OT: 3d printing

[Brian-Gaff]

I'd have thought some software could help from a few photos against a coloured background.

Brian

[Scott]

So that's what 'cottaging' means then. I always wondered :-)

[dennis]

This may help..

However its going to be difficult to print the mirror and the connecting rod at the size you want. I don't think my printer won't do it even with a .25mm nozzle. You may have better luck just making one from a blob of araldite set on a paper clip and file it to shape.

[T i m]

In *theory* it nearly can be as I also have access to a 3D scanner ... ;-)

Cheers, T i m

[Adam Aglionby]

If you can obtain a digital 3d model in .stl or .obj format, 3d warehouse, scaling to be wary of with Sketchup, and some rubbing out...

print local

At that sort of scale FDM printing may or may not work , resin would, used for jewelery and dental work, but it may not be that strong.

Shapeways and iMaterailise are at the top end if you need accuracy in metals or exotic materials.

If you have one and need a second, moulding an option, silicone out a tube fro mould making material , vaseline release agent, epoxy resin casting material.

[Theo]

Do you find the data you get out of the scanner to be useful for printing? I was under the impression that you got out a point cloud or a mesh, and some manual work was required to tidy it up and triangulate it to turn it into a solid object that was printable.

Theo

[T i m]

I did say 'in theory' Theo. ;-)

I think you are right. Whilst we did get a very good 3D scan (of a tablets bottle FWIW), I understand you would have to lad the resultant file into something like 'Meshmixer' to be able to turn it into something 'solid'.

That was my mates project (he built the scanner from the parts he printed on the printer he bought, we built and I have since bought off him) and because I felt it was better suited to more 'artistic' than engineering things, didn't really get involved in it past some test scans.

However, in principal and especially once the right skills and toolchain are learned, it could be a lot easier than designing some things from scratch. ;-)

Cheers, T i m

p.s. I have the offer of the scanner and may have it in my custody soon to use if I desire.

[T i m]

Whilst it may seem alien to some, it's something I find myself doing fairly often (a stranger potentially being a friend you haven't made yet) but it can consume time to a point where my / our own jobs can suffer.

As a biker I've been known to rescue other bikers in distress (to the point of if local enough, going home and getting my trailer and getting them home) and never with the though of any payment ... or even repayment if I've simply got them some petrol etc.

The thought / hope is that it all 'goes round' and that if I was in need, I would also enjoy such help and support, even if not from the same people etc).

We (here) are all doing this in many cases, albeit usually in a virtual sense (those who do actually like helping, rather than just showing off and posturing etc).

I have been asked to help someone I met via Freecycle (who is partly disabled) to frame a football shirt and, as a returned favour they have a bag of Jiffy bags for me that I in turn give to someone who uses them all the time because they look after me (well, just a mate now) on some motorcycle stuff.

I have to 'put myself out' to do such stuff but isn't that part of what helping people is all about?

So, if Scott didn't have the skills to create said part for the model bus and I felt I could help, I would happily spend what could be a fair chunk of my evening doing so and would send him my efforts foc.

I would do so because ... hopefully it would help him, I would probably enjoy the challenge and because it gives me a nice feeling to be part of a solution.

That's probably part of why I was in IT Support / Training most of my life and still spend many hours either on the phone or in person sorting out other peoples (friends and family) problems.

Cheers, T i m

[whisky-dave]

Yes I know much more complicated, it;s nothing like buying an injet to print a few photos from a digital camera.

[whisky-dave]

Now that's proper DIY ;-)

[Theo]

You might think that, but we're a long way away from it still.

Theo

[Johnny B Good]

I was wondering when that was *finally* going to get its second mention in this NG. :-)

[Stuart Noble]

Patience of a saint! Last job in the world I'd be suited to.

[T i m]

Hehe. It certainly seems to fit me more than many other jobs I could think of. [1]

I'd have to say that whilst my patience isn't what it was, it can still be nearly infinite when I'm 'on a mission'.

I think it's one of those things that if I'm fairly confident there is a positive solution to something and if I think there is a reasonable chance I can fix it I often can't 'let it lie'. ;-)

I've even woken up early in the morning when I've not previously found a solution to something and then think (dreamed?) I may have.

The earliest example of that sort of thing I can think of was when I was 15 and bought a Fiat 850 with a seized engine. I took the engine out, stripped it down, fitted cord rings and rebuilt it ... but in spite of it spinning over, it wouldn't start. I gave up for that day and for reasons unknown I woke up at 5am with the thought that (unusually as they are often offset) I could have the distributor shaft / rotor 180 degrees out of bonk. At 8am I was out there, turned it round and it fired up straight away. ;-)

This can also be a curse ... spending (and sometimes wasting) *loads* of time on what could be 'uneconomical' work, if I didn't actually enjoy doing most of it. ;-)

Like stripping broken stuff down, not only so that they might be re-cycled more effectively but to see how they work, rather than just throwing it away.

Cheers, T i m

[1] I was at my least comfortable when I was an IT Trainer, always preferring to be behind the scenes and ideally surrounded by kit, tools or toys. ;-)