Convince me that I need a 3D printer

[7milesup]

CAD isn't an issue. I own Alibre Pro and use it reasonably well.

Interesting. I downloaded Alibre and did their 30 evaluation period, although I didn't delve into as far as I should have. There were certainly "things" missing compared to Solidworks so I am just sticking with Solidworks for Education right now. Having ownership of Alibre without a subscription is very enticing however.

 

[GeneT45]

Interesting. I downloaded Alibre and did their 30 evaluation period, although I didn't delve into as far as I should have. There were certainly "things" missing compared to Solidworks so I am just sticking with Solidworks for Education right now. Having ownership of Alibre without a subscription is very enticing however.

Interesting. I downloaded Alibre and did their 30 evaluation period, although I didn't delve into as far as I should have. There were certainly "things" missing compared to Solidworks so I am just sticking with Solidworks for Education right now. Having ownership of Alibre without a subscription is very enticing however.

What in particular? I used SW for some light pro work, and always missed Alibre. Admittedly, CFD, FEA, and those sorts of advanced features aren't there, but I really haven't missed much using Alibre in a practical (to me) sense.

I hate derailing my own topic - I really wanted to collect great (practical) 3D printing ideas here...

GsT

 

[WobblyHand]

What in particular? I used SW for some light pro work, and always missed Alibre. Admittedly, CFD, FEA, and those sorts of advanced features aren't there, but I really haven't missed much using Alibre in a practical (to me) sense.

I hate derailing my own topic - I really wanted to collect great (practical) 3D printing ideas here...

GsT

If you want 3d print ideas search in this sub forum. Lots of inspiration! Some really nice designs from both form and function point of view. Lots of talent here, myself excluded. I'm just starting out in CAD, so I have a long way to go. Even so, sometimes the blind squirrel can get the nut.

 

[7milesup]

Ok. Noted
One of the tasks that I use my 3D printer for is generating hose couplings for dust collection. I have a ton of woodworking tools (35+ years worth), and unless you stay in a brand ecosystem, they all have different dust collection opening sizes. I found this maddening until I bought my 3D printer. Now it is a matter of measuring the openings, opening your favorite CAD to draw up one side, do a revolve with a wall thickness and BAM, done. The last one I did I even printed the name of the tool on the coupling so I knew what it was for.

 

[GeneT45]

This thread has wandered a bit from useful applications of 3D printing to some other stuff (and I have been part of 'some other stuff'...), but I'd like it to get back on track. Because I'm a tech junkie I've ordered an Ender3 v2 Neo, so I hope to contribute. I've seen some good stuff in this thread (keep it coming!), but still not enough to justify even the modest price of the printer - I'm very much interested in seeing yet more practical projects. I'm off to CAD up a few ideas of my own. To be continued...

GsT

 

[great white]

boxes, gears, cases, handles, etc. Your only limit is your imagination and skill with 3d design. Even then, if you can think of something you need, there's probably a free stl file on the net somewhere for it.

I've saved several items that woudl have been tossed because some stupid little plastic part broke. Quick to whip up a replacement part and print it out. Something that would have been junked back into service.

My Atlas 10' is running a couple abs fdm printed gears as we speak....

 

[7milesup]

My orbital polisher for vehicles ended up on the floor this summer from 7ft up. The wife had caught the cord on something she was doing. It was an expensive polisher so I was not keen on buying a new one but it was OTS due to many broken plastic parts inside of it. Five CAD drawings later and five printed parts saved my polisher from the dumpster and my wallet from being a few hundred dollars lighter.
This is just one of many projects I have used mine for. As @Ken226 , @great white and @WobblyHand have pointed out, it is up to you to determine the usefulness of a 3D printer.

 

[DavidR8]

I guess it all depends on your needs and creativity. I bought my 3D printed because I wanted to build a PrintNC CNC router which as the name suggests has a lot of 3D printed parts; NEMA motor mounts, mounts for bearing blocks and even drilling templates for all of the parts. I printed all of the parts and another set for a local builder.
Since then I've used to make the odd shop thing and a few household items. My CAD skills are getting better but as @Ken226 mentioned the library of printable parts out on the web is pretty staggering so that's always my go to before cracking out the CAD package.

 

[great white]

My most recent contraption.

An overnight power outage a few weeks ago caused me to dig out my battery operated lantern.

Unfortunately, the 4 d cells in it had died, spooging out corrosive chemicals, causing corrosion damage too the contacts. So, I had to use a candle and flashlights.


My fix:

A 20v to 6v DC buck converter (6$, ebay), two harbor freight spade terminals, some CAD work on my previous designed DeWalt battery rack, and 3 hours print time with my Voron.

View attachment 436327View attachment 436328View attachment 436329View attachment 436330View attachment 436331

Now I don't have to ever buy another D cell battery.


Oh, almost forgot. A similar battery adapter for my TS100 soldering iron. The thin, flexible cord is great, and not having to drag stuff over near an outlet is even better. No buck converter needed here. The TS100 likes the 20v supply directly from the battery.

View attachment 436332


View attachment 436335


An insert to convert an old toolpouch into a soldering iron case.


View attachment 436334

Ooooooo, I like the flashlight battery adapter Idea.

Makes me think of all the dead cordless tools I have in the cabinet because the nicad’s have all died…probably something I can do with all that and you adapter/vokt converter idea.

I‘ve missed my battery powered cut off saw….maybe I can get it to run off my 20v dewalt batteries….

 

[GeneT45]

as @Ken226 mentioned the library of printable parts out on the web is pretty staggering so that's always my go to before cracking out the CAD package.

Boy that's an understatement! I had a few ideas, mostly related to reloading. I checked out "printables.com" this morning and not only found a dozen ideas, but existing files for every single idea I had...

For those sharing my line of questioning - 30 minutes of searching generic topics of interest (e.g. "reloading") on printables yielded many more practical examples than a general web search for "practical 3D printing projects" - which yielded mostly toys.

GsT