Jumping on the 3D printer bandwagon

[geolemon]

Haven't printed TOO much yet, but did do a contrast black and white single print set of house numbers for the new siding - number and script.

You can see I originally printed it black on white, which didn't contrast as well on the siding - so I just flipped the two extruders in the slicer software and printed the inverse colors. Don't have that option with store-bought stuff.

I *might* be trying to print enclosures for midbass, inside my doors - hexibass style. We'll see.

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[BigAl205]

Those look sweet! What filament did you use?

I just ordered some carbon infused poly-carbonate and a hardened steel nozzle to try out.

[diy.phil]

I was looking at polycarbonate a few weeks ago but it sounded like it was poisonous (outgas) and maybe should not be used indoors or should be vented(?)

[geolemon]

Just regular PLA. The printer came with a little black and yellow, so I just printed the dog with the fade - it really seems to mix like paint, because the black really does dominate it, but it has this cool pearl effect too.

The black and white are full rolls I bought - tecbears I think is the brand. Seems good...

I'm getting a bunch of stringing, not sure what to tweak yet for that, but besides figuring out bed leveling (and ultimately I installed the auto-level sensor) I've literally done zero tweaking. Anyone know what to play with to tune out stringing? Auto retraction was enabled.

I browsed a couple articles but haven't tried yet. I downloaded a small shape with four towers to help.

I also bought some desiccant sacks and special zip lock bags designed for filament storage, to keep the moisture out.

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[geolemon]

I do have a car audio question -

Can I print things in PLA to use for car audio?

I do think it would be cool to print enclosures to slide into my door cavities - not just for audio reasons but also because those Rust Kote annual treatments must an oil spray into the door cavities through holes they drill and plug.

But not if the melting point of a printed objects is too low for that.

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[BigAl205]

You could print it to experiment with, but PLA will soften if left in a hot car. That's why I got the carbon infused polycarbonate, because it has high heat resistance similar to ABS, but doesn't warp quite as much.

[diy.phil]

PLA will melt or deform in the hot sun in the car. We should use some other higher temperature tolerant filament. Some people use ABS here. There's also a HTPLA (high temperature PLA) that i looked at but requires some post process to anneal it (bake or cook it... may change size/shrink while at it). Some other material may be better for the print-and-go way. One filament i was looking at is nylon and this has its pluses/minuses too. For car/other use, normally i'll just send it out for the shop to print using nylon (high temperature and clean without supports/strings since it's using the SLS/laser method). Sometimes print using steel if it's a structural item. They use $30k to $300k printers to do their magic.. my printer's a toy grade thing but lots of fun nevertheless.

[geolemon]

My printer can do ABS (theoretically anyway - haven't actually tried it yet). I did buy the optional heated glass bed - the basic bed is heated too. Haven't installed the optional bed yet but I think that's easy. I bought a bunch of PLA to start with - can at least prototype it in PLA then print it in ABS or CF Polycarbonate...

Or originally I was thinking - I have fiberglass work coming up in my install, and I could buy epoxy rather than polyester. I thought maybe I could PLA it, then could wrap it in fiberglass, probably not even more than a layer or two, to reenforce it.

I never thought of the idea of outsourcing the printing though - I could proof them in PLA then outsource them in Nylon or whatever material might be stable. Is that pricey?

[diy.phil]

Price is ok or not too bad but of course way more than if we print it ourselves. You can always upload some example .stl files to Shapeways and their server will quote some prices. The good news is they're close by in your state! I have to wait 5 extra shipping days lol.

[geolemon]

That's still awesome to have that option.
So what I can do is proof it out using PLA, make sure it fits in my door and all that - I'll probably have to print it in a few pieces, etc.
Then I can check out the cost of the carbon polycarbonate or ABS, check out the cost of Shapeways, and I don't need to decide which way to ultimately go with it until I'm actually ready and need the parts.