Finally got a 3D Printer...

[TodorSauce]

So yea, I finally jumped on it and bought a 3D printer. I did a bit of research and decided to go with the Creality Ender 3 Pro. Its got some superb reviews for being a sub $300 printer. It should be here by tomorrow after I get home from work. Been doing the standard youtubing of tutorials and recommended upgrades for my printer and also spending some free time getting a crash course in Fusion360. Fusion is actually super intuitive and kind of similar to Autocad which I have some previous experience with. Looking forward to getting back into things a bit.

Any 3D printing tips from the pro's here?

and so it begins.

 

[Noah]

Welcome back dude! Been a while

I believe that a couple of people here have the Ender 3 and have tuned it amazingly well. @fibbef and @nobble I know both own one off the top of my head, but I'm sure others do as well and can give you some solid advice on the printer. Glass bed and auto-leveling are godsends though, so if those upgrades are available I wouldn't hesitate.

As far as 3D modeling goes, there have been a couple of complete case designs that have been open-sourced, namely the G-Wii by Gman and the Louii by Ginger. Both of these cases are designed around 3D printing and can be imported into fusion so that you can see how certain things are modeled specifically for the constraints that come with 3D printing (mainly wall thickness, how screwposts are printed, etc.) @jefflongo has also created an awesome repository of different models that can be directly uploaded to Fusion so that you don't have to model a bunch of this yourself. His models have definitely saved me lots of time and headaches!

 

[DeoNaught]

Okay, now this is epic

(Can I ask what console you are gonna design for first?)

 

[jefflongo]

Also there's a lot of productive (as well as unproductive) conversation in the Discord channel that's worth joining.

 

[TodorSauce]

Thanks guys. Its good to be back in some capacity or another. I know I don't post much anymore, but I'm always lurking. I wish I had more time these days for hobby stuff. Really trying to make more time happen. I got my workspace in the attic all cleaned up this last weekend in preparation for making a nice home for the Ender 3 and getting back into things.

I've seen some of the stuff released by other members and I have to say its really awesome seeing people share their designs. I'll definitely be sharing whatever I come up with if I think its worth sharing.

As for my first project after getting all set up. Well, you might be disappointed but its likely to be a Pi3B+ portable. I've really wanted to make one for a while now so that I can just hotswap my SD card out of my NESpi+ when I want to play on the go. After that, well... at the very least you know there will be a Wii portable at some point. After that, who knows. Maybe I'll finish that xbox thing I started like 8 years ago.

 

[lyberty5]

No one is disappointed do what you want
I have two ender 3 also and both work great while having different issues. We're here to help :p

 

[darkwing]

Hey man, welcome back!
I've been also thinking about getting on the 3D printer bandwagon.
Looking forward to get your impression on the Ender 3 and progress on your project.

 

[ShockSlayer]

Spread TodorSauce all over my body, I'm so ready. Lather me up, daddy.

You're goddamn right I'm disappointed that you're making a Pi portable, but if you bend the circuit board in half or whatever animal magic you have in store hit me up 'cause that's spicy.

SS

 

[Aurelio]

Welcome back! We have all been waiting for this.
Hit me up whenever you want to start building a wii portable

 

[Nold]

Me entering this thread right now....

Holy shit! Welcome back, dude!

 

[TodorSauce]

So I've had my printer for a few days now and I didn't waste any time getting it set up and running. I've been spending my time tweaking it and printing out some upgrades from thingieverse. Maybe its just me being excited about being able to print whatever I want, but I think this thing is freaking awesome sauce. Out of the box it was printing pretty well and after a few minor upgrades it seems to be a really awesome little printer for less than $300.00. I don't think there is a real excuse for everyone not to have one of these...

A few things I'm wondering about though are:

1. Does everyone generally stick to PLA? Has anyone here dabbled into printing with ABS? Upsides? Downsides to both? How does PLA hold up over time? I've read its not a UV stable material.

2. Someone mentioned wall thickness earlier concerning portables. Whats the issue that is encountered with walls?

3. What slicer is everyone using? I've just been using the creality one that came on the SD card with the printer. Any general reccomendations for print settings, etc, especially concerning portable cases?

I'm sure I'll think of some more questions...

Check that 3D Benchy... I think it turned out pretty damn nice... I've still got to measure it with my calipers to see how accurate the print is. But no stringing whatsoever.

Spoiler: My Prints

 

[Aurelio]

1. Most of us use PLA. ABS is hard to print and releases a lot of toxic fumes. You should also look into PETG, it is stronger than PLA and it has an higher glass transition temperature.

2. Wall thickness is an important factor to consider, especially with PLA since it's quite brittle and tends to snap. Some use 2mm walls or so, but you can go lower (I often do 1mm) if you design your portable so that the internals also act as a support for the walls (see the internal pics in the spoiler here for example: https://bitbuilt.net/forums/index.php?threads/piizza-1-5-complete.2298/)

3. I have used simplify3d for a while, but they don't really update it very often, so you would waste $150. Check out Prusa Slicer, it is designed to be used for Prusa original printers, but you can use it with pretty much any printer running Marlin, including the Ender 3

 

[cheese]

1. I've dabbled in ABS, it is not easy to get right... It's not much different from PLA besides it's higher melting temperature, so it's not really worth it to try and print in it...

2. Aurelio got this one good

3. I personally use Cura, and it works decently well, the default profiles for the Ender 3 and CR10S4 printers I have work basically flawlessly out of the box.

 

[fibbef]

I printed that very same filament guide arm. For some reason the part that presses into the frame started coming loose, so I used some duct tape to hold it in place. A bit tacky, but I don't care how the printer looks, just the prints. But still it's a good print because I made a spool rack out of pvc pipes and I have some spools feeding from the far right side of my printer.

 

[lyberty5]

just seeing these prints I wanted to mention, you really don't need rafts. Don't worry and save yourself some time. If your model doesn't stick just apply 1 layer of regular glue stick and it'll do the job.

I only use rafts for prints with little to no first layer surface

 

[TodorSauce]

Heh, I kinda figured out the raft thing on my own after a bit. I read all this junk about bed adhesion going into all of this that had me scared to print without one at first. Turns out the E3Pro has really good adhesion with the supplied magnetic mat. Puts a nice texture on the first layer of prints and everything.

Anyway, here's some more messing about I did early on testing out what I could do and how to do it.

Spoiler: Prints!

 

[jefflongo]

Wow, them prints look amazing. Unfortunately I do not own the Creality printer but I've recently ordered the AnyCubic I3 Mega. I certainly can't wait for it to arrive. I am planning on making a Ps2 portable laptop with the slim model but with the disc reader still intact with the motherboard. During the casing I'd separately print a removable lid that goes on top of the disc to insert the disc etc. I am planning on using a 12inch screen from a laptop with a controller board. Firstly could anyone make me a simple diagram on what do I solder on the PS2 that goes to one of bits on the controller board so when the console is plugged in it automatically powers up the screen also. Also could someone make a another diagram on how to soldier an amplifier board PAM8803 to the console motherboard and then another diagram on how to solder DS lite speakers to the amplifier board. I am planning to power the whole system through an outlet and not batteries. After everything is wired I will print a border for the screen and a casing with tiny screw holes and mounting for the components that will go inside. I will have someone design the casing for me and everything cause I don't have any experience in CAD design or measurements so I'll be paying the person who designs me the custom case and then I will be assembling the whole thing with them tiny black screws you see inside laptops. I prefer making something I can take apart to later on admire the scene going on inside the casing. I will use a black PLA filament. Sorry for the long Essay and I'm looking forward to everyone's replies and views. Ciao!

Nobody is going to sit here and do all that work for you. You clearly need to do some research on your own, as almost all your questions could be answered by reading through the guide hub, trimming guides, and other people's worklogs. This community is glad to help people out but has never been in the business of spoon-feeding readily available information. If you're looking for a commission, then you should create your own thread in the marketplace subforum.