Ian Jones Posted December 30, 2016 Share Posted December 30, 2016 Some filaments are sensitive to moisture and the print process itself can be variable according to ambient temprature. Then there's the bulk of the printyer itself. So where is everyone storing and using their printers and filaments? Edited By Ian Jones on 30/12/2016 16:22:33 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 The printer I'm using (Hictop prusa I3 off Amazon) doesn't take up much more space than a normal A4 printer but taller, I use in my model room, (spare bedroom) I'm using PLA. I keep the rolls of filament in their bags and boxes with desiccant sachets and these are in a big plastic box with lid under the bench. I haven't had any moisture problems with this setup. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 21, 2017 Share Posted January 21, 2017 mine is in the spare room. it used to be in the conservatory, but i got too many temperature variations in there affecting the prints. i will be making a cabinet for mine soon. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted January 23, 2017 Author Share Posted January 23, 2017 I've moved mine into the garage but it takes along time to warm as there's no heating in there. I've got my filament in a sealed bag with some silica gel. Hope that is sufficient to keep the moisture out. I had no idea how I would find room for it however an old piece of worktop bridging a bench and a shelf is working very well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andy Meade Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 In my indoors workshop. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony Bennett Posted January 23, 2017 Share Posted January 23, 2017 mine will be in the bin before much longer. Tony B Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted February 3, 2017 Author Share Posted February 3, 2017 I used my printer in the garage the other day. My roll of ABS filament was stored in the garage too, in sealed (so I thought) bag with a packet of silica gel. The print was a test so no harm done but there were a number of spotty eruptions on it which I think are due to moisture in the filament. Having checked the bag of silica afterwards it does seem a little squidgy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masher Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 I must admit I hadn't seen the relevance of this thread but now I have a printer, I get it! We live in a tiny cottage with loads of detached workshop/storage space. For the first week of building and setting up the printer I have used the dining table but now have to think longer term. Apart from the workshops being cold and damp, I wouldn't fancy leaving the printer unattended for hours on end, I would probably end up popping outside every 5 minutes. Finding room in the house is difficult and then there's the noise - not that bad but I even find the Fridge/Freezer annoying sometimes. As always, it doesn't matter how much research you do, there's always something you forgot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 The Wanhau is a reasonably neat looking thing and not very noisy, so I have parked it alongside the normal printer in the study, where it actually doesn't look too out of place. Put it this way, if SWMBO doesn't object you can get away with it. She was actually fascinated watching it when I ran it for the first time, quite a surprise! That makes the house sound big and posh, which it isn't, it was just built that way and is one of the reasons I bought it. That solves the temperature problem, there's no doubt that if I could squeeze it into the shed there'd be significant periods in the year that I would have to keep,a blower heater running in there for long periods when I wasn't in it and I'm not keen on doing that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masher Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 My wife was also surprisingly interested in seeing the first print develop (get it?) but she did comment on the noise once it had finished. I think my only option is to do what you suggest otherwise the printer will not be used Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Being able to print non modelling items is a big help for getting the family broken into the idea that a 3D printer is a good thing to have in the house. A bit like introducing a new pet SWMBO now has a printed PLA box to store all her nail varnish (Ouch ... it took 18 hours to print) Santa earrings for Christmas (a bit tacky) Santa, Mrs Santa and Rudolph for the top of the Christmas cake (more tack but funny), a snowflake cutter for icing for cakes and a phone holder shaped like a pair of shoes. All good practice at 3D drawing so I can get better at making things for my models. I put my designs on Thingiverse, search workshopbob on there if you're interested. Now some central place on here where we could all leave our modelling designs so others could download them would be good??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Masher Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 Ah good idea Bob, I need to find some gardening related stuff for her Yes very good idea to share modelling stuff here, perhaps as an extension to the 'show us your 3D models' thread. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colin Leighfield Posted February 4, 2017 Share Posted February 4, 2017 That's a great idea Bob, it would be really helpful. Mine only arrived a few days before we left for an early holiday, but as soon as I get back I want to get on with it. I really lack some of the basic understandings such as CAD to get the best out of it. Is there anybody looking in that lives not too far away from Sutton Coldfield that might be able to spare me a few minutes for some practical guidance? It would be greatly appreciated. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted March 8, 2017 Author Share Posted March 8, 2017 Still finding my way myself Colin. I wonder if there is anyone here that could blog a thread for us using one of the widely available free design tools (e.g. Fusion360, sketchup, etc). Starting with something very basic and when we've all had a go at that progress to something else just slightly more involved and so on... overtime effectively amounting to a tutorial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted March 9, 2017 Share Posted March 9, 2017 Hi Ian, I'm no expert on Fusion 360, I'm all self taught but I can do most of the things I need on there. I'm not quite sure what you're wanting but maybe something like a description of the basics with screen shots etc. and working through a simple project to end up with something that can be 3D printed, maybe something we can all use with our models (no idea quite what as yet just thinking as I type). if you think this might be suitable I can give it a go unless there's someone out there with better knowledge?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 BobW, that sounds good to me, gaining familiarity is the important thing and being helped along the way has to be a great aid to that. How about one of your balsa cutting tools to get us started, or do we need something simpler? There's clearly a lot of people just setting out with their 3D printers and I reckon your guidance would be greatly appreciated, so I say please go for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 I was thinking about something simpler to begin with then moving on to more complex designs. I'll pull some ideas together and make a start with it in the next day or so. I have a few ideas but if anyone has ideas for simple parts for models that could be drawn up then 3D printed shout up. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 Yes I'm sure you are right, perhaps one of these exits? Just a suggestion, you might already have your own ideas formulating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Delta Foxtrot Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Posted by Colin Leighfield on 04/02/2017 08:48:02: That's a great idea Bob, it would be really helpful. Mine only arrived a few days before we left for an early holiday, but as soon as I get back I want to get on with it. I really lack some of the basic understandings such as CAD to get the best out of it. Is there anybody looking in that lives not too far away from Sutton Coldfield that might be able to spare me a few minutes for some practical guidance? It would be greatly appreciated. I can recommend FreeCad as a good start to learning and using CAD. As the name implies it is free, and it is quite easy to use for a new starter, but is clearly very powerful for expert users. Check out the FreeCad website, there are several tutorials that you can follow to get started and there are some very good YT videos showing how to use the program. There is also a forum where there are many experts who can help solve any problems you have, I have used this personally and was impressed. Edited By Delta Foxtrot on 10/03/2017 12:36:05 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 The exits are a good idea Ian, I'll use those, also looking at saddle clamps. Stuff getting sorted now to go on soon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Ok, next question Ian. Is it possible for me to put pdfs on here for others to download, I'm thinking of Fusion360 info? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted March 10, 2017 Author Share Posted March 10, 2017 No you can't Bob but you can do this: Prusa Heatbead That's a pdf uploaded into Thingiverse but instead of copying the page url, right click on the actual pdf file & select "Copy Link Location" and make link to it from a post on here. Oops that didn't work, external links are intercepted by the Thingiverse website. Oh well, you can link to the page with the pdf on though. If you have any free webspace provided by your ISP you could use that, or Google drive and link to them that way. Edited By Ian Jones on 10/03/2017 18:39:16 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BobW Posted March 10, 2017 Share Posted March 10, 2017 Ah Google drive, sorted Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian Jones Posted April 11, 2017 Author Share Posted April 11, 2017 Whilst my printer was safe sitting on a piece of old work-top bridging a shelf and bench, it was not ideally placed, blocking access to the adjacent shelf in particular. We are having a new bathroom fitted so it's an opportunity to change things, "how's that" you may ask . Well, the electrician will not fit the electric shower whilst we have on old fashioned fuse box, which also had an access problem as it was partly obscured by the framework of a bench, so the bench had to come out, which meant just about everything else had to be moved around too; I expect you can see where this is going now. So I'll stop the long, long story there and just finish it off by saying that I built another bench to cater for the 3D printer and also for other items that lacked somewhere to live. So, now you know why I haven't been around much for the last week or two. Yay, now I can do some more 3D printing . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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