Been there, done that.
The most common 3-D printing is in fact a 2-D printing in layers. The layers may separate, warp, etc. You name it. Sure, it's awesome for prototyping, but the durability of a 3-D printed parts cannot match the mold injected nor machined ones. Plus it is a very time consuming method, especially if You compare to an instant pot casting. But, well.. all depends what You need.

I've seen an interesting real 3-D printer:
..but somehow, they skip the part of a materials that could be used into the fabrication process. Despite it looks awesome, it cannot go beyond the physical material parameters...

 

looks good... exactly what I'm hoping to do when I finally decide to get a cb

 

Well it's been a little while. I've acquired a second printer, an XYZ Davinci, and retired the old machine to the closet a couple months ago.

Well I pulled it back out of the closet last week to turn it into a plotter/cutter so that I can make my own vinyl decals.

So far I'm just working on getting the software side figured out so that I can create the proper gcode to send to the machine to do what I need it to do, and I may have gotten that figured out, so now I can work on designing and 3D printing a holder for the cutter that I got to mount to the head and actually get to cutting. For now while debugging the software side, I mounted up a Sharpie on the head to see if the patterns will trace out correctly.

First attempt is a sticker that I'll throw on my little 70k mile 98 Saturn

 

How do you like the Davinci?

I've been thinking of building a 2nd printer and currently am seeing how much it would cost to build a 300x300x400 HyperCube Evolution.

My MPCNC has been cutting things, but I have been battling some instability in the center assembly. I think I finally figured out that the Z-frame on my printer is out of square by approximately 0.5 degrees which is causing the MPCNC center assembly parts to be skewed.

Here are some pictures of a few of my MPCNC projects:
Shelf designed to hold my tablet & kindle on the wall next to my bed. Tested out some of the tolerances for creating pocket joints


Grave marker for my grandparents dog that passed.


First cut in oak. Had some trouble with chatter on some of the deeper v-groove sections.


Sign for us to take camping with us cut out of an edge-glued pine board.

 

It's quite good actually. It's the 1.0 version, I bought it used for a whopping $100. The previous owner said he never could quite get it to work right and was just tired of fiddling with it... I'm sure I don't have to tell you, but 3D printing is NOT a hobby to get into if you don't want to have to deal with fiddly machines lol.

I brought it home, after after I made sure it was functional mechanically, reflashed the control board with Repetier firmware, and haven't had a single issue with it yet!

Being enclosed, it prints with ABS SO much better than my old machine with the open build plate, just because it keeps the heat in better and avoids cool air drafts from cooling the print. And the 200x200 build volume is the same as my old machine so that's nice

 

Took a break for a while, but recently decided to load up 123D Design and model up a bracket for a little project on my other cheap daily. On my little 1998 Saturn SL2, the headlight and fog light output is just terrible... I've sanded and buffed them all, and that helped a little, but I'm going to HID projector retrofit some new headlights to get some better output from them, and for the fog lights, well I stumbled upon some aftermarket LED fog light pods in the front bumper of a Jeep Wrangler at the junk yard, and they were sized too good for me not to try it.

After a lot of measuring and some eyeballing, this is what I came up with. A simple 2 piece bracket assembly that screws together around the LED fog light, holding it in place and creating mounting locations that mimic the original fog light, so the whole assembly can be mounted to the factory Saturn fog light bracket, even retaining the factory aiming ability.

Got one printed off already and assembled, the other is printing as I type this

 

wow that is super cool!!! I had a 92 SC1 that I wish I could have done something like that on tons of parts LOL. I learned the hard way not to let mechanic friends drink and work. we rebuilt the top end of a dohc self destructive timing belt motor only to have him admit too late that he reset timing to where it was instead of to where it should have been... Trashy menashey junkyardy bye-bye.

 

Nice work on the design! Looks like it fits great!!

I haven't been using my printer much over the past 6 or so months. I had to prototype a latch for an old kids basketball hoop that we were regifting to my niece. Nailed it on the first try, but it was a pretty simple item. I also designed a few items for my son; a water bottle holder & kindle holder for the headboard on his bed. All of them printed out without issue.

Hoop Catch ------- Water Bottle Holder --------- Kindle Holder


I did design a 16oz can handle over a year ago that I redesigned to fit a 32oz Crowler can while I was off over Christmas. I haven't printed the 32oz version yet. It will be at the limits of my print bed though. Time to build that HEVO I've been thinking about!

16oz can handle

I now have a new machine to play with though... A GR3 2x2 Carriage model cnc router with 3HP water cooled spindle & mach3 control. This thing rips!

GR3 2x2 Carriage CNC Router with 3hp water cooled spindle & Mach3 control software

The MPCNC was a good learning tool and I'm glad that I built it, but it just wasn't as rigid as I would like it to be. I was thinking of converting it to a CO2 laser, but I really think I'll build a dedicated frame for that purpose. The center assembly of the MPCNC is just too heavy for the fast movement required of raster laser work, IMO.

 

My LED fog light bracket project came out great