3D Printers

[Jonj1611]

I did struggle finding a purpose for it, I wanted to try both, filament and resin and while filament is a faff with bed levelling etc its nothing compared to the clean up needed for resin. As for bed levelling I am going to try one of those auto levelling devices and see how that works.

Resin had quite a small build area as well and a lot of the things I wanted to do were outside the build area and couldn't be scaled down for what I wanted. I can see many advantages to resin in terms of resolution and finish but for me in the end it was just sitting there and everytime I was thinking about printing something I was more thinking about the clean up required.

Now in a few years time I am sure they will have an auto filter and return to tank system(if they haven't already)

[DanceswithUnix]

Now in a few years time I am sure they will have an auto filter and return to tank system(if they haven't already)

I believe the Prusa SL1S has removable tanks with lids, so you just have a tank per resin, pop a lid on it and stack the spare tanks up.

[Jonj1611]

Yes I think it puts it in, I was referring more to taking it back out

[Kanoe]

Our 1st 3d printer just arrived:

Phrozen Sonic Mini 8k

Not had time to really get it out of the box yet and give it a whirl but hope to in the next couple of months, hopefully before the FDM Printer we ordered arrives

I imagine the learning curve is going to be steeeeeeeeeep.

[Jonj1611]

Looks great The learning curve isn't that bad for resin printers I found. Mostly the settings I needed were to make sure the model adhered to the bed and to get good detail.

[Kumagoro]

Looks like we have settled on this at work. I'm not sure it is really worth the money, but we were given the money and it had to be spent so why not. What I learned from doing this is that it is extremely hard to tell what is good over a 1000 quid and which ones are value for money. Compared to the low end there is not as much going on review and opinion wise.

[DanceswithUnix]

Looks like we have settled on this at work. I'm not sure it is really worth the money, but we were given the money and it had to be spent so why not. What I learned from doing this is that it is extremely hard to tell what is good over a 1000 quid and which ones are value for money. Compared to the low end there is not as much going on review and opinion wise.

That's a decent print volume and a very pretty looking printer. I'm sure it will be fine, but I do wince at the price.

We have a dual extruder printer at work, can't remember the make but it's quite old now. In 4 years of working there I haven't seen both extruders in use, and now it's been replaced with a Prusa MK3/S+

[Kumagoro]

Originally I was going to get a laser cutter as well as a DLP resin printer and a cricut and a load of consumables just to do stuff with but my boss was concerned with health and safety getting involved and having buckets of isopropyl and lasers means hassle with writing risk assessments and it put him off. We got the computerised cutter which left a hefty amount. I would have got the older pro2 which is 3800 but it is circa 2018-19 and it feels better to get something that will be supported hopefully forget in the future. Another department we work closely with makes use of them a lot more and suggested dual extruder isn't that great a benefit and we would be better off getting multiple single extruder machines. But they make a lot of stuff and for us though I don't think we will use it much but I felt it would be nice to have it and use PVA for supports if we ever need to make complex weird stuff. I'm hoping it will be good at printing TPU

[Jonj1611]

Bit of a thread revival. Just wondered if anyone was using a filament drying box? And if so is it any good or a bit of a fad?

[[GSV]Trig]

I dont, but know people that do.

[Jonatron]

Yeah, I bought a filament dryer recently. It greatly reduces stringing because wet filament oozes. The UK has very high humidity, so you can't just leave filament out. Ordinary PLA (not PLA+) is less affected, but I can print PETG now without it being a total mess.

[Jonj1611]

Thank you. I have been thinking about getting one but like all these things never know if they actually work or not.

[[GSV]Trig]

I just stick my filament in a bag in a cupboard when not using it tbh

[Saracen999]

From what I can make of it, it makes little or no difference with some filaments, when new(-ish), but with other filament types it can make a very big difference indeed to keep them very dry. Also, if something's been sitting around for ages and picked up a bit of moisture, a thorough drying can make the difference between that filament producing a useless mess and being unusable, or pretty much fine. Sometimes.

My conclusion, looking from the outside in, was that how useful, or perhaps essential, one is depends on what you print with, how much and how often you print, how much you chop and change types, and how often you have unused filament laying around. Therefore, for some users maybe essential, but for others, pointless. Yet more uses, somewhere in-between.

That's probably not much help, though.

Note - this is what I've gleaned from watching and reading, NOT personal expeience, so I could be way off the mark.

[Jonj1611]

I have PLA filament which isn't printing too well, I have had it for a while and haven't really stored it particularly well but its not really that cheap to buy, I mean 3 rolls of what I have is £45 and I am using multiple colours at the moment. It's my own fault hence why I am wondering whether moisture has got to it and if a drying box would be any benefit.

I don't really print that much I guess

[[GSV]Trig]

Have you printed temp and retraction towers?

I was struggling with adhesion and stringing and turns out I was printing way above what the filament seemed to actually like...