3D Printing - AnyCubic I3 Mega

[B4408]

During the last year I have looked at 3D printers off and on and TYB was also interested in doing some CAD work on his computer and 3D printing for his drone. So a month ago after many hours on youtube and the web took the plunge and bought an AnyCubic I3 Mega. It seemed to have some generally good revues and most importantly users were getting good results straight out of the box.
Bought it from AliExpress arrived from the Sydney warehouse in 4 days $390 delivered.
When it arrived we had it together in 20 minutes, only 8 screws and plug a few colour coded wires in. Spent more time reading the instructions. Then did some checks levelled the glass printing bed, which was very close to ok. Loaded the supplied PLA filament and within an hour of opening the box we were printing the test owls that were on the SD card. If you new what you were doing it would take 15 minutes.

AnyCubic I3 Mega

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The machine has worked very well from the first print. I have bought an assortment of filaments, Esun branded about $24/kg generally some upto $36. There is a learning curve in getting to know what settings for different types of plastics and you need to use the right plastic for the job. Plenty of info on the web. I have setup printing profiles for each type once I get it right.
The other important part is getting designs or designing things yourself. Thingiverse is a great source of free designs from people of all skill levels.
https://www.thingiverse.com/
I don't have much CAD experience so have started using Tinkercad.
https://www.tinkercad.com/
It is a good basic program that lets you arrange shapes to get your design, some good tutorials on Youtube. I want to start learning a lot more about using CAD software, it's definitely good exercise for the brain.

Test items and different filaments

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For those who have no 3D printing knowledge the process is.
1. Get a 3D Cad design on your computer that you want to print.
2. Use a slicer software, such as Cura (supplied with printer or free online). This takes your design and slices it horizontally into layers which for me is 0.2mm high. These layers become the print path for your printer.
3. Load your sliced design(g code) onto an SD card, load the g code into your printer. Printers can be connected by USB to the computer or isolated and use the SD card.
4. Start the print. Your printer will start at the bottom and squirt out 0.2 mm high strands 0.4mm wide to build a layer. It will print all of one layer and then lift up to do the next and so forth till the job is finished. It is not a fast process. Objects are usually not solid but a honeycomb inside depending on the strength you need.

And hopefully you end up with some good printed designs. Not all of mine are perfect but that is more to do with fine tuning of printer settings than the machine.
Here are a few pics of some items.

Print in progress- action camera housing

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Powder measure stand and drop tube

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Loading trays- ABS plastic

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So for a complete novice at 3D printing it has been a very satisfying experience and still a lot to learn. If it interests you get in, have ago. I can recommend the I3 Mega as good for newbies, I think it will out perform my abilities for quite a while.
More pics to come.

Bruce

[B4408]

Handles for bullet puller pliers

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Bits and pieces

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Torch mount

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Think he'll like it?

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What will I do next?

Bruce

[The Raven]

Very nice work.

How strong is the basic material, noting your torch mount?

Hmmm, are you making reloading blocks to order yet (perhaps with a logo)? I might be interested.

If you want suggestions, please come up with something that readily stacks layers of ammo in 50cal ammo cans. Factory ammo boxes and MTM cases never fit/fill neatly...

[The Raven]

More suggestions...

Custom bolt handles for our comp guys.
Die racks/mounts.

[kickinback]

Very nice Bruce. Was in discussions the other day regarding 3D metal printing. Having to buy a sintering oven and an overall price of 200k scared me off . I have found autocad fusion 360 to be the best of all the 3d modelling software.

Keep at it. I like what I’m seeing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[The Raven]

3D metal printing is available near Monash. Amaero, which I think is a spin off from CSIRO. I doubt it's cost effective for us average Joes but they do have a print service available.

No, not connected with them but I have seen their products (small gas turbine prototype) and have a few small samples.

[Camel]

You are a cleaver little fella Bruce, nice work mate, and a very good write up on your new contraption.

Suggestions.......................Glock frames.

[Branxhunter]

I agree with Camel - you are a clever bugger Ruce.

I have a couple of Anschutz 1532 .222 magazines that have a plastic base on them that is prone to breaking. Was thinking only a day or two ago about whether it would be worth getting an alloy replacement milled up, didn't think about 3D printing as an option.

Who made up you bullet pulling tongs?

Marcus

[Camel]

I agree with Camel - you are a clever bugger Ruce.

I have a couple of Anschutz 1532 .222 magazines that have a plastic base on them that is prone to breaking. Was thinking only a day or two ago about whether it would be worth getting an alloy replacement milled up, didn't think about 3D printing as an option.

Who made up you bullet pulling tongs?

Marcus

You dont think an in-genius little bugger like him would buy them, do you ? NO, thats not good enough for our Brucie, he made them as well.

[B4408]

Raven, There are lots of pre designed reloading die racks and loading blocks on Thingiverse, worth a look. The base material strength varies but more than strong enough for what I am doing. PLA is easy to use but goes soft in mid 50deg C, think about a hot car in summer. PETG is food grade and a bit more flexible and is good for 64 deg. ABS is toughest and good for mid 70deg. Most important for strength is getting the layers to fuse together, not hard to do just need to fine tune settings and a bit of trial and error.

Kickin, will have a go at Fusion 360. You should have bought the metal printer, sure you could do a few foreign jobs for all of us.

Camel, Thought Glock frames came in the mail.... . Do you need some handles for the bullet tongs I sent you? I have a spare set.

Branxhunter, I made the tongs out of 3 mm steel and drilled a series of holes down the centre to suit. Adjusted the holes with a chainsaw file after slitting with a thin angle grinder blade. just relies on natural spring in steel to open. Rifle magazine sounds like it would be an interesting challenge. As long as it doesn't have to be too thin it should be do able.

Bruce

[Rabbitz]

Hi Bruce,

A couple of questions about the unit itself.

Is the base plate self-levelling?

As it is an open platform, how careful do you need to be about air movement, that is in respect of uneven temperatures during printing?

We have a couple for prototyping at work and it can be very frustrating waiting for the self-level and then the cabinet temperature to be done - while waiting on a print job.

I've used Fusuion 360, tinkerCAD and some actual CAD programs. Fusion 360 is good for farnarkling about with designs, except we can't use it for real stuff at work. It is Adobe cloud based and there are issues over IP security. So we need to use CAD in house.

[The Raven]

Just been scrolling through Thingiverse and was amazed at all the stuff they have available!

[B4408]

Rabbitz, it uses screws at each corner and is easy to level, was very close out of the box. I checked it yesterday after a month and made a minor adjustment. It has a glass type bed that has very good adhesion.
I haven't had the need to enclose the printer with the filaments I have used. ABS is supposed to be better if kept warm, it shrinks and warps as it cools. I am using the Esun ABS+ and had no problems, winter may be different. I have made up a cabinet recently to reduce noise and will also be good if I need to control temp better. The cooling fans in the power supply and print head can be annoying after a while with a constant hum and whine of the stepper motors.
Your commercial work is probably at a bit higher level of performance.

Bruce

[Camel]

That would be nice Bruce, thanks,

[bimbo]

Awesome stuff Bruce, I should did my printer out and get some bits and pieces printed.

Very nice Bruce. Was in discussions the other day regarding 3D metal printing. Having to buy a sintering oven and an overall price of 200k scared me off . I have found autocad fusion 360 to be the best of all the 3d modelling software.

Keep at it. I like what I’m seeing.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Depending on what your making and what metals but you can also use the same process as lost wax casting with pla 3d prints