3D
So I've been working hard on learning Blender and FreeCAD, and have been designing my own parts for a while now. I've printed replacement parts for broken household items, made soft-plastic practice knives for karate class, parts for drones, boxes, hardware for a clothesline, even electronic parts for a functional 2W laser pistol.
Check out my Thingiverse account. I'm not popular. I don't mind.
MY PRINTER
I've got a Monoprice Maker Select 3D that's been customized a lot.
The printer's been upgraded with components printed on it. The print head has been modified to handle soft filament, I've added a tool rack, a steel bedframe, and a permanent glass bed, and incorporated a Raspberry Pi3 as an Octopi managment unit and camera.
IFAQ (Infrequently Asked Questions)
An IFAQ is a list of little useful bits of knowledge that you may never have thought to ask!
- Q: Do 3D printers have resolution like a monitor or ink printer?
A: Yes! It can have a significant effect on your prints as well. The most important resolution is the up-and-down axis, Z, which sets your layer thickness. If the resolution for Z does not match, you will get horizontal banding, where your printer's resolution doesn't match, just like a monitor would have if it was trying to scale a picture! For instance, the common default layer thickness 0.1mm isn't even on my printer, which has a Z-step of 0.04. The thickness should be set to 0.12mm for best results!
Timelapses
Here are some timelapses: