marco Posted August 30, 2016 Share Posted August 30, 2016 Hello Brian, Oh man, your own printer as well :) very cool. what did you bought ? I know there are many in the market... what did you choose ! ? You know where to find me if you need any help with the printing process. Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 1, 2016 Author Share Posted September 1, 2016 I've opted for a Flashforge Dreamer: good combination of price and quality. It's just arrived so I'm trying to make sense of it. Like most men I'm incapable of reading the manual. Can you nip over from Holland and run me through it, Marco? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco Posted September 2, 2016 Share Posted September 2, 2016 Ah ok.... you have to READ those manuals ! :-) LOL.... at least I understand what they are for hahahaha Yes same same... reading manuals.....guess most never touch them.. In this case, I think you really have to spent some time Brian. is that dreamer the same as John is using for his projects ? He is an expert with those and I think they dont have much mysteries for him. Looking forward to your very first print Brian ! :) LET THE PRINTING BEGIN ! funny detail is that about a couple of months ago, you really had a different idea about this 3D printing ! :) wonderful how our minds can change :-) Cool and welcome to the 3D club :) Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 2, 2016 Author Share Posted September 2, 2016 Yes, Marco, John's recommendation of the Flashforge combined with its relatively modest price were all the persuading I needed. I've been looking at 3D printers for many years but only recently have they stopped being DIY kits. Robots are a great subject to learn how to design and print. Well, I've had great fun with the printer. It really does work straight out of the box. The quality is remarkable, even on the medium setting. Some pictures to follow when I'm happy with the results. My wife had reservations about the noise and confined it to a remote corner of the house. I pointed out that she was also noisy, but she won. I believe you can purchase electrically conductive filament. I wonder if it would be possible to build the circuits for motors and lights into the structure? That would be neat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 Starting from the ground up: here are my first parts for the Aztec Mummy robot, the so-called Humanoid. 3D printers are soooooo slow. You have to wait hours to discover that a part is the wrong shape or size. But the results are better than I expected. I've built the legs around a wind up component but my first model will definitely be static. I can see that it's necessary to research mechanisms much more closely: you can't just drop a clockwork motor inside. A light sanding will help and I'll probably paint the finished robot to get the bright silver look of the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 These are hot off the press: the helmet and a little head for the Humanoid. I was going to butcher an Action Man figure but then I discovered a ready-made head. Why reinvent the wheel? This guy is quite small. The head is just 1 inch tall. I'll scale it up later. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 3, 2016 Author Share Posted September 3, 2016 The hands - articulated with holes printed in place. I enjoyed making these, but they need to be printed again to repair cosmetic faults. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ranger Posted September 4, 2016 Share Posted September 4, 2016 Ha,Brian...... I don't know how i missed this! You have printed some great parts already too...brilliant. The humanoid robot is very nice, classic stuff. If, well not if but when and you of all people will produce this robot soon enough, I would like one...ta very much! Scoops is a classic too, that would be a good one to make. I looked at that and thought it would be great in metal too but it would be a bugger to make. You can really get the detail and accuracy with the computer into these toys. Glad you finally bought the equipment, you have been on about it for ages and i have been saying to you to do it. Your a clever bloke...you can do it! Blimey, what with John and Marco printing out toys and now you too there should be some more fantastic robots coming up. Even I am plodding away as you know with the metal foki. All great stuff....and you guy's have the time to do it, no excuses now!. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ROBODUDE Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 FANTASTIC !!! CANT WAIT TO SEE THE FINISHED PROJECT----THANKS FOR SHARING !!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 On the mirroring of parts like arms Brian, the only thing that I can use the free program Mesh Mixer for with out screwing something up is to mirror things like arms. Give it a try. Down load Mesh mixer then import the stl file, use the edit function to "transform" move the part on the build area then edit will let you use MIRROR and presto you have two mirrored parts that you can then export as a new STL file. Also get the scale right when making the CAD files does not realy matter as you will find that the slicer program that you use i9n most cases will let you re scale the parts. Great work so far ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roboz Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Impressive Brian ! I hope you have your printer queue ready for all the orders you're about to receive ;) Good Luck !! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 Thanks guys. I bought Simplyfy3D to help with the slicing and the mirror function is wonderful, just a single click. It's an expensive extra, though. Oddly enough the body is proving troublesome: the large flat surfaces and those rivets need a lot of attention to get them crisp. I'm even thinking of adding them later - I have a plan! I'll only go into production if I can reach an acceptable standard. I just don't know how John manages his production line. Here are the arms. It was as easy to articulate them a bit as to draw them in one piece. I want to wrap the joints with something to give that cheap effect of the original. The holes line up well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marco Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 Hey Brian, Simplyfy 3D is indeed a good slicer... I see you are doing quite well already with the Dreamer ! Cool to see the progress Brian... keep us posted Marco Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robothut Posted September 5, 2016 Share Posted September 5, 2016 yes wish I could afford Simplify 3d as it has been rated the best for a long time now, last I looked its about $150 bucks. Thats alot for soft ware program when the free ones almost give you the same functions. I will keep the free Flash Print that comes with the Dreamer or you can down load on line if any of you want to view STL files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian.. Posted September 5, 2016 Author Share Posted September 5, 2016 Here's the first attempt at a body - I'm just not happy with the finish, but I'll have to work on the printing. No back, yet. With his arms and legs - he's looking like I wanted - that clumsy "guy-in-a-box" look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.