So.... 3D printing. Can't be that hard can it? Buy a printer, plug it in, print stuff!
I thought I'd share my plans here. I want to print my own 3D Tourbillion wall clock. Why? Just because. I work in IT, software side of things... but I'm never happier than when pulling old cars and bikes apart. Surely a curious sort like me could pick up 3D printing easily enough?
Well... I've taken photos from the arrival of my Chinese 3D printer and will post my findings here in case anyone, like me, has gone a bit daft during lockdown!! If the thread gathers no interest... I'll let it slip away into oblivion, but here we go:
Is it costly?
After MANY hours of Youtube videos on the subject, I soon picked up that a brand of printer called a Creality Ender 3 exists. Under £200 delivered - part assembled - looks to be a nicely made bit of kit actually. Comes with loads of tools, some white "filament" to start you off and a LOT of users out there on the internet. I actually spotted that Carl over on GasGasBones tinkers with 3D prints on his Instagram page. Dropped Carl a message - turns out his printer is an Ender. OK.. SOLD! Paypal deal was on and I got the new "V2" printer to my door for £168.
This "V2" comes with a glass heated print bed which I'm told is a good thing! Helps the print job to stick. So.... time to bolt this all up. The manual is ok but WAY too small. I can barely read it. Youtube to the rescue. I setup my 10" tablet and followed a build video. It took me about an hour but was in iteself rather rewarding to see it rise from my table top:
What does it use to print with?
There's varous print medias you can use but the most popular for hobby use is stuff called PLA. It comes in 1kg reels and is 1.75mm in diameter. Once heated to over 200 degrees at the nozzle, it's squeezed through a 0.4mm brass nozzle.
Right.... that's me started. I'll post the next bits if there's interest in learning at my pace with me! This is just lagging a week or so behind real time, so i have NO CLUE at this stage if I'll be able to hit my end goal of a wall clock!PLA plastic or polylactic acid is a vegetable-based plastic material, which commonly uses cornstarch as a raw material. ... PLA is a fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer consisting of renewable raw materials. Among all 3D printing materials, PLA is part of the most popular materials used for additive manufacturing.
Speaking of which, this is my inspiration:
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