You’re wondering when the Cyberbrick gadgetry ties in with 3d printing? That starts now! After I was done sorting and stashing “stuff” from the Cyberbrick kit (a dual kit!), I wandered over to MakerWorld and picked the project I’d build.
I started simple. I would make a remote controlled toy forklift and the remote itself. This is one of the basic, pushed by Bambulab, models. I figured it was plenty complex enough for yours truly.
It was super simple to download the “project” for the forklift. The “project” has several “plates”. I fired the first “plate” through Bambu Studio “slicer” and the printer without any effort at all.
I did nothing but pick out the filament color. In this case PLA Black. (PLA is the simplest and easiest and cheapest of plastics but it’s still plenty good for what is basically a toy.) BTW: There’s no reason why you need print only one part at a time. You can see that about a dozen parts all came out on a single plate.
Voila!
I did almost no “post processing”. I just popped the parts off the plate and tossed them in a box (lest a few parts vanish).
Then shit got real! PLA is so simple a monkey can do it. I’ve also “leveled up” to PETG, a plastic with superior traits that’s only mildly more finicky. But the design I wanted had “tank treads”. That requires flexible prints.
The most common filament that can flex is called TPU. All filaments are affected by relative humidity but some more than others. PLA can be managed with desiccant and luck. PETG needs a little more attention but not much. TPU requires drying. (At least that’s what they recommend.)
Lucky me, I bought a filament dryer months ago. I hadn’t used it much but it was there taking up desk space. Turns out it’s simple and easy to use. I took a deep breath, opened a fresh spool of TPU, and ran it through the dryer. My dryer is a Creality Space PI Filament Dehydrator for two spools. The dryer’s name is stupid but Creality is an established 3D printer company.
There are many dryers and I suspect they all work about the same. I like what I got but you can get by much cheaper (for example, my dryer can handle two spools at once but you can squeeze the price down by choosing a single spool model). Many innovators try experiments with toaster ovens and whatnot. But I’m hooked on 3d printing and was happy to just have the “wet filament” issue “solved”. I dropped just over $80. As always YMMV.
Oh you think I’m done? Nope! The thing about making actual existing things in the real world is that the real world has hidden complexity. I had to learn new techniques to print TPU. First of all I have a Bambulab A1 Combo. The “combo” part of the equation is a device that allows me to run up to 4 filaments at a time through a handler called AMS Lite.
TPU is “squishy”. The AMS Lite can’t push a noodle. Don’t fret, there’s no single printer that’s perfect for all uses and there’s always (usually) a solution.
It’s stupidly easy to “bypass” the AMS Lite and feed the flexy TPU directly into the printer. (I’ll admit I watched a few YouTube videos to figure out the process. It takes like 30 seconds once you grok the situation.)
Here’s a photo of me running TPU from a cereal box.
Watch out when I say “cereal box”! This is not just any cereal box! It’s a super awesome spool holding box!
<At this point I went off on a tangent about my “fleet” of spool holding boxes and why they’re the greatest thing since sliced bread. I cut that out of this post and put it in the next. Forgive me in advance, I love my cereal box conversions.>
So now that I’m feeding dried filament straight from my special dry box straight to the printer (bypassing the AMS Lite), I’m ready for TPU right? Wrong!
For reasons I’m not entirely sure about, the nozzle that comes with the Bambulab A1 Combo is not good for TPU. I had to buy a different variant of what’s called a “hot end”. <Insert joke here.> Happily “hot ends” are cheap! <Insert raunchier joke here.>
Hot ends come in different diameters. The OEM hot end is 0.04. A couple months ago I’d bought hot ends in 0.02 (for fine slow work) and 0.06 (for thicker faster work).
Hot ends also come in “regular” and “hardened”. <Good grief, the jokes write themselves!> Apparently TPU is coarse or something and needs “hardened”. A few months ago, in anticipation of the TPU learning curve, I bought a 0.04 Hardened hot end. (They’re cheap… something like $7 I think.)
When in doubt, I always make a cool toolbox. I printed up a “hot end” holder so I wouldn’t lose anything. (I didn’t make this design, I just downloaded it.)
Since I had the parts there was no excuse not to swap the “hot end”. This is what the print head looks like with the cover on.
You can pop off the cover without tools.
You can swap the hot end without tools too. I was freaked out that I’d damage something but it’s actually no big deal.
So did the TPU work?
YES!
Flexible tracks! It’s amazing what a 3d printer can do.
There’s more cool stuff I’ve printed for the project but I’ve written too long about the TPU*. I’ll post more later.
A.C.
*When I bought the printer I was already looking forward to TPU. TPU can be printed as gaskets, Crocs, fishing lures, sheaths, etc… I’m super glad I’ve approached that part of the learning curve.
Boring
Sorry about that.
Au contraire! The subject of printer filament and its care and feeding for optimal printing is another fascinating rabbit hole, and I’m happily using AC as an unpaid Research Assistant.
Gosh thanks. I was afraid I’d geeked out on something nobody wanted to hear.
Absolutely NOT boring! This is the kind of stuff that I like to read on the net, not the 24/7 political crap. Besides, I am a big fan of the Maker movement. Please keep it up.
By the way, your writing is also very good.
Thanks. I really needed a few positive comments this evening! I appreciate them!
I was thinking: “My last few posts are not as cool as if I were sailing my tiny DIY boat and camping on an island somewhere. But that’s because I’m not physically able to go camping right now. It probably is boring.” I was a little bummed out. Now I feel a lot better.
Also, the whole 24/7 politics thing has got to stop. It’s terrible for us all. Ten times worse than the hardest drug addictions! I’m glad I’m not adding to that mess. The “solution” to the mad imaginary world of political bullshit is simple. You have to make real physical things in the REAL world. Imagination can go overboard. Reality is self correcting. The Congressweasels faffing about in fake news are losers. They’re rarely capable of doing anything real; grow a tomato, catch a trout, change a diaper, fix a flat, etc… The reason everything seems so crazy is that we allow people who never build “in real life” to build fake crap in our heads. Real world tinkering inoculates against wishful thinking. Loony ideas evaporate when you have to start a fire with wet wood. All the “recent polls” in creation won’t make a trout come to your lure. Etc…
My recent messing around with nozzle diameters and hygroscopic filaments is more humbling (and more rewarding) than watching the media lie about imaginary shit that always works flawlessly but only in theory. 🙂
Was actually kinda maybe sorta looking near getting hold of a printer
Do it. They’re fun.
Have you seen Cliff Stoll”s R/C forklift and the cargo it moves?
Holy cow! That dude’s a genius.
Also thinking of getting a printer when I don’t have to work 12 hr shifts anymore.
Not boring at all.
Was trying to think of something useful to make like a brass (plastic) knuckle knife handle or a mag loader.
After you get the hang of it, ideas will come to you.
Boring Anonymous troll is a troll. F that guy.
I have been on the fence with these 3D printers too. Still not sure climbing this learning curve has a high enough ROI for me. But I think it’s great reading about how to get up it faster!
Yeah I’m not making a ROI by selling prints or anything. I’ve probably made prints to replace $50 – $100 worth of stuff I’d otherwise buy. Mostly it’s for fun… so far.
The only regret I have is getting the A1 mini instead of the A1. D
I’m slowly learning how to design stuff that exceeds my build envelope. I split a single object into 2 parts and designed “biscuit joints” to put them together. It’s a pita but it does work. I suppose with an A1 Mini you bump into that challenge sooner?
This is awesome content. Thanks to this I now tell my wife several times a week ” See, that’s why we need a 3d printer”.
Thank you
Thanks! And my condolences to your wife, my wife had to deal with the same thing.
I’ve had a blast with mine. I think Number One Grandson and I ran the gamut on printing things. He’s heading home with a boxful of Godzilla creatures, a replica of an aircraft carrier and for some odd reason he wanted an A320 Airbus printed.
I actually got a real money paying order for some printed stuff that required buying filament in 10 pound spools. I first run them through a desiccator, just a sealed steel drum and hold them under vacuum for a few days. Dries things out like crazy. I then transfer the spools to another box that I can keep under partial vacuum while the printer prints. Of course everything had to be done up just so. I’ve got a microcontroller controlling the whole thing which runs the vacuum pump, and measures the RH, Temp and Pressure, and a low-speed motor to assist the feed.
Heaven help me but I’m loving it
That’s awesome! I haven’t done anything commercial yet, but I hope to eventually.