I had been thinking for a long time about what to get Ryan for a wedding gift. A long time ago I thought I could maybe save up and help him buy a VW bus but as you know, right after we got engaged he bought himself a bus. So that wouldn't work...I thought about getting him a gift certificate to have the bus sandblasted and painted but I wasn't sure how far along he would be with the bus or where he would trust to paint his bus. Then I realized...there's one thing that Ryan mentions constantly that is too expensive for a birthday or christmas gift. He constantly says "well if I ever get a 3D printer I can print a new part for that and fix it...".
For those of you who don't know what a 3D printer is, it is a machine that can make parts out of plastic from a CAD model. It takes a 3D computer CAD model, and slices it up into thin layers. Then the printer heats up plastic and lays it down layer by layer until it has made a real part that matches what the model shows. At my work we have a very large and VERY expensive 3D printer that we use for mockups, test fitting parts and even some temporary tooling. But over the last few years, much smaller and more affordable options have started showing up on the market. One of the really fancy looking ones out there right now is the MakerBot Replicator 2.
For those of you who don't know what a 3D printer is, it is a machine that can make parts out of plastic from a CAD model. It takes a 3D computer CAD model, and slices it up into thin layers. Then the printer heats up plastic and lays it down layer by layer until it has made a real part that matches what the model shows. At my work we have a very large and VERY expensive 3D printer that we use for mockups, test fitting parts and even some temporary tooling. But over the last few years, much smaller and more affordable options have started showing up on the market. One of the really fancy looking ones out there right now is the MakerBot Replicator 2.
If you click on the photo and go to their website you'll see that this product is still very expensive. There are a ton of different printers out there and they are all a little bit different so I had to decide what was most important to me (or would be most important to Ryan). Here is what was most important to me:
After a lot of research, I found the Airwolf 3D printer (a derivative of the Reprap 3d printer). It has an 8" x 8" x 8" build platform, prints in both ABS & PLA, has a heated bed, and had an option to buy a kit to put it together yourself which put the cost close to what I was looking to pay.
- Build Size: The maximum size of a part that can be built/printed. This varies greatly from printer to printer, the smallest one I saw was 4" x 4" x 4" and the largest home/desktop printer build size I saw was around 12" x 8" x 8".
- Print Material: Some of the printers can only print in ABS plastic, some can only use PLA (polylactic acid). I wanted a printer that could print in both.
- Heated Bed: The plate that the printer prints onto needs to be heated in order for some plastics to stick to it properly so if he is going to print with all different materials I wanted a heated bed
- Cost: I couldn't spend too much so I had to evaluate what features I could get for my budget.
After a lot of research, I found the Airwolf 3D printer (a derivative of the Reprap 3d printer). It has an 8" x 8" x 8" build platform, prints in both ABS & PLA, has a heated bed, and had an option to buy a kit to put it together yourself which put the cost close to what I was looking to pay.
Ryan spent about a week putting it together. There were some parts of the instructions that weren't very clear - some things that said "put this on the fwd end of..." when there was no way to tell yet which was the fwd end. So he'd put it together and then eventually find out he picked the wrong end and have to take it all apart again. Then there was quite a bit of calibrating to do. Finally he printed one little snowflake but then he started having problems with a jammed hot end (the part that the melted plastic comes out of). After reading some more on Airwolf's blog he figured out how to fix it and is finally printing all the things he wants to. Here's some of the parts he printed recently
Here's what it looked like when those build parts were finished:
So far this printer seems to be a really good choice for the cost and after you get it set up and printing, produces a nice quality print. You have to keep an eye on all the settings for speed, layer thickness, etc but the more you print the more you understand how those settings affect the outcome of the print. I think I made a good choice for him and I think he really loves it. I can't wait to post more pics and video of the things he prints. Some of the models he's been printing are from the link below, if any of you are interested in what types of things can be made on a printer, check it out!
www.thingiverse.com
It's a free site where people upload their CAD models and share them so everyone can find more designs to print out. There's everything from fishing lures, to jewelry, to puzzle boxes, to vases and beyond. It's pretty awesome!
www.thingiverse.com
It's a free site where people upload their CAD models and share them so everyone can find more designs to print out. There's everything from fishing lures, to jewelry, to puzzle boxes, to vases and beyond. It's pretty awesome!
