3D printing

Not sure off hand. I can find out in a day or so. Did you order a printer already? Petg is tougher to use than pla. You may want to get pla. I got 3-4 printers. Ender 3 with quiet boards. Springs. Cap tube.
Always start with pla
PETG is a learning curve from PLA which is pretty much plug and play
It is also brittle but much more heat resistant
 
I would consider a Creality cr10 pro v2. Great machine and has everything you need. Also bigger bed and able to print taller. Prints
Great printer but I'm partial to stationary beds for tall prints
I think cura has settings to slow printing as prints get taller so bed slinging might not be an issue with tall thin parts.
 
cancelled it for now, and saved into the list. will see.
so far i got this stuff, on top of the printer order. critique pls. spool holder i could print myself, it figures. :) may return it later.
i want also some carbon filament, but not sure yet which one.
View attachment 664482
Looks good. Leave the petg for after you get proficient with pla. It tends to string (spiderweb), warp and adhesion issues if you're not careful.

The V2 comes with a basic spool holder and you can print overly engineered ones later. So that one can be cancelled if you want. From what I see, you're well on your way to printing success.
 
Great printer but I'm partial to stationary beds for tall prints
I think cura has settings to slow printing as prints get taller so bed slinging might not be an issue with tall thin parts.
I print tall and heavy stuff on my Ender 5. I've had issues with ringing/layer shift on my CR6se if it gets too fast and tall.
 
I would consider a Creality cr10 pro v2. Great machine and has everything you need. Also bigger bed and able to print taller. Prints
nah, i already ordered ender 3 v2 for $170 - will stick to it for now. no more other printers. :) will see how this one will do first.

thx to all for all the comments. i still read about this stuff, and setting up cura params now. :)

so, i cancelled and altered stuff, essentially only getting for now a set of springs, tubes, cr-touch auto leveling and set of steel nozzles. should be enough.

that dual z-axle thing was stated in some reviews to create way better layer stability, but, go figure, it may wait.
 
I picked up the $100 ender 3 pro from micro center Monday and set it up yesterday. Setup was a bit frustrating because I’m not the best with tiny Chinese screws that strip when you look at them wrong. But it seemed to go together fine. This test print came out perfect.

9E007143-AEEE-484F-AD31-D2234CAAB1A7.jpeg

From what I read the newer ender boards have a micro usb. But mine has a mini so I believe it is the old 8 bit. Not sure if there is any other way for me to tell.

I tried to run a thingiverse plan through cura to get it into gcode, but must have messed something up. The printer ran the program and moved all around, just didn’t print. I paid no attention to what I was doing in cura so maybe I missed the extrude instructions. I’ll play around with it some more this evening.
 
I picked up the $100 ender 3 pro from micro center Monday and set it up yesterday. Setup was a bit frustrating because I’m not the best with tiny Chinese screws that strip when you look at them wrong. But it seemed to go together fine. This test print came out perfect.

View attachment 664565

From what I read the newer ender boards have a micro usb. But mine has a mini so I believe it is the old 8 bit. Not sure if there is any other way for me to tell.

I tried to run a thingiverse plan through cura to get it into gcode, but must have messed something up. The printer ran the program and moved all around, just didn’t print. I paid no attention to what I was doing in cura so maybe I missed the extrude instructions. I’ll play around with it some more this evening.
Did you check to see if the extruder was turning?
Preheat the nozzle to 215°C (PLA) and release the extruder by holding the arm like you are loading filament then push the filament into the extruder by hand - it should extrude easily.
If it doesn't then the bowden tube is likely not fully pressed against the nozzle and is creating a jam. There is an easy mod to prevent this - I have plenty of capricorn TL if you are close by and want a short section to do the hotend mod.


Slice something small and post the start of the gcode

You can actually combine the two snippets below and get just the purge line on the left side of the bed



Start Code:
Code:
;FLAVOR:Marlin
;TIME:764
;Filament used: 0.482766m
;Layer height: 0.2
;MINX:94.915
;MINY:94.917
;MINZ:0.2
;MAXX:148.206
;MAXY:140.083
;MAXZ:2.4
;Generated with Cura_SteamEngine 5.0.0-beta+1
M140 S60
M105
M190 S60
M104 S200
M105
M109 S200
M82 ;absolute extrusion mode
; Ender 3 Custom Start G-code
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G28 ; Home all axes
M420 S1 Z5; Enable Bed leveling with Fade
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X0.1 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to start position
G1 X0.1 Y200.0 Z0.3 F1500.0 E15 ; Draw the first line
G1 X0.4 Y200.0 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move to side a little
G1 X0.4 Y20 Z0.3 F1500.0 E30 ; Draw the second line
G92 E0 ; Reset Extruder
G1 Z2.0 F3000 ; Move Z Axis up little to prevent scratching of Heat Bed
G1 X5 Y20 Z0.3 F5000.0 ; Move over to prevent blob squish
G92 E0
G92 E0
End Code:
Code:
M140 S0
M107
G91 ;Relative positioning
G1 E-2 F2700 ;Retract a bit
G1 E-2 Z0.2 F2400 ;Retract and raise Z
G1 X5 Y5 F3000 ;Wipe out
G1 Z10 ;Raise Z more
G90 ;Absolute positioning
G1 X0 Y235 ;Present print
M106 S0 ;Turn-off fan
M104 S0 ;Turn-off hotend
M140 S0 ;Turn-off bed
M84 X Y E ;Disable all steppers but Z
M82 ;absolute extrusion mode
M104 S0
 
Made one of these for my MP5 clone. Allows for index finger mag drops. Commercial product top, an example of the 3D printed version bottom. Mine actually came out better than the example photo--I just didn't have pictures of it.

paddle-style-extended-mag-release-emr-19.jpg

large.jpg
 
If you're not quite ready to design your own objects from scratch (e.g. in Fusion 360), there are options for making custom printables based on existing designs:
  • OpenSCAD is a free open-source parametric tool for creating solid 3D CAD objects by writing code and editing variables.
  • TinkerCAD is a free-as-in-beer online graphical editor for manipulating .STL files
So you can grab a .scad file for a printable carry case and then modify the dimensions in OpenSCAD to fit your needs, or import a .stl into TinkerCAD and add or remove a logo, reinforce weak points, etc.

Here's an air pistol lower I've been inletting to accept 1911 grip panels:
MUHziLS.png


I tried to run a thingiverse plan through cura to get it into gcode, but must have messed something up. The printer ran the program and moved all around, just didn’t print. I paid no attention to what I was doing in cura so maybe I missed the extrude instructions. I’ll play around with it some more this evening.
If you used a standard printer profile matching your printer, but it didn't extrude, sounds like the temperature wasn't high enough for your choice of filament?
 
I’m not sure what was going on with mine. When I cancelled the print it left a trail of plastic on its way home. So doesn’t seem jammed or not hot enough. But I just blindly clicked through cura so there is a good chance I missed something there. I will play around with it later.
 
Are 3D printed bullets viable? Used to have these hard plastic/rubber bullets to load in 32 and 38 cal pistols with just a primer. Good winter when trapped in the basement.
 
Are 3D printed bullets viable? Used to have these hard plastic/rubber bullets to load in 32 and 38 cal pistols with just a primer. Good winter when trapped in the basement.
It would work fine. There are files online for copies of the old Speer practice rounds.
Plastic cases and plastic wadcutters basically. The cases have a step in them like those new fangles 9mm brass everyone hates.
 
Are 3D printed bullets viable? Used to have these hard plastic/rubber bullets to load in 32 and 38 cal pistols with just a primer. Good winter when trapped in the basement.
A 3-d printed bullet would have some interesting properties -- assuming it survived being fired, would likely shatter into small pieces upon hitting a hard surface.

Or could print them with a hollowpoint shaped to take a Federal 209A shotgun primer and they'd disappear on impact (legal federally as the charge weight is < 7 grams).

even if they are - how much would it cost?
Cheap PLA goes for $10/kg, each "bullet" would weigh maybe 1 gram (16gr), so about a penny per bullet for materials, or as much as a nickel if you did it in a more exotic filament like Nylon 6.

The primer will cost more than the bullet. Double that if you use the 209A idea above.
 
Cheap PLA goes for $10/kg,
i would think it will need either a carbon of more sturdier soure than just a cheapest PLA? carbon i saw was at $58 per kg.
PLA i see - and just bought - was at $18 per kg, btw. there was a PLA+ something at $12, but it will be delivered at end of Oct.
 
even if they are - how much would it cost?
Just sliced a model of a 100g 9mm - comes out to 0.7g per bullet in TPU or about $0.02/each

TPU is flexible so it would very likely work - I'll try printing a couple this week and loading them up in a 38spl case with the primer hole drilled (no powder)
 
Running the 0.7 gram (~11 grains) through Gordon's Reloading Tool with Titegroup
4.5gr was the lowest it would calculate with a max pressure of 6923 psi and a muzzle velocity of 2124 fps.
Even PLA should survive <7kpsi but TPU would easily do it along with being able to pick it up and reload if you fired into a soft backstop
 
Morons out in anti-ville have never heard of casting bullets so they think 3d printing bullets is a threath
It'll blow their minds to learn you can feed lead-based alloy into a common 3D printer and print out "real" lead bullets!

Sure, it's slower, more expensive, and less useful than just casting wheel weights, but "3-D printing" makes for better clickbait.
 
Just sliced a model of a 100g 9mm - comes out to 0.7g per bullet in TPU or about $0.02/each

TPU is flexible so it would very likely work - I'll try printing a couple this week and loading them up in a 38spl case with the primer hole drilled (no powder)
Figure if it was cheap enough to print out some for other then pellet/BB gun fun when bored shitless at home.
I usually just use hard wax and cookie cut the case right into it.
For basement distances it works well enough. Some times you need to drill primer holes larger sometimes you dont.
Figured if the 3D printer could print of a sheet of 38 cal and you want to plink in your basement quietly and such….. why not.

Im not wasting primers on this anytime soon.
I think I have 35 rounds loaded with the wax wad cutters for the 32 cal.
 
Figure if it was cheap enough to print out some for other then pellet/BB gun fun when bored shitless at home.
I usually just use hard wax and cookie cut the case right into it.
For basement distances it works well enough. Some times you need to drill primer holes larger sometimes you dont.
Figured if the 3D printer could print of a sheet of 38 cal and you want to plink in your basement quietly and such….. why not.

Im not wasting primers on this anytime soon.
I think I have 35 rounds loaded with the wax wad cutters for the 32 cal.
Agree - I can shoot 22 for less than a primer.
But a 11grain rubber bullet would probably be a great way to convince someone they need to be somewhere else
Wonder what a primer only out of 20" 30 cal barrel would sound like
 
Agree - I can shoot 22 for less than a primer.
But a 11grain rubber bullet would probably be a great way to convince someone they need to be somewhere else
Wonder what a primer only out of 20" 30 cal barrel would sound like
Quiet.

Hmmm seems most of the nominal sizes we use are not available in rubber ball format from McMaster Carr
 
Btw, you said about printing Dillon press tools - is there a site with those models for download?
Thingiverse search is sometimes buggy, and some people prefer to upload to the half dozen other STL sites.

 
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