3D printers

[mmayo]

I'm thinking of buying one. I'd like to make TBC bushings FOR SANDING after turning my blanks. Also will duplicate stock (non TBC) bushing for buffing.

Which one do you have?
Would you buy that one again?
Could you print a TBC bushing with yours?

Thanks in advance for your help.

 

[woodwzrd]

Printing TBC bushings for sanding and buffing is a great idea.

I have a Creality Ender 3 at home and run an Ender 3 Max and a Creality CR-10 S5 at work. The Ender 3 Max is essentially the same printer that I have at home with a bigger print capacity. The Ender 3 is more or less 8x8x10 while the Max is 12x12x13. The CR-10 S5 is 20x20x20 and is the largest Creality printer.

Of the three the, CR-10 S5 is the most finicky. The huge print capacity is nice but it takes a bit to get it dialed in.

The Enders are very user friendly and are great first time printers. The Ender 3 is great for smaller work and if all your are going to print is bushings it would probably be the best choice. Both the Ender 3 and the Ender 3 Max are very capable of printing your bushings.

If I were to start over, knowing what I do now about the different Creality printers, I would probably start off with the Ender 3 Max. If I get to a point at work were the two printers that we have are not enough to keep up with demand I will probably buy another Ender 3 Max.

Both Ender 3 printers are very reasonably priced. Micro Center had been running a sale on the Ender 3 pro and they were $100 with a coupon that you could print online. Regular price I think they are around $200. I bought the Ender 3 Max that I have at work on Amazon for $360.

 

[mmayo]

This printer caught my eye.

 

[hooked]

I was considering the CR-6 when it was being crowdfunded. I ended up going with the Ender 3 V2. There are comparison videos online which will show the differences. They are both great printers and if you go with the CR-6 I am sure you will be thrilled with it.

I now have 2 of the Ender 3 V2 printers. It has been a great printer for my hobby use. I make a lot of things for the shop and my kids make all kinds of toys, statues, and collapsible swords. I think the most significant feature you want to look for in Ender printers is the auto bed-leveling feature. It really helps get cleaner prints. Some printers do not come with auto-leveling, but you can easily add a Creality auto-leveling kit (CR Touch) for about $50. That CR-6 has auto-leveling built in. I would also replace the stock plastic extruder with a metal extruder. You can get metal parts on Amazon for under $20 and swap them out. The last inexpensive upgrade would be to change the Bowden tube to Capricorn. Capricorn tube feeds the filament much better than the stock Bowden tube. There are upgrade sets on Amazon that have Capricorn and metal replacement parts.

I personally find Ender printers to be great. Many of them require a lot of tweaking and minor adjustments to get them working well. When assembling, they take some time and thought to make sure everything is squared up properly with the frame. Once I added metal extruder parts and a new Bowden tube my print quality went from good to great.

Here is my printer in my workshop. I keep it in a ventilated flame-resistant tent. My kids print things that take 48 hours. I don't trust these things running at 400+ degree temperatures unattended, but have never had an issue.

 

[mredburn]

Besides the printer you will need cad software to draw with if you havent already acquired a program. You can always beg, buy or borrow someone else's STL files until you need to make something custom. You could turn brass stock down to make bushings for sanding and finishing. I have a Creality S10 v2 and its fun to make stuff with. You can also make blank molds for casting if you like to do that kind of thing.

 

[mmayo]

It is very possible that I may beg, borrow etc to get files to start a set of TBC sanding bushings and perhaps copies of stock bushings. Bolt or Diamond Knurl ballpoint/Sierra come to mind. After that modifying the cad file could be completed.

I'll appreciate help from those of you who do this often and with aplomb.

Autoleveling sounds like aspirin to a headache.

 

[mmayo]

Prusa is gaining interest now, especially the completely built version. The auto leveling feature with each print seems excellent along with the roughly 10 x 10 build size.

 

[hooked]

They are great printers. Huge user community and lots of available parts and accessories. Print quality is top-notch as well.

 

[mmayo]

Ordered just now. Yippee

 

[mmayo]

Arrives 6/30. Surprise of an import duty fee $55, but ok still. Baby steps at Tinkercad.

 

[mmayo]

Baby steps!

It arrived in pristine condition
I ran the calibration and alignment routines
It autolevels with every single thing you print.
I printed a Prusa bottle opener from the SD card

Tom Petty said "Into the great wide open" and here I come. And yes, I may be a rebel without a clue, but not for long.

 

[mmayo]

I still have some very minor fine tuning, but Tinkercad is working well as is Prusaslicer and my Prusa MK3S+ 3D printer. A learning curve was not too painful.

My goal was plastic sanding and buffing bushings and I've achieved that goal. Now my Nikitas bushings will be used just for turning and my lathe made Delrin bushings will be retired as I 3D print their replacements. Good news - lose one or damage one and 20 minutes later you have a brand new copy.

It is possible that I'll switch to another filament, but considering what these will be used for and the temps involved they should be fine.

I made the stock bushings 25.4 mm long to match the Nikitas TBC bushings instead of PSI lengths. Bushings created by me and the hex nut handle too using free Tinkercad.