Like a lot of things, 3D Printing involves some skill and equipment in order to do the job. Every so often some "expert" puts online a 3D Printer test which they claim that "a cheap 3d printer can not do this" and then shows examples of failed prints and broken prints from what they claim were cheap printers.
I own two Tronxy Printers - both costs were under $150 each, though they were last years X-Mas presents from my friend
and my daughters. These are the kind of printers these "experts" say can not do these kinds of tests successfully. I raise my middle finger to these so-called experts.
These pictures are of a little X-Mas Ball "especially designed by such and such company for their high end printers," "no way a cheap printer can print these!" "It must be able to print the curves and then the tree inside, which are all based on a mathematical formula..." "Blah Blah Blah Blah..." Well, the proof is in the pudding. Apparently my printers can do the impossible according to them. I have been printing them out all day, and giving them out to friends and family.
I may not have the high resolution they made have, nor can I print them as fast as their $2000 - $5000 printers can, but what is one expecting from a cheap printer? It is like comparing a high end Ferrari or Lamborghini to a low end Volkswagen or Chevy. Both will get you there.
I did what I had to do, dialed in the assorted information, loaded up the 3D Print File and let it rip! It takes about an hour for these X-Mas Tree baubles to be printed, but that is fine with me. Just like those artists who bitch,whine, and complain about "I need the Wacom X32000 Super Drawing Pad with Holographic Pen but I do not have the money!" Well, when I'm drawing, it is on a Mac or PC netbook (Lenovo S10E) with a tiny Trackpad about 2in high and 3 1/2in wide and my fat fingers.
It's a very complex shape, I would also assume 3D printers would have a problem with it but looks like you pulled out fine. I know very little about 3D printing, but I'm fascinated by the whole thing. In the future entire buildings are printed on site.
It's a very complex shape, I would also assume 3D printers would have a problem with it but looks li
A lot of times it is how it is printed than what printer prints it. The "Egg" is 8 Sine Waves and 8 Anti-Sine waves on the X-Axis imposed on a Y Cosine Wave, which is wrapped around the Z-Axis, giving it its football shape, and the tiny tree inside is 6 equilateral triangles per level - 4 levels. The problem is simple - print too fast and it gets out of skew and the print head knocks down the object off the bed. This also depends on the speed of liquefying and hardening of the plastic from nozzle to bed. It is both an art and a science at the same time. Expensive printers ($800 and up) can do this in 30 minutes or so, but if a cheap printer tries at this speed, it fails. Knowing this, I print it slow - about 1/2 the speed of the recommend speed of the expensive printers and the printer gets it done.
Thus I have had 2 fails in printing - trying to recycle some left over filament, it is either the filament being bad or some other reason but it prints OK at 50% and then fails. This is par with the average printing - 1 failure per 20 or 30 prints, and that is low for most printers, cheap or expensive. But this was also an odd-ball filament: transparent blue with glitter in it. Its a decorative filament and it has its problems with other printers, not just mine.
According to my brother, who was with the Army rangers since the 90's until 2010, the Army has been 3D Printing army barracks in far off lands since 2005. these are 1 or 2 story structures, and get put up in a day and "allow to dry" for about a week before troops move in. Compared to hiring contractors and shipping truck loads of materials, it can take 3 weeks to 2 months to build a barrack before. And various places like some parts of the USA, Canada, Dubai, China and other nations, they are already 3D printing houses on site, and/or 3D Printing house/building parts and fitting them together like Legos. Here is what China is doing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MbqfWN-9zHE
If you want to get into 3D printing, you have to ask yourself how technical are you, can you build a kit or you need something pre-assembled? My two were kits that I put together, it took about 4 hours to get it done. The rest is software and knowing how to use it. You do not have to try to design something yourself, as somebody probably had the same idea and planned it out and put it online; all you need is the file to those plans and feed it through the software, sent it through the "slicer" to slice up the plans and then send it to the printer and wait for the printing to be done.
A lot of times it is how it is printed than what printer prints it. The "Egg" is 8 Sine Waves and 8
Presently I don't have the money or the space to dedicate to it, but I'd love to give it a try someday. My brother has some experience with these technologies because he works at a company that builds all kinds of plastic and fiberglass props. So most of what I know is from projects he has worked on, but 3D printing is only a small fraction of the stuff his company does. I'm decently good at putting together kits and assembling stuff, but in recent years my eyesight has deteriorated. I wanted to build the pulse rifle from the movie Aliens, and I was talking with him about making some of the parts in his workshop. That's how my interest in 3D printing started.
And also in my travels to the future I have seen whole towns of 3D printed buildings, especially at planetary colonies.
Presently I don't have the money or the space to dedicate to it, but I'd love to give it a try somed
