3-D Printer

Not to many people know that there is a machine for home use that prints in plastic layer by layer building an object when it is finished. The 3-D printer prints with abs or pla plastic in any color as it is fed up to the extruders and heated then layed down in layers.

Any STL file or cad model can be converted to the BFB file that loads into the machine via USB memory stick or direct connection with a computer. The pictures show a boat propeller and a half scale Walt Disney head plus a few other items. Great for prototyping or modeling.

bruski

 

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What is the machine design shown in the third picture?

Im an RP engineer by trade - 14 years at FMC in the UK. Some of these RP machines are amazing, but most of them are very expensive to run. What is the layer thickness on this one. The norm is .15 m but this looks like it has a very good finish, especially on the screws.

Nitewatchman, not sure what you are referring to in the third picture, but here is another picture of the actual machine. It has several stepper motors and it\'s own little computer next to the spool of black abs plastic near the bottom.

Pmercer,

The layer amount can be picked from three different amounts, .125mm,.25mm, .5mm. This machine is from the UK and sells for about $2,600 with two extruders. You really only need one extruder to do a job though.

bruski

 

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[quote name=\"Pmercer\"]Im an RP engineer by trade - 14 years at FMC in the UK. Some of these RP machines are amazing, but most of them are very expensive to run. What is the layer thickness on this one. The norm is .15 m but this looks like it has a very good finish, especially on the screws.[/quote]

I agree, my group has a Zcorp 450 at my day job. Does a great job but it is pricey to run.

We use it to produce R&D Models and some small casting patterns.

nitewatchman

I plan to make some casting patterns in the future. This machine is farely cheap to run as the material is about 75 bucks for a spool and it lasts a long time as the internal density of the models are adjustable from 0 to high density. The head model is hollow with a 1/8 inch skin thickness. The head did take about 12 hours to complete though and the boat propellers about 6 hours each and 10 minutes for a screw.
bruski

[Dave]

What machine is that and what are the table dimensions? Ive been sniffing around at these....

Dave,
 This machine is manufactured by Bits from Bytes and it is the 3D Touch model with 2 extruders. They have other models with 1, 2 or 3 extruders but you really only need one to do your job with unless you need 2 or 3 different colors in your model. Even then 1 extruder will still work, but you would need to change the spool of material then continue.
 The table dimensions are X 15\" Y11\" Z8\"
I should add that there is now a software that will convert approximatly 40 or 50 digital pictures of an object into a file that the machine will use to make that model in any scale up to the capacity of the machine.
bruski

Interesting that they do a version with one nozzle, normally the 2nd nozzle is a softer material, normally in a different color that lays out a support structure for overhangs etc.

You can lay down a matting or what they call a raft in one type of material first then build your model on top of that with another type of material. I use the same material for both, then break off the raft the same way as you would with the other material.
 The extra extruders are mainly used for different colors in the same model.
bruski

Here is a picture of a model that was made by taking about 50 photos with a digital camera then using the free software available to convert it into a scalable model of the item. This is the first try at this so it isn\'t perfect, but it\'s a start.

bruski

Sorry, both pictures are the same but don\'t know how to remove one of them. (I fixed it - nitewatchman)

 

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