3D printing jobs bay area

As for the size, the choice is yours, but we personally prefer 9 packs0007 50 x 60 cm - they are more comfortable and easier to handle. As a rule, these bags are made of transparent plastic, which makes it easy to determine which filament is in them. It also does not interfere with gluing identification stickers to the coils.

Tip: Once the bags have been deflated, they can be stacked on top of each other and take up very little space. They can also be stored vertically, such as in a box or cabinet.

So the idea is to store the filament spools in a vacuum, i.e. in a space in which there is no air - thanks to this, the filament will not be able to absorb moisture, because it simply will not be around the filament. Almost. The vacuum in the bag is not ideal, so you will still need to put some kind of desiccant in the company with the filament, and we recommend using silica gel beads for this. They can be bought, for example, in the form of ready-to-use kits, and they can be dried in a drying oven, and then reused. However, this solution has a drawback - the silica gel is in a closed bag, so it is impossible to find out if the balls are filled with moisture. In addition, they are sometimes difficult to obtain in small quantities and at a reasonable price. nine0003

However, this option and others like it are not always the best because you can't tell when the silica gel becomes saturated. If you want to get serious about keeping your filament dry, packs of silica gel with a moisture indicator may be your best bet. These are amorphous, highly porous, synthetic balls that, when saturated with moisture, change color from yellow or orange to green or blue, depending on the humidity of the surrounding air. nine0003

There are several types of silica gels with a moisture indicator. Beware and don't buy cheap ones that change from dark blue (dry) to pink (rich) as they usually contain cobalt chloride, a product that may contain carcinogens and is not used in some countries due to its danger to human health. We are not chemists, but apparently the color indicator in orange-green silica gel balls is a kind of composite colorant and is much safer to use. nine0003

Many people ask if rice can be used instead of silica gel? Can. Rice is cheap and readily available, and has hygroscopic properties, but we do not recommend using rice as a desiccant, as its adsorption properties cannot match those of industrial silica gel.

Finally, it remains to deal with the container where the silica gel will be stored. Any transparent container with small holes, slots or some other holes is suitable for this - they are needed so that the silica gel can attract moisture remaining in the vacuum bag. nine0003

You can buy boxes like this one (although they are only sold with silica gel) or you can make one yourself. A 3D printed model for it can be downloaded from here, and in the future you will only have to fit it to the desired size and print it.

Another option is polypropylene containers (those with slightly soft sides) with a screw-top lid, which are often used in laboratories and for storing coins, screws, etc. You can also use small plastic jars with lids / caps (see photo below). However, the factory look of these containers and jars will need some modification - take a drill (I use a 2mm wood drill; it is very sharp and great for this task) and make many holes in the container / jar. Now it remains to fill the container with balls and - voila! – an effective moisture absorption system with color indication is at your disposal! nine0003

When the balls turn from orange to green, simply take them out of the container, put them on a baking sheet and put them in the oven - for 3 hours at 120°C . Some ovens work like a microwave, but we do not recommend using them. When the balls turn orange again, they are dry and ready to be used again.

Filament storage during printing.

A sealed container with a desiccant is suitable for this purpose. nine0003

1. Thingiverse

2 . Thingiverse

As a bonus

Dampness is a very serious problem, but not the only one.

If there are animals or dusty at home, then the coil can take on a lot of garbage in a day.

It is worth printing out such a filter and constantly using it. Then your printed models will be of higher quality and the chance of clogging the extruder will decrease.

1. Thingiverse

It is clear that there are small things in a big business, but 3D printing is not the case, and the fact that the filament turned out to be of poor quality cannot justify a mediocre result. The tricks listed in this article, used alone or in combination, will definitely help you get amazing and high quality 3D prints. Something may seem a little extreme, but in the end it will help save time and money. As well as furniture - so that it is not turned over in a fit of disappointment. nine0003

Happy Printing

Best regards, Zona-3d. ru team

3D Modeling Basics for 3D Printing / Habr

July 19, 2018 at 12:49 pm

Working with 3D graphics *Prototyping *DIY or DIY 3D printers

casting or milling. This is due to the technical features of the 3D printer, from which you need to either squeeze the maximum benefit, or adjust to the disadvantages of printing. nine0003

As a caveat, I note that these recommendations relate mainly to the FDM (FFF) 3D printing method, in which a plastic rod is heated by a moving extruder that forms the part layer by layer.

3D model development starts with a sketch. It can be a drawing on paper, a material prototype, a mental image, etc. What is important to pay attention to when creating such a sketch and the model itself, we will analyze in detail.

Part strength

Here and further down the text there are several sub-points that must be taken into account at the same time, kept in mind from the very beginning. nine0003

1. Be aware of the layering or anisotropy of the material: it is much easier to break a part in layers than across. This must be taken into account in advance, given the location of the 3D model on the 3D printer table.
   
   
2. Add fillets. The leg of the stool and the tabletop at the junction should have a rounded corner. At the same time, the larger the radius of curvature, the stronger the leg will be fixed on the table top. Similarly for various body parts. Modeling a box All right angles are rounded. It doesn't matter what plane they are in. Even where a right angle is needed, we make a radius of 0.5 mm. The printer will pass through such a section more easily than an unrounded one, there will be no impact from a sharp stop of the extruder, the part will not sway, and other pluses. nine0351
   
3. Wall thickness and filling. The maximum strength at 100% infill is a fact, but if you need to lighten the part or save plastic, you can make a much larger wall thickness in the print settings, while setting the infill much lower. This works with parts that have holes for fasteners. When creating machine code for a printer, absolutely all the outer walls are thick, so the fastener will be surrounded by a reliable thick layer of plastic of your part.
   
   
4. Support. This element affects the strength in that the layers supported by the support are not always ideal in structure. This can be solved by increasing the wall thickness, filling, but it is better not to do support at all. Support is added by the slicer depending on the angle between the part wall and the table plane. Often the default is 60 degrees, sometimes 45. This setting is selected experimentally for each 3D printer. You can check this with the help of special test parts. For example, https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2806295 - do not forget to turn off support to check the real quality of 3D printing in its absence. For example, you need to print a T-piece for tubes. Cast products are made in a T-shape. 3D printing makes the product L or even Λ-shaped. In the second case, support can even be avoided, and the part will be stronger due to the layers located at an angle of 45 degrees to the tubes. We, in the workshop, set up slicers for each machine and ask the client about the strength requirements, and, depending on this, choose a 3D printer to print. nine0351
   

Geometric restrictions

1. The wall thickness is limited from below by the size of the 3D printer nozzle. Its diameter is constant and in the vast majority of cases it is 0.4 mm. Smaller thickness - long 3D printing for most parts. The larger the nozzle, the bonds between the layers are less strong, the steps between the layers are more visible. And in general, the wall thickness should be a multiple of 0.4 mm, then the 3D printer will be able to accurately make the wall in two passes (0.8 mm), in 3 passes (1.2 mm), etc. Other thicknesses will cause the 3D printer to leave a gap or overflow, which negatively affects the strength and appearance of the printed part. nine0351
   
2. 3D printing of thin cylinders and "needles". For 3D printing of such products, special 3D printer settings are needed: low 3D printing speed, allow time for cooling, otherwise such a structure will bend. Vertically standing thin elements are best avoided at all costs. Even if they are printed, they will be very fragile. It makes sense to leave them only for decorative purposes, but you must be prepared that their quality will be worse than the quality of other elements of the 3D part.
   
   
3. 3D printed holes. I note that if the hole is straight and through, then it can be drilled, if it is curved and requires support, then it may turn out that it will be impossible to get support.
   
4. When 3D modeling, it is important to consider the overall dimensions of the 3D printer. We use convenient 3D printers, table 250x250 mm, diagonal 353 mm. This is where you need to enter the dimensions, if possible. Otherwise, you need to order either an industrial 3D printer with a large print area, or use gluing, but assembly is better, so the assembly process will be controlled by the developer, and not by the 3D printing master. nine0351
   
5. Large footprint can cause edges to peel off the table. We use special glue, but this does not always help. We are periodically approached with a complaint about colleagues in the shop that for them such “minor” defects as a folded edge are not a reason to restart 3D printing, take it as it is. But an engineer who 3D models a part can take this into account in his work and make either assemblies or thin-walled flat 3D parts that “do not have enough strength” to compress the outer contour and, as a result, raise the edge. nine0351
   
6. Tall and thin "towers" may not work well due to vibrations that occur when the 3D printer is running closer to the top, layer shifts are also possible.
   
   

Dimensional stability, accuracy

1. Precise 3D printing is quite rare. I don’t want to speak in engineering terms here, but the likelihood that a complex composite structure will assemble the first time is very low. Here, rather, you need to take into account the fact that you can then mechanically refine the details. nine0351
   
2. Holes for fasteners are best done with a margin of 0.5 mm in diameter. This will not reduce strength, the fasteners will also not dangle due to tightening forces, but if you do it without a margin, you will definitely have to drill it out. Reducing the size of a large shaft, >10mm sandpaper is much easier than making a hole, which requires a huge drill that cuts into the plastic walls and breaks the part, or gets stuck in it. It is also important to consider that when drilling, the plastic melts and the drill can melt into it so that it cannot be removed. There have been cases. nine0351
3. Heat shrinkage is not always compensated, more precisely, it is very difficult to catch it, it is not the same in different directions, so it is extremely difficult to take it into account. It's easier to print a test version, and then make adjustments.
   

When appearance matters

1. Think about how the craftsman will orient the part on the 3D printer table. 3D printing proceeds in layers, which is clearly manifested when printing surfaces that are at a small angle from the horizontal of the table. Skinning will be long and painful, because you will have to cut this "ladder" to the deepest depressions of the "steps". It is better to place such surfaces either horizontally, for example, put on a table, or increase the angle. In some cases, even adding support that spoils the wrong side of the wrong side saves time and effort on post-processing. nine0351
   
2. Support. First, the surface it supports has significantly more defects than without it. Secondly, thin and high support is weak, wobbly, which leads to the fact that the supporting part may have serious defects, or not work at all.
   
   
3. First layer quality improvement. You need to add a bevel. Even where a sharp corner is not needed, I recommend adding a chamfer of 0.5 mm. It will not be clearly visible, but the edge will be neat. nine0351

What you need to know in order not to make a mistake when ordering 3D printing

When appearance is important

1. Location of the part on the table. Remember about anisotropy.
   
2. Wall thickness and filling. What you can run into here: the filling is 20% cells, which are either visible through a thin outer wall, or the filling slightly tightens the outer wall during shrinkage, but at the same time it is visually easy to determine that there is support inside. Here, first of all, an increase in the thickness of the outer wall, or an increase in the filling density, helps. Please take this into account when ordering. nine0351
   

Postprocessing

The elimination of stepping is achieved by mechanical and chemical methods. It is possible to use putty. Acrylic paint available. If the part has a complex color structure, then we use the ProJet 4500 printer, which works on a different technology. He glues the powder particles together with colored ink glue. It turns out well.

Morality

In conclusion, I would like to note that these recommendations and the accumulated experience will make it possible to produce parts by 3D printing, which in their properties will not be inferior to cast ones, which makes it possible to save significant funds in the presence of a customized printer and small production volumes.

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