Tony F Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Hmmm is this worth the price ? Is it a fad ? Or is it a serious tool for modellers ? http://www.hobbyking.com/hobbyking/store/__76924__Turnigy_Fabrikator_3D_Printer_UK_Plug_UK_Warehouse_.html Opinions guys ? Tony Edited By Tony F on 15/04/2015 23:14:46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masher Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Interesting but difficult to judge without seeing any video or examples of outputs. It has to be a toy rather than a serious tool, but at this low price, it may be attractive to some. First question to ask yourself is - what would I really do with it? You can buy/make a lot of pilot busts and cowls for that price. Second question is - how much effort to produce the CAD? I'm sure they will become as common as ordinary printers in thime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Ramsay-Fraser Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Video (of sorts) here. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XEtruz_oDuc Edited By Michael Ramsay-Fraser on 16/04/2015 08:23:00 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I thought that you had to have a scanner to get the image of what you want to make. No mention of that. Producing an object via CAD would be pretty rime consuming if it was something like a pilot bust or other irregular object. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ted hughes Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 Peter is right about the scanner. I recently looked into making a copy of a 5inch model figure. You have to buy the material for the model (I think it was about £80) and pay for a scan to be made to programme the printer. Not far off £1000 all in. Too expensive for me. Edited By ted hughes on 16/04/2015 08:43:35 Edited By ted hughes on 16/04/2015 08:44:05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peter Miller Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 A little while ago ASDA were doing scans and producing figures of customers about 10" tall, cost £40 if I remember correctly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 It seems a good printer, with a similar print volume size to my Up! Plus. The biggest thing to get right on 3D printers though is the software that generates the G code - PP3DP's software is very robust and quite adept at putting in support structure where needed. I create my STL files in SolidWorks and send the over - never had to tweak anything and, to coin the Apple fan-boys favourite term, "it just works". I've used SolidWorks now for more than 12 years in my day job, so am fairly adept at it these days - though I have seen great models made from people using more basic "free" 3D modellers like Sketchup. I've had my printer a little over a month and have printed more than 50 parts - from ball turrets for a B24, to a custom cup holder for my camper van, to bespoke FRSky receiver mounts. It's not all pilot busts you know! You don't always have to create things from scratch either - thingiverse has a huge library of parts that are freely download-able for anyone with a printer to make use of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I think 3d printing, in this format, is in danger of being obsolete before it becomes any further mainstream as it is very, very slow, not really 3D as it is 2D printed on top of the previous piece and unless you pay a huge sum of money for a printer the resolution of the product is very poor. A 3D printer costing £300 with produce something that isn't worth the effort IMO. There is another version of 3D printing which produces much better, clearer results, although still experimental, it won't take long to introduce as 3D printing is well known and much sought after now: **LINK** Edited By John F on 16/04/2015 10:22:07 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 The 3D printers that the guys in Aylesbury sell are very good for the money - 60 micron layers will make for a very high definition part, and that's less than £400. No idea on XY accuracy, although mine is stated as 150 micron, and it can print a free running M5 thread very nicely Electron beam sintering would be my favourite way of printing, but I fear that cost will never get down to hobby level In the mean time I'll keep printering : Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John F Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 With the filaments and postage costs inluded the cost does go well above £400 but that is the best 3D part I've seen i ages. Still not convinced though; those edges are rough to say the least. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 It was ok - I'm an aeromodeller so 5 minutes with fine paper and the witness marks are gone. I'm honestly not trying to convince anyone - they are brilliant bits of kit made even better if you can steer 3D CAD. Oh and there is a product called XTC3D that you can paint on to printed ABS that not only self levels but bonds the layers together a bit more too. I've yet to get any but apparently it's the bee's knees. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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