unfortunate that it's the gun project that gets the news and my friend's who are developing ways to 3D print blood vessels for skin grafts and almost entire replacement limbs (which is next to a bloody miracle) get over shadowed by some yahoo who believes we should be shooting people. That's the media for you...

But 3D printers might potentially (will?) change the way in which we get "things". Soon people can just print out whatever they need. There are even some food printers out there (look up the BurritoBot). I've even seen someone that can print a T-Shirt directly onto someone's skin.

Times are a changin'!

[msjboy]

Not sure if 3Dprinters will ever be as mainstream as bubblejet printers simply because the majority of people don't have the spatial skills to do 3D /CAD modeling to begin with. Ask any joe to do a variable filet or a hyperbolic surface and they'll be stumped. They will be left to print out or do simple modifications to 3df files but that is probably about it. I think only the hobbyist/geeks, tool-die, industrial designers, model makers, CAD/engineers/architects will be the buyers of these devices.
One should be proud Vancouver was the pioneer of 3D printers ( stereolithography) with the VSE company 3D systems back in the mid 80's which still exists today. I had a chance to do a model with their technology but that stuff was totally toxic and would warp under its own weight on larger pieces. However, come 25 years later, I am not sure if the supposed ABS plastic will have the same engineering characteristics for a proper injection moulded grade ABS plastic ( eg. higher thermal, flex etc ). Also, ribs on the layers leaves much to be dersired. On the bright side,
3D printer technology will supposedly be used to built cheap houses for 3D world countries ( use foam/cement like material) and supposedly types of food....

msjboy

Go to news.com and read more if those are interested... use" 3D printers" as keyword.

[ScubaSteve]

Originally Posted by msjboy

Not sure if 3Dprinters will ever be as mainstream as bubblejet printers simply because the majority of people don't have the spatial skills to do 3D /CAD modeling to begin with. Ask any joe to do a variable filet or a hyperbolic surface and they'll be stumped. They will be left to print out or do simple modifications to 3df files but that is probably about it. I think only the hobbyist/geeks, tool-die, industrial designers, model makers, CAD/engineers/architects will be the buyers of these devices.
One should be proud Vancouver was the pioneer of 3D printers ( stereolithography) with the VSE company 3D systems back in the mid 80's which still exists today. I had a chance to do a model with their technology but that stuff was totally toxic and would warp under its own weight on larger pieces. However, come 25 years later, I am not sure if the supposed ABS plastic will have the same engineering characteristics for a proper injection moulded grade ABS plastic ( eg. higher thermal, flex etc ). Also, ribs on the layers leaves much to be dersired. On the bright side,
3D printer technology will supposedly be used to built cheap houses for 3D world countries ( use foam/cement like material) and supposedly types of food....

msjboy

Go to news.com and read more if those are interested... use" 3D printers" as keyword.

I think the aim is to one day have a repository (or store?) of downloadable objects that can be printed with little effort by the lay user. If we want to get really futuristic for a moment, a person could theoretically go to the Apple website, pay them for their new iPad, then print it at home and have it within a few minutes, effectively cutting out the whole shipping/freight industry. We are a long ways off from this but the hope is to eventually move towards Star Trek replicator like technology.

But I agree, for at least the next few years it will be limited to us geeks. Then again, I was able to teach my friend's 10 year old kid how to design parts in SketchUp and print an object in less than an hour. This is the generation that will be using this tech the most, so I have few doubts they could manage it (considering how tech and computer savvy they are).

In terms of materials, it's come a long way. The SLA materials are getting very close to the real thing, but they do still have some issues. When I design my parts I use those material properties rather than expecting ABS-like performance and the parts work awesome. I think I've only ever broken 1 part from the SLA, and I beat the crap out of my parts. My FDM is even better in that I can actually print with ABS and PLA (PLA is very non-toxic and is a dream to print with).

The whole ridges issue is going away as well. My printer does 20 um layers, so unless the light catches the ridges at a particular angle, you don't see or even feel them. There are some printing methods where you get zero ridges (they can even print smooth glass). Take a look at what Shapeways can do. Very impressive. You're right. It's still not yet there but it's moving forward quickly.

[Snaz]

Yep goto model website and watch the 3D image of the item you want...point and print.

Fifteen years ago did anyone expect grandma to edit and publish DVDs of the kids vacation?

[imisky]

lol the openGun thing is laughable, would any of you want to use a plastic gun that shoots bullets? I wouldnt, the chance of it actually being able to pull off 1 shot is very unlikely with FDM, and its probably only doable with laser sintering which wont trickle down to the public domain for another 20 or so years.

I love my 3D printer, its one of those technology that you dont need, but once you have one you ever think how you lived without one. I use it every day but then again Im a designer so I iterate ideas and use it for rapid prototyping purposes.

These tools are pretty amazing, we just got back from an event called World Makerfaire in New York. Its amazing how kids who get exposed to these know so much already about 3D printing, and 3D modeling, and yet they are only 8-9 years old. Imagine what they can be doing if they had one of these they could use to bring their ideas to life. Its amazing times.

I would love to see some photos of the 20 micron prints! I print at 100 and for practical use it is already very high resolution, let alone the time it would take to print an object that is 10cm talls.

[msjboy]

I think the $20K machines by Object print at 16 microns so check picts there.
- for 3d models, Google's sketchup ( they bought out sketchup a few years ago) warehouse has lots of models though many are for architectural purposes.

- they supposedly have new techniques that will increase the speed of print by orders of magnitude but it's still in the labs. ( eg. Vienna university researchers)...
to be profitable with a home 3d printer, doing a diy cone skimmer or something like a mame part will get you the best bang for the buck as opposed to something like a chess piece. Let's hope the plastic is reef safe.
msjboy

[imisky]

@msjboy The point is I want to see an FDM printer using thermal plastic print at 20 microns, not a resin based printer. I print at 100microns because its easily achievable with FDM, even 50 micron is doable. The problem is the nozzle of and the feedrate control that is associated with 10-20 microns are so fine that some printers have a hard time. The time associated as well is the reason why industry companies dont bother touching that resolution with FDM.

Doing home 3D printers is not just about our sw hobby, its much much more. But for our hobby even the plastics are 100% reef safe. PLA is bio pellets, so it will degrade in our systems so thats a no go. ABS on the other hand is lego, it is also fully safe. and I use it in my system and have printed things for friends as well. That includes the ability to print grid wheels that ATB came out with not long ago.

[ScubaSteve]

I'll see if I can find time to do up a 20 um print this weekend. The ones I do have I can't show because we are in the process of patenting the object. Yes, they take for ever.

[imisky]

awesome, maybe I'll adjust Ditto to print some stuff at 50 microns for some prints. Scubasteve hope you dont mind me asking are you a product designer? Ive meet a few locally but Vancouver has a small market for product designers. If you are it would be cool to know some exist on canreef!