NEW WORKSHOP IDEA?

[sawman101]

Saw Tri4Sale's query about 3D printers, and it got me to thinking; I'm sure there are many of us that are curious enough about 3D printers and what they are, what they can do, and would one be practical in any of our shops. Perhaps someone on here has a 3D printer that would like to hold a training class focused on the subject. No, not me, I don't know anything about them, but I'd like to.

 

[tri4sale]

Great idea. I'd love to see what woodworking related items people have done with 3D printers too.

 

[creasman]

I'm interested in this sort of class/examples.

 

[Bas]

Saw Tri4Sale's query about 3D printers, and it got me to thinking; I'm sure there are many of us that are curious enough about 3D printers and what they are, what they can do, and would one be practical in any of our shops. Perhaps someone on here has a 3D printer that would like to hold a training class focused on the subject. No, not me, I don't know anything about them, but I'd like to.

Not a bad idea. I can't claim to know enough that I can teach a class, but showing what I've done, that's certainly an option. Let me think about it.

One challenge with 3D printing is that is very slow, even printing something as small as a set of painting pyramids can take several hours. Although I'm sure we could put that time to good use and talk about clamps. Or table saw lubricants. You know, the stuff that puts our friends and families to sleep.

 

[Michael Mathews]

Bas, you could always print in a low resolution as an example to speed up the printing process.

 

[KenOfCary]

That was my thought as well Bas. You'd need to have most of the examples pre-printed as it would be hard to finish anything major during a class. Maybe spend some time showing how to design stuff using some of the software packages out there. My favorite is OpenScad - it appeals to the programmer in me as things are built with commands rather than drawing them freehand.

DogStop.stl <= Here's a useful bench stop similar to the one's that Rockler sells as an example of the kind of things useful in the workshop that can be printed.

 

[Mountain City Bill]

I started learning about 3D printing seven years ago. I landed a job with Stratasys, a company that makes 3D printers. They had a variety of printers from desktop to behemoths. Since we had access to printers and free print materials, we printed anything we wished for work and for home.



What can you make with a 3D printer? Anything you can imagine (almost) . I once made 20 minions for a girls soccer team, each personalized with their name, new wheels for a Barbie buggy and prototype parts for a pooper scooper. There are lots of models/files available at GrabCad and Thingyverse as well.



I left Stratasys four years ago, but my current employer has a Stratasys printer. We print a lot of fixtures and proof of concept models.



I use Solidworks to design the parts and create a .stl file to send to the printer.. Since Solidworks costs $4,000 – 5,000, you may want to look into Fusion 360 or Sketchup.



For shop use it came in handy when I had a problem with my Unisaw. The green start button was sticking in the depressed position. I redesigned the button and printed out a better version than the original. I also have made trammel points that fit onto the ruler of my combination square.



I always thought 3D printing would be ideal for making router templates, for butterfly keys or other inlays. I just never had a chance to try it.



If your part needs threads, size your hole to the tap drill for that thread. The threads are usually strong enough. If you have a part where you will be inserting and removing a screw repeatedly, embed a nut into a hex recess in your part. I use a lot of magnets in my parts so I include magnet holes in the design. A little bit of epoxy or super glue keeps the magnet in place.

Learning the software and fiddling with the printer will eat up a lot of time.

 

[DavidK]

>> Learning the software and fiddling with the printer will eat up a lot of time.

@Mountain City Bill You are not kidding!

 

[Michael Mathews]

@DavidK do you have a 3D printer?

 

[DavidK]

@Michael Mathews I am using a friend's 3D printer (Prusa MK3S). It is a good machine, but a lot more fiddly than I expected.

 

[Pop Golden]

I like my power tools, but my son has gone high tech woodworking. CNC and 3D printer. He's having a ball with his new toys. My 650 sq. ft. and my machines don't leave me room for additional tools. Much to my unhappiness.

Pop

 

[Michael Mathews]

@Michael Mathews I am using a friend's 3D printer (Prusa MK3S). It is a good machine, but a lot more fiddly than I expected.

David, that's the same machine I have! What do you find difficult with the printer? I've got it down pretty good so it's fast and easy!

 

[DavidK]

Well, it turns out most of the issues lately were due to a roll of bad filament. It caused random blobs which looked bad and occasionally caused the print to fail. I hate random unexplained failures.

Learning CAD has proven to have a steep learning curve, but I did get some parts built pretty quickly using openSCAD. I can't recommend openSCAD if you don't think like a software programmer, but it worked for me.

 

[KenOfCary]

Being a programmer in a previous (non-retired) life, OpenSCAD works well for me as well. My visual hand-to-eye skills are not very fine so I have problems with the programs that make me draw freehand at least to start things out.

OpenSCAD allows me to logically assemble a piece with straight forward commands to either add or take away forms like cubes, columns, or other geometric forms to assemble a finished piece. And it is freeware.