3D printing

[k1]

By any chance would you be able to print out some reproduction radio knobs? (Not sure if there's a model that can be downloaded online somewhere or not)  I found a site that has them but they want $10 a piece for each knob.  I'll gladly throw a couple bucks your way if it's something that can be done.


Philco Rosette Knobs (KPH-R)
Philco rosette style knobs used on many cathedral and console radios.

Models: 21, 70, 90 cathedrals

Dimensions: Small - 11/16" base diameter, 1/2" tall. Medium - 7/8" diameter, 3/8" tall
Large - 1-1/8" diameter, 5/8" tall
All knobs fit 1/4" flatted shaft

I think I'd need 1 large, 2 medium, 1 small.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

I did a search and couldn't find anything downloadable.

I have gotten better with CAD but there are some shapes on those knobs I don't think I could replicate.  I've been looking to learn Blender but when I look at it there seems to be a pretty steep learning curve.

If you can find .stl files I'd print them for you, in black or white (only color plastics I have at the moment).

[k1]

I'll poke around and see what I can dig up.  I've seen a few other people also looking for .stl files for Philco parts

[MartyS (Gromit)]

 I played around in FreeCAD but couldn't get anything that looks good for those knobs, too many compound curves.

I was kind of bummed that the belt clip for my Otter box phone case broke, until I realized I could make a new one pretty easily:





Took about an hour in CAD to design, about 45 minutes to print, and about 30 minutes shaving down the pins so the clip would fit on correctly and the metal spring would fit in.


Also took some video of the printer I printed:

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Printed out a 2 foot tall Saturn V and added some paint and markings.  Took 3 evenings to print the 5 sections.  I was going to print out the markings on white decal paper but my regular printer paper blends in with the white plastic so well I went with that and glued it on. 

Painting was a pain, masking tape is nearly useless on the raw printed parts, all the little "strings" of plastic that are not completely melted together pull the paint under the tape, so I had to do the black panted parts mostly by eye.  Reading some forums it seems putting a later of filler primer on the plastic first will make it act more like molded plastic as far as paint goes.

Not as nice as a commercial kit but not bad for nearly free:



Not sure if I'll paint the F1 engines a better color or not, and I guess I should paint the command module aluminum...

[Darth Geek]

That's really cool! Is it solid or hollow? If it's solid it would weigh a ton.

[MartyS (Gromit)]

It's hollow.

This is it at Thingiverse:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:45316

[MartyS (Gromit)]

This might be the coolest thing I've printed so far:

[MartyS (Gromit)]

This is the smallest thing I've printed so far, the little "pipe" that covered all the connections between the command and service modules on the Saturn V rocket:



Printing that big Saturn V made me want a better detailed one, so bought the Revell 1:144 model.  Unfortunatly I should have done better research and paid the extra $10 for the Airfix model, the Revell one hasn't been updated since 1965 when they still didn't have all the details of the Saturn V finalized, so I'm having to print parts to make the thing more accurate.

Like better motors for the second stage:


And better parts for the service module:

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Been looking for a larger printer, but don't want one enough to spend another $1000...
Microcenter had one old Velleman 8200 kit left very reduced, just over $300, bought it for parts but decided to try out the stock design:

Tore apart my blue plastic printer to use those electronics and extruder:




But after trying out tons of setting changes I wasn't happy with the print quality, moving the bed in X and Y is just way too much mass, so unless you print really slow you get wavy lines after sharp corners (ringing).

So, rebuilding it with a more traditional design, that was my idea from the start buying the kit, should end up with something that can print 8x10x9 inches:



Made a mistake putting the frame together, I had measured the Y motor for how much space to leave between the columns, but at some point while messing around with them I moved them closer, and then designed my YZ plate using those positions, so I've got to redo that part.  But it showed me how stable it will be, takes a lot of force to push the rods down when extended so it shouldn't have any sag:

The failed design:

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Got my new design all done, working much better than the Velleman design, moving the print bed in both X and Y looks cool but it's just too much mass to move around quickly and not have issues.

So this now has the size increase I wanted at about 1/3 the cost of the printer I was looking at upgrading to (the Printrbot Metal Plus):

My test parts have come out nice and smooth so far:

[MartyS (Gromit)]

Got my big printer dialed in pretty well now.  Not sure if this can beat the weeping angel for the coolest thing I've printed, but it's close:



Skull took a little over 6 hours to print, the jaw took about 2 1/2.

[goflyblind]

is that the showerhead one?

[Darth Geek]

That is awesome, Marty!

[MartyS (Gromit)]

is that the showerhead one?

Haven't seen the showerhead one.  The model I used was this:

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:308335

I didn't print the stand.