chucketn
Senior Citizen
I'll start things off. I enjoy making things, and I especially enjoy taking existing designs, objects, materials and modifying it to do what I want or need.
I purchased a Anet A8 3d printer kit from an E-Bay seller. I chose the Anet A8 because of its lower price and large following, and large base of resources available. It also has the Arduino in its bloodline, and I've been working with Arduino for a while. But there are many other styles and designs of 3d printers available.
This is my first foray into 3d printing.
I took my time assembling the kit, striving for accuracy. It took me 4 days of assembling various parts, testing and adjusting. I installed the software that came with the printer and several other free open source programs to try.
I have spent more time adjusting, tweaking, and looking for interesting things to print than I care to admit.
So far I have printed most of my first spool of PLA. I have printed two spanners for a ER-11 collet chuck, a slide top box for some forstner bits, a model steam engine(not complete yet, as I broke some parts), and upgrade parts for the printer itself.
Current project is parts for a 3d scanner to create more parts to print.
I got interested in 3d printing while researching information on building a CNC router/engraving machine.
I plan to use the printer to make patterns for casting model engine parts that I otherwise would never be able to make.
3d printing has opened up a whole new world for me. There are many frustrations in this new world. I know very little about CAD/CAM , and have learned that I need to stimulate the grey matter and apply myself to learning it.
The printer is a very good source of frustration in itself. There are sooo many variables in getting a good print, and adjusting any one of them will invariably affect another in some way. That frustration leads to improved troubleshooting skills and even creativity in problem solving.
Thank you, Angie, for adding this sub forum. I'm looking forward to sharing information, prints, ideas, my experiences... Keeps this old duffer on his toes!
Chuck
I purchased a Anet A8 3d printer kit from an E-Bay seller. I chose the Anet A8 because of its lower price and large following, and large base of resources available. It also has the Arduino in its bloodline, and I've been working with Arduino for a while. But there are many other styles and designs of 3d printers available.
This is my first foray into 3d printing.
I took my time assembling the kit, striving for accuracy. It took me 4 days of assembling various parts, testing and adjusting. I installed the software that came with the printer and several other free open source programs to try.
I have spent more time adjusting, tweaking, and looking for interesting things to print than I care to admit.
So far I have printed most of my first spool of PLA. I have printed two spanners for a ER-11 collet chuck, a slide top box for some forstner bits, a model steam engine(not complete yet, as I broke some parts), and upgrade parts for the printer itself.
Current project is parts for a 3d scanner to create more parts to print.
I got interested in 3d printing while researching information on building a CNC router/engraving machine.
I plan to use the printer to make patterns for casting model engine parts that I otherwise would never be able to make.
3d printing has opened up a whole new world for me. There are many frustrations in this new world. I know very little about CAD/CAM , and have learned that I need to stimulate the grey matter and apply myself to learning it.
The printer is a very good source of frustration in itself. There are sooo many variables in getting a good print, and adjusting any one of them will invariably affect another in some way. That frustration leads to improved troubleshooting skills and even creativity in problem solving.
Thank you, Angie, for adding this sub forum. I'm looking forward to sharing information, prints, ideas, my experiences... Keeps this old duffer on his toes!
Chuck
