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Down the rabbit hole

Edge of a rabbit hole? Absolutely. Filament is a good way to dip a toe in the water. A few tips for if and when you’re getting frustrated;

A filament heater makes all the difference. Sunlu make a decent cheap one and a couple that are more expensive.
A glass plate and 3DLAC are the next two game changers
Automatic plate levelling is worth the cost.

Have fun!
 
Jack Sparrow said:
I have one. Printed a few parts for my ship because the parts I received from the supplier were broken. I have a few other parts that I will probably print for my Constitution.
I focused first on how to communicate with the device via my computer. Now I am working on calibration. I have printed a few parts for my boat because the parts that I got were broken. and I plan on doing some more. You will also need to learn how to use the design software. I use Freecad. I am very much a novice at both the printer and the software, and I am enjoying the task of learning how to use it.

I should mention, and maybe yours is different, but I cannot communicate directly with the printer without the use of a printer server called Octopi. WIth this I can launch printing directly from my computer instead of having to load the gcode file directly into the printer.
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For those of you who have experience using a 3D Printer, I would like to know the results for printing small parts such blocks, cleats, etc, in the 1/48 scale ( 3 to 4mm length ). Is the surface finish satisfactory ? Tks
 
Luiz B. F. Grassi said:
For those of you who have experience using a 3D Printer, I would like to know the results for printing small parts such blocks, cleats, etc, in the 1/48 scale ( 3 to 4mm length ). Is the surface finish satisfactory ? Tks
Click to expand...
I haven't tried printing those things yet with my filament printer, but I have read that resin printers do a great job in those sizes. I may try one day, but I am satisfied using premade wood blocks.
 
Luiz B. F. Grassi said:
For those of you who have experience using a 3D Printer, I would like to know the results for printing small parts such blocks, cleats, etc, in the 1/48 scale ( 3 to 4mm length ). Is the surface finish satisfactory ? Tks
Click to expand...
Using a filament printer, no, but if you have one, why not just give it a go anyway, the failure cost will be trivial.

Using a resin printer, you'll get excellent results. The blocks in this photo are 2mm.


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Kevin the Lubber said:
Edge of a rabbit hole? Absolutely. Filament is a good way to dip a toe in the water. A few tips for if and when you’re getting frustrated;

A filament heater makes all the difference. Sunlu make a decent cheap one and a couple that are more expensive.
A glass plate and 3DLAC are the next two game changers
Automatic plate levelling is worth the cost.

Have fun!
Click to expand...
 
Sorry Bob, but I don't share designs or .stl's. Sooner or later I'll produce blocks etc for purchase but it's not a priority for me right now. I'd really recommend having a go at making your own using TinkerCad. It's an incredibly accessible, intuitive intro to CAD and you should find it pretty easy to make blocks that are exactly as you want them. It's a while back for me now, but I think I was printing my own items within an hour or two.
 
Using a resin printer will give much better results for the small stuff like blocks, cleats, hooks, belay pins, ect. The problem with some of the paid stl. files is that they cannot be scaled up or down to accomadate different sizes and scales. Learning a c.a.d. program will allow you to build and scale your own parts. You will still need a slicer software to convert to a format that your printer can read, but these are also user friendly and can be learned quickly. I am currently working on my version of the HMS Pegasus based on the amazing 3d model commissioned by David Antscherle who did the plans for the Victory Models version of the Pegasus. I am designing and printing most of the parts above the waterline ( less masts and yards) and am close to half done. I understand the reluctance by some to learn a cad program and slicer software but you wont know until you try.
 
I'm a little old to embark on something like that. I bought the printer on a whim and decided to try and make a few things for my " lawn ornament ". I've printed a few things but man is it S-L-O-W. ! I thought about Resin but my " hobby" room is shared with several large fish tanks and I'm leery about that smell and vapors might bothering my fish. Everything I read say's you need a well ventilated area. Don't know if that's a real problem but I don't want to take the chance.
I've had some success scaling existing files to a smaller size but as you said filament will only allow so much.
Bob
 
Bob sav said:
Everything I read say's you need a well ventilated area. Don't know if that's a real problem but I don't want to take the chance.
Click to expand...
Bob, I've never had any issues with filament fumes but became quite ill when I had a couple of resin printers running in my small, unventilated office. I ran them there because I like warmth so tend to have an ambient temperature of around 22 - 24 degrees (but don't tell that to the admiral) and resin really needs to be at around 25 degrees, +/- a bit. After getting pneumonia I moved them to my unheated garage, inside a heated cabinet. I don't run any air extraction as the garage is fairly well ventilated and I haven't had any respiratory problems since then.

Shipahoy, I've made masts and yards in resin, using square section carbon fibre rod as an internal stiffener. I've covered that in my Cutty Sark log. While you do get fantastic detail, the cranes are difficult and I've parked that build for a while as I was getting bored and frustrated by constantly breaking tiny but critical detail.
 
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