Should this be my first printer, also noob questions  

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

I have three printers in my home office and one more on the way.  There is a little bit of smell from the printers but nothing of any concern.

You can download  the things you want or you can design a new model yourself.  To print anything at all, you will need to use slicer software such as pruser slicer.  This is software that converts a design into something that can be printed.  If you find a design you want to print you can scale it to the size you want in the slicer software.  However, to make something to exact dimensions yourself, you will need to learn something like tinkercad or fusion 360.  These are programs in which you can design something yourself from scratch, specifying the dimensions you want which you then put in your slicer software to prepare for printing.

If you want to make something food safe you are better off buying specifically food safe plastic filament from the start.  Remember though that these printers leave small indentations between each layer and these indentations can trap bacteria so really it's best to sand food safe designs smooth and perhaps spray them with a food safe clear coating of some type.

I hope this is helpful.

Regards

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Thanks for the information,

Can you take a design and alter it easily, For example a wine glass design, remove the glass part (where the wine goes) and only print the stem and base?

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

@mark-g33

Is easy to tell a bit more difficult to do. I guess you are quite a time in the eD printing.

@godfreyelectric

3d printing is fascinating after you discover it's secrets.

But you will have to invest time ( a bit of money) and effort to discover it.  And a lot of readings on internet and on this forum as well. But do not worry , here you will find a tons of information and a lot of people capable and willing to help.

Just do not stop after bumping to the first obstacles.

So it is up to you.

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Posted by: @zoltan

@mark-g33

Is easy to tell a bit more difficult to do. I guess you are quite a time in the eD printing.

@godfreyelectric

3d printing is fascinating after you discover it's secrets.

But you will have to invest time ( a bit of money) and effort to discover it.  And a lot of readings on internet and on this forum as well. But do not worry , here you will find a tons of information and a lot of people capable and willing to help.

Just do not stop after bumping to the first obstacles.

So it is up to you.

 

Thanks for the reply, The willingness of others to help out new comers to the hobby is a large deciding factor to jump into the hobby or not

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Hello again @godfreyelectric

It is not too difficult to cut the top of a wine glass from its stem but it kind of depends how exact you want to be.  A basic way would be to load your wine glass into something like meshmixer (which is free software).  Then do a "plane cut" and move the plane to exactly where you would like to cut the model and hit accept 🙂  It will cut your model in half at that point.  If you want to be exact and perhaps follow the curve of the top of the stem, you can use another free software such as blender and model something that completely covers the bit you want to remove and then do a boolean difference though this would take a bit of learning first.  To answer your question though, yes you can do it but you will need to invest some time in learning some software.

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

@zoltan

Almost exactly a year in 3d printing and loving it.  Yes, learning something like fusion 360 takes some time but tinkercad is pretty approachable as a starting point I think.

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Hi Ken,

You can use your printer in home office. Whether it smells or not, depends on what plastic you use. Most commonly used are PLA, PETG and ABS. PLA and PETG don't smell too much - I mean if you get close you get that unsettling feeling of "something's hot and melting here" but that's how the technology works. ABS smells more like ... well, burning plastic and can produce fumes that may not be best for health. There had been few studies on how much volatile organic particles 3D printers produce and if those are harmful and whether methods used to eliminate them actually work, but it's more complicated than simply saying ABS bad PLA harmless. In any case, it is recommended to vent the room with 3D printer and print ABS somewhere else (or in enclosure with exhaust to outside).

3D printing is exactly the usecase for solving problems you cannot buy solutions for. For making prints, you need to get or make the 3D model of a thing you want to print. You can download 3D models made by other people from sites like thingiverse.com, prusaprinters.org, myminifactory.com and many others. Or you install 3D modelling software and make your own model. Most popular are Tinkercad, Fusion360, Blender, SolidWorks, Shapr 3D (on iPad), of various complexity, beginner friendliness and price.

Then you need to slice the model - put it into program that literally chops the model to thin layers, then creates a code full of instructions for printer. Prusa Research makes very good Prusa Slicer, others include Cura, Slic3r, Simplify 3D, pathio ... 

If you want to make something, let's say a holder, in general you take ruler or calipers, measure dimensions, then create a model that fits what it needs to hold; slice, print, try to fit, scrape it, adjust the model, slice, print, try to fit, throw away, ... until you get what you need.

Regarding food safety, 3D printed things are generally not considered food-safe. Extruder and nozzle (part of printer that poops the melted plastic) are not very clean, and printed objects have lots of tiny crevices from layered plastic and those can't be cleaned well. You can use coating in post-processing if it will come into contact with food and drinks directly (for example epoxy resins certified as food-safe). But when it is just a holder for another container holding actual liquid, it may not be that big of a deal.

Bigger issue could be if you plan to use hot beverages - commonly used 3D printing plastics cannot withstand high temperatures. PLA softens at around 60 degrees, PETG and ABS higher. Take this into account when making functional prints like holders for car, if those have to withstand direct sun and hot car, look for plastics with higher thermal resistance.

Some resources you may find useful:
Wiki on Reddit 3D printing community https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/wiki/index
all3dp has lots of articles for beginners and "top 10" which can be good starting point https://all3dp.com
Youtube channels of makers focused on 3D printing - videos and tutorials for newcommers are mostly older, but still relevant
Maker's Muse https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCxQbYGpbdrh-b2ND-AfIybg
3D Printing Nerd https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_7aK9PpYTqt08ERh1MewlQ
Thomas Sanladerer https://www.youtube.com/user/ThomasSanladerer
CNC Kitchen https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCiczXOhGpvoQGhOL16EZiTg
Teaching Tech https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCbgBDBrwsikmtoLqtpc59Bw

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

crawlerin,

Great info, thanks for the informative post.

Seems like there are a lot of good folks in here that have patience for the new guy who knows nothing 

I do have a attached garage with a bench I could put the printer on but Im not sure if there is a minimum room temp for the printer

as far as the food safe issue goes, what I want to make is a fluted pedestal the you turn a glass upside down on top of the plastic flute to keep it from smashing around when the RV is moving

Also wondering if any of the filaments are aquarium safe as I was thinking of making some caves for my fish to hide in

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

I forgot to ask

Are there any upgrades I should buy with  the printer?

When I get into to something new I like to get any upgrades at the time of purchase

Thanks again

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

@godfreyelectric

With the Mini we can't be sure about upgrades as the printer hasn't been shipped yet but in general Prusa printers work just fine without upgrades. 

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Prusa printers don't have upgrades you need to install, they are fully functional from the start. You can however prepare some tools you'll need for printer maintenance and finishing prints: 91%+ isopropyl alcohol, kitchen wipes, set of good allen keys, screwdrivers, needle nose pliers, tweezers, hex wrench (for nozzle), acupuncture needles (unclogging jams), quality flush or side cutters, utility knife, hot air gun (getting rid of wisps and melting blobs on extruder), set of small brass or copper brushes. Most of it you probably already have at home. 

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

From the videos I watched it said they were shipping out early November, No One has received theirs yet?

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Upgrades to consider are different nozzle sizes and if you need a toughened one. Most filaments with  additional fibres wear the nozzle opening and hence should be toughened. Normal filaments such as PLA don’t need them. You would start out with PLA especially as the Prusa comes with a roll. Moving on to other filaments takes a little experience but for your purposes such as being inside a car, nylon or some semi flexible material might be best for you  

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

Thanks John,

It seems that PLA is what I want for strength and wont break down in the heat

I ordered the printer today, delivery says sometime in February, Bummer, hope its worth the wait

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

PLA will sag in the heat. It is quite strong though. For a cup holder you might like to try a flex material (after you get the basics right)

RE: Should this be my first printer, also noob questions

PLA is easy to print, it is strong and stiff, downside is that it softens and deforms around 60 degrees (glass transition temperature when polymer chains start yo move). There are also special High Temperature PLA plastics that withstand high temperatures - but they need to be annealed after printing, basically baked so they form crystals inside.

ABS it is not as stiff,  but strong enough to be suited for mechanical parts - for example it is used in automotive and helmets are made of ABS. Oh and Lego as a typical example. One of biggest advanteges over PLA is better temperature stability, it can withstand 100 or 110 degrees Celsius. Disadvantage is that it's hard to print, and those fumes. It is sensitive to temperature differences while printing, warps easily, printing it in enclosure is highly recommended. Despite that, I'd suggest you look into this material after you get your feet wet a bit for projects for your car. You can also post process it with acetone (glueing, vapor smoothing).

PETG is  ... something in between. Stronger than PLA, stiffer/denser than ABS or PLA, but being more brittle. It is good for mechanical parts, but cannot resist impacts very much. Is chemically resistant and does not warp. Can withstand up to like 80 degrees. Filament is pretty sensitive to moisture, it soaks it up and printing wet filament produces crackling, blobs, stringing and bad prints. It is best to dry it before use and store in dry box.