3d Printer hacks

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Mt Everest Lamp Recreates The Famous Peak

October 5, 2019 by 7 Comments

Anyone who has travelled to distant mountain peaks has marvelled at the beauty of the natural, rugged terrain. [apoorvas15] is no different, and created a lamp that celebrated the awe of the largest mountain on earth.

When it comes to reproducing an accurate geometrical representation of the landscape, the easiest approach is to reach for some variety of CNC machinery. Here, a 3D printer is used to create a translucent shell replicating the mountain. A reverse shell is then laced on the bottom to create an effect akin to that of a reflection in a lake. The assembly was fitted with WS2812 LEDs run by an Arduino Nano, and suspended from a stainless steel frame for an attractive floating look.

It’s a great piece, one that would look suitably impressive on any desk or coffee table. The 3D printer has served many makers well when it comes to producing attractive home lighting. We’ve seen many great builds — from the 8-bit to the floral-inspired. Video after the break.

Continue reading “Mt Everest Lamp Recreates The Famous Peak” →

E3D Tool Changer Partially Reviewed

October 4, 2019 by 7 Comments

[Design Prototype Test] got a box in the mail. Inside? An E3D “tool changer and motion system.” Superficially, it looks like a 3D printer, but it is touted as a machine that can mount several different kinds of tools, including a 3D print head. In the video below, you can see the assembly of the heavy-looking machine.

In a world in which a cheap 3D printer costs way under $200, this machine is much sturdier and costs about $3,000 with all the pieces. [Design Prototype Test] is a bit put out by the price, but you have to wonder if they aren’t trying to allow for an eventual CNC head for which the extra-sturdy build could be an advantage. However, the use of motion belts makes that seem like a long shot.

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PrintEye Gives You Stats In A Blink

October 3, 2019 by 4 Comments

Once upon a time, most things were single-purpose, like the pocket watch. Then somebody made a watch with a date function, and next thing you know, we had TV/VCR combos and Swiss army knives. Now, people pull computers out of their pockets just to check the time or the bed temperature of their RepRap.

[Owen]’s antidote for this multi-function madness is PrintEye, a simple interface that queries his printer and displays its vital signs on a pair of OLED peepers. It’s a parts bin special, and you know how much we love those. PrintEye connects to the Duet controller over UART, and does its firmware whispering with an ATMega328P. The ‘Mega sends a single M-command and gets back all the status and temperature data in JSON format. Then it parses the info and displays it on twin OLED screens.

Want to make one? [Owen]’s got all the files you need over on IO, but offers no hand-holding services. If you’ve never spun a board before, this could be your introduction. Have to have an internet connection? Check out the Octoprint monitor that inspired PrintEye.

X-Printer Fits In A Backpack

October 2, 2019 by 16 Comments

3D printers are great for rapid prototyping, but they’re not usually what you’d call… portable. For [Malte Schrader], that simply wouldn’t do – thus, the X-printer was born!

The X-printer is a fused-deposition printer built around a CoreXY design. Its party piece is its folding concertina-style Z-axis, which allows the printer to have a build volume of 160x220x150mm, while measuring just 300x330x105mm when folded. That’s small enough to fit in a backpack!

Getting the folding mechanism to work took some extra effort, with the non-linear Z-axis requiring special attention in the firmware. The printer runs Marlin 1, chosen for its faster compile time over Marlin 2. Other design choices are made with an eye to ruggedness. The aluminium frame isn’t as light as it could be, but adds much needed rigidity and strength. We’d love to see a custom case that you could slide the printer into so it would be protected while stowed.

It’s a build that shows there’s still plenty to be gained from homebrewing your own printer, even in the face of unprecedented options on the market today. We’ve seen other unique takes on the portable printer concept before, too. Video after the break.

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When Does Moving To Resin 3D Printing Make Sense?

October 2, 2019 by 50 Comments
An Elegoo Mars resin 3D printer, straight to my doorstep for a few hundred bucks. What a time to be alive.

Resin-based 3D printers using digital light processing (DLP) and especially stereolithography (SLA) are getting more common and much more affordable. Prosumer-level options like Formlabs and the Prusa SL1 exist, but more economical printers like the Elegoo Mars, Anycubic Photon, and more can be had for a few hundred bucks. Many printers and resin types can even be ordered directly from Amazon, right at this moment.

Resin prints can look fantastic, so when does it make sense to move to one of these cheap resin printers? To know that, consider the following things:

  • The printing process and output of resin printers is not the same as for filament-based printers. Design considerations, pre-processing, and post-processing are very different.
  • Resin printing has a different workflow, with consumables and hidden costs beyond the price of resin refills.

Things may not be quite where fused deposition modeling (FDM) printers were just a few short years ago when we were extremely impressed with the quality of printer one could get for about $200, but it is undoubtedly far more accessible than ever before. Let’s look at how to inform a decision about whether to take the plunge. Continue reading “When Does Moving To Resin 3D Printing Make Sense?” →

Copper Coil Lamp Built With 3D Printed Tools

October 1, 2019 by 7 Comments

3D printing is a great way to create complex geometric forms. However, it can be very slow, and parts may lack strength compared to other alternatives. There are other ways to take advantage of this technology however, as shown in the build of this tidy voronoi lamp. 

The lamp is so-called for its voronoi-patterned base, named after the mathematical concept. 3D printing is used to create the base, which would be very difficult to create with traditional subtractive machining methods. A copper coil is then used to give the lamp some height, as well as act as protection for the filament bulb. Here, 3D printing helps out in a different way, being used to create a jig to allow the copper to be quickly wound into an accurate coil shape. The coil also serves to act as a conduit for the mains wiring, giving the lamp a neat finished appearance.

The project goes to show that even if 3D printing is appropriate to produce your final parts, it may be of help to create useful jigs or tools to get the job done. We’ve even seen similar applications before in the microcontroller space!

3D Print Your Own Thermal Insert Press

October 1, 2019 by 23 Comments

Thermal inserts are a big thing when it comes to engineering with plastic. They make it easy to use threaded fasteners with plastic parts, and they work great with 3D printing too. There’s a bit of a knack to installing them without damaging your workpiece, however, and [John Culbertson] wanted to make using them as easy as possible. Thus, he created a thermal insert press of his very own!

If you’re not using heat-set inserts with your 3D printed parts you’re missing out. Hackaday’s own [Joshua Vasquez] wrote a great guide on thermal inserts which you heat up to securely melt the plastic as they are pushed into a slightly under-sized hole. While it’s possible to install these inserts by hand, using a press means much more consistent results.

This press relies on 3D printed components in combination with off-the-shelf bearings and fasteners. There’s a linear rail as well, to give the soldering iron a  clean, smooth downward motion. This helps make sure that the inserts go in straight and true, first time, every time. We’ve seen other DIY builds before, like this modified arbor press that gets the job done. Continue reading “3D Print Your Own Thermal Insert Press” →