Does anyone here do 3D printing? I haven't set mine up yet but a flashlight idea is the clips for the headlamps rather than the soft rubber loops. I have a few ideas but I don't have room to set it up yet.
There are a few of us that have 3D printers.
My only recommendation is to put the printer in a separate room that has good ventilation as sometimes the fumes can be unpleasant. Other than that, your mind and ability to use 3d software are your limits.
Did you make an enclosure for it? I think the cheapest way might be to do it with plastic wrap. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZFez8yhgVI4 I heard higher heat is good for the bed, I got an ender 3 pro.
What have you made with it? I like the ideas about using them to make moulds and also reinforcing them with stuff like carbon fiber or fiberglass.
Here are my flashlight related designs.
There are also some clips like this one:
If I didn’t know how write the program how hard would it be to make something from say wax scan it then print it out?
Thanks for posting your designs Sammy! Really appreciate the head lamp clip. One day I hope that there can be a BLF DIY CNC section or models we can make from piping or some sort of metal. If you wanted to get into CNC you can use these two:
https://www.v1engineering.com/
I would love to make my own flashlight heads for fun and also sell custom ones.
Grin, you can look into lost wax casting instead if its one off, design it in a progam, or use a lidar scanner on the wax (found on some samsung phones, and iphone 12 and 13 I believe).
CNC is a completely different territory (at least in parts). When designing 3D parts you always have to consider the constraints by the tooling you can use. For FDM printing it is supports (you can’t print in the air), for injection molding it is flow and pockets (or whatever it is called in this context, the plastic material needs some space to travel in the right direction and speed), for CNC the toolpath (limited movement, tool size). This has a big effect on how you think and model and parts with the same goal have different histories and shapes.
3D modeling takes some learning and experience and spatial thinking. First you have to learn how the software tools work, then what your hardware tooling can do and then you need creative thinking how to design the parts with all the constraints. Once you’re into it, it makes lots of fun, though.
I have done some lost wax casting with silver and aluminium. Coolest thing I made was a spiked flail I had to give it to the police or be charged for prohibited weapons.
Main reason I wanted to scan and print it in 3D is for plastic parts like grip scales. Looks like I am going to have to put in some research and study into drawing on a computer for CNC plasma cutter, 3D printing and PCB design.
Edit, I am going to see if I can make a living with a website that has 3-4 inventory items produced in my blacksmith shop. Then another section with one off lights, knives, swords, axes, stainless steel smoking utensils, large scale model cranes(I am building a 1:10 scale based around a terrex CC6800 it is big and maybe capable of 12t at 1m radius) Controls systems for breweries, solar systems…… see how it goes.
Yes, I just mention it in a very general sense of fabrication. I seen some projects that are lost PLA casting or using it to make moulding. One example is this. https://youtu.be/25PmqM24HEk I posted a thread about making heat conductive heatsink paste, but he also had a epoxy that could be useful. https://www.techingredients.com/product-page/thermal-epoxy
I saw this for single layer etching of pcbs. I know there are brilliant minds on the board that can use this information and maybe input too.
https://hackaday.com/2021/12/28/uv-printing-pcbs/
I probably sound ridiculous because I haven't tried any of it yet lol but its very exciting stuff that I thought I'd share. What software do you use? I heard klipper is good and using an old computer or android seems to be the easiest way to use it. What about modeling?
Grin like this? https://www.bladeforums.com/threads/diy-3d-printed-grip-scales.1747390/
My experiences with 3D scanning for non-organic forms was not so good. Now I use calipers for most measurements and a flatbed scanner for more complex forms. Once you’ve started “reverse engineering” a part often you’ll notice how the original designer thought and worked. For example a radius might be 5 mm and not a random 3.72 mm. 26 mm diameter instead of 25.66. You will recognize in which way a part was manufactured and which tools were used. This helps you to recreate it.
Yes like that, also if you make a custom grip for something basically a piece of clay or plasticine or wax could be used to copy a person’s hand in 3D.
Bit of topic
I have some 32mm 3mm wall titanium tube one piece 1m another 0.5m I brought it to build a staff with offset parabolic mirror in an aliens mouth. I want to cast or machine a copper skeleton then cast a silver body over the top so the copper skeleton is partly exposed. I have the staff, copper, LEP, silver. Maybe one day I will work out how to do it.
Makes sense, as with any machining I guess with 3D printing process sequence is key to getting a good result. Can’t wait to have a play got to finish my new 10m x 14m shed first.
I understand what you mean Sammy. I used to think it was made for my convenience then I bought from the dollar store and realized the opposite was true and it is usually disguised in classier items.
What did you try? This app actually looks pretty good even without lidar. https://youtu.be/0F3uFeqFOOw
grin for a deep level of detail I heard that pewter works well and it’s pretty cheap. It’s got a low melting point too. You can then plate the skeleton. I would consider 3D printing the skeleton, then spray painting it copper or plating it, if you want you can cast it. The silver can be the other section so it can fit right into it and have clean lines.
I’ve tried structure from motion and structured light, but many years ago. Technology advanced and now you got pretty good, consumer friendly software. Back then it was even hard to get the software running (even as a software developer!) because it was not documented, required some obscure, outdated libraries on Windows etc.
Still these technologies are mostly useful for organic forms or as a rough guideline. For everything else good measuring tools and reverse engineering deliver better results in my opinion (but that might change in the future with better auto constraints technology, AI reverse engineering software etc).
Professionally I’m working with 3D lidar systems which are more suited for larger objects. Something like mapping an area of 1 km².
That LIDAR scanning process is cool. Now I understand why it could be difficult now.
Lick I will sit on it for a bit longer because I want to do it out of copper and silver as they conduct heat a lot better. I have a big smelting furnace but I need a crane to lift the 20l stainless crucible 15 Litres of aluminium weighs 50kg. first time ever I have had all my tools and stuff in one place. Oh yeah
I brought a cheap aliexpress drone couple of months ago and it is pretty much completely automated and has some sort of laser obstacle avoidance system on top of it and won’t let you fly into things.
I did not make an enclosure, you don’t need one. Just keep your printer out of cool breeze ways.
I have made a tone of things. From Dinosaur skeletons to loaders for freedom seeds. Face masks to Chip clips. I have made Grogru to LA-L59 ( Just finishing up and getting ready for paint. Thanks Droid Division. 
I have had mine for over 4 years and enjoy making random things. When I started I was like how can I make money, Now I am like who cares? I need to print thing thing that I want.
I have never tried to make molds with them and that is not my thing. So your mileage may vary.
I use mine all the time, and I’ve gotten pretty good at designing things. I used to break phone holsters all the time and buy new ones so I designed my own to print. Now it’s 10 cents to print a new one instead of 10 dollars to buy one.
I’ve printed a new end connector for my pool vacuum hose instead of buying a new hose, that saved me $50.
I designed a venturi for my pool return jet to aerate the water to raise the ph, now I dont have to buy chemicals to raise it.
I’ve made lots of other stuff as well, it’s definitely more than paid for itself in the time I’ve had it.
Think I need one. The round borosilicate print bases make good lenses for big lights.
I used to 3d print, Even did 3d printed light for a scratch build contest, designed entire light myself. i had cr10s, but no longer have the time for it, gave it away to a friend's kid, with all the parts and supplies.