MicrobeHunter.com Microscopy Forum

I don't have a 3d printer. I know nothing about 3d printing. I assume I need some kind of software to make filters, extention tube, etc. But I know nothing at all about this or what to do.

Please help! Greg

You can use Fusion 360 to make 3d models and then send the file directly from it to the 3d printing slicer software. That was the simplest for me.

My brother has one he made from some kit I think he bought it for 300-500e new, so I print occasionally. It is important to get the temperatures right, it is not 100% precise, maybe it could be calibrated better. I always have to do some sanding afterwards to get the right dimensions.
There are different materials you can print with, some with toxic fumes some allegedly not.
Of course the toxic ones look better

It is a nice thing to have, but it does use some room...

Hi Greg,

realizing your own ideas using a 3D-printer is a lot of fun, I can just encourage you to try that out!

The most challenging part in my view is the CAD design, especially if you do not have a lot of experience using such software. Autodesk Fusion 360 is a very professional programme (Actually I am using that myself). For commercial use it is extremely expensive, for students or teachers it is for free. There are many others (SolidEgde, Solidworks, Catia, ...), most of them expensive, but there are also many feature rich freeware packages (FreeCad, ...).

When you venture into 3D-printing, the first step is therefore to decide which CAD-package you want to use. Many designs are already available on the net, e.g. via Thingiverse or Shapeways. There you can get a good idea what can be printed. These platforms, plus many others (e.g. Xometry) provide printing services, mostly for reasonable cost. The advantage of such platforms: You can choose, which 3D-printing technology (FDM, SLS, SLA, ...) you want to get your parts printed with. You can also choose from a wide variety of materials.

Before you buy your own printer, I would therefore recommend to look into CAD-design and get your first parts printed with one of those service bureaus. When you find that 3D-printing will become a relevant part of your hobby activities, you can then buy your own printer, having a more solid basis for making a sound decision.

Hi Greg,
to make real use of a 3D-printer you will ned to learn 3D-modeling. Some models can be fairly simple, others have details that are not so easy to design. Are you prepared to invest time in learning to use a 3D-CAD program?
Next step would be to use a slicer program to convert the model into the machine commands. And then you would learn how to use and maintain the printer itself. Again quite time consuming to learn.

Bob

It's not too bad if you're motovated. You just need to have enough tinkering hobbies and projects that it's worthwhile to invest the time. It's a lot easier than it once was anyway.

Hi Greg,

I started the 3D printing adventure late last year. It was a fun experience and actually pretty inexpensive. I was able to make some optical tubes and other things. My stack below:

CAD software: FreeCAD. It is free and opensource. Plenty of tutorials on Youtube to get you started and powerful enough for me. Some people prefer Fusion360 (commercial software free for hobbyists) but I don't like the idea of learning a software only to have the company to decide to restrict its free use in a year or two.

3D printer: Anycubic Mega zero 2. Bought 120 euros during black friday. Has worked flawlessly for me. There are plenty of alternatives/clones.

Filaments: PLA. Very easy to print but not heat resistant. For optic stuff it is good.

Slicer: Cura: Free and opensource.

Have fun!

I was able to install freecad and cura. Ordered an Anycubic Mega and pla which will be here on the 20th. Thanks for the help. Now I have to spend the time to learn how to use the software. You folks are appreciated. I'm glad you share your experiences.
Greg

I'd recommend PETG over PLA, since PLA can eventually sag under a load.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 18, 2022 12:20 am

I was able to install freecad and cura. Ordered an Anycubic Mega and pla which will be here on the 20th.

Nice, the adventure has begun.

Anycubic assembly video: (it is really easy, one of the reasons I chose it over the competition)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMo2w-7BJbg

For freecad this guy has a very good series:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u8otDF_C_fw&t=2s

Scarodactyl wrote: ↑

Mon Apr 18, 2022 1:06 am

I'd recommend PETG over PLA, since PLA can eventually sag under a load.

I thought PLA was generally stiffer and stronger than PETG. PETG is the more flexible of the bunch but has good heat resistance, albeit not as good as ASA.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ycGDR752fT0
Excellent channel for general 3D info!

But generally, I don't think you will have any issue with sagging given thick enough walls (3 mm ish) in your designs. With reasonable load of course.

Cheers

Attached some Freecad source files I made as examples. I was too lazy to make it parametric but it should be easy to adapt.
Dark field and oblic filters and an extension tube for DSLR adapter and 30.5 mm tube.

Seeing what you have been able to do is encouraging.

If the design software you are looking to learn is a bit baffling.... there is always Autodesk's Tinkercad ; it is designed for children.
There are limitations, but for simple bushes and dark field patches it seems OK.
-One problem is that if you make a bush by blowing a hole in another cylinder ... and then the hole turns out to be the right size, but the outside is a bit loose ..it seems quite hard to find out afterwards what the size of the inner hole, was.
So writing the sizes down in a notebook, as you go along, might be a good idea.

Of all the tools I have at my disposal, the 3D printer sees the most use by far.
For most of us it's a new process with new toolsets which means a bit of frustration at the start as you learn how to do the most basic of things, but in my opinion it's very worth the effort.

Where I worked the engineering dept had wanted a 3D printer for a while, but management didn't see the utility of it, so I bought one myself and brought it into the office to see. There were 3 or 4 of us learning the process, each using whatever toolchain they preferred and we all became effective at making basic parts in short order. Within a few weeks, the printer had sped prototyping so much and saved an enormous amount of money, enough so that management approved the purchase of any 3D printing gear deemed useful without further question.

It was cumbersome for the first few small parts, but once you learn the basics you can build in that and make more detailed parts faster as you gain experience. I eventually took my printer home, where it has allowed me to make parts so much faster and easier that ever before, allowing me to do projects that previously would have remained on the TODO list due to the effort required.

The CAD software I use is FreeCAD; not suggesting it's the best, but it's done all I've needed it to do and it runs on my platform(Linux) and the price is perfect (free).

Hi Greg
Do feel free to have a look at a couple of articles I did for Micscape magazine a while back. I`m no expert in 3D by any stretch but its a lot of fun. My cad software of choice (free) is DesignSpark Mechanical an excellent app.
The last article I did was in Feb this year here https://www.microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/ar ... ting-2.pdf and my first article (last exploits) links inside that one !. Hope you like it.
regards
Steve

I've been having a ball. Spent the last few days playing with freecad. That will take getting used to. Then today the Anycubic Mega Pro arrived at about noon. That's a giant erector set and it took a while to set up and level. I printed the demo that came with it and it came out very well. Then it was stuck to the plate and wouldn't budge. Fortunately the internet was right there and it told me all about alcohol, so I got the work off the plate, got the plate clean and checked the leveling. More adventures are waiting tomorrow I am certain. I'm also certain my wife is going to wonder what I've been up to all day. Thanks for all the help from you folks. I'm sure to have more questions in days to come.

Yes, my first was really stuck too. If you print PLA, don't heat the bed beyond 40C and it won't be as bad. But too much adhesion is a good problem to have, much easier to troubleshoot than no adhesion and warping of the object. And be careful with that magnetic detachable bed top, it doesn't handle too much bending well.
Enjoy!

One easy way to get it off without using alcohol or other scraps is to put the plate in freezer for few minutes. It will come off nicely. I have Creality ender 3v2 with a glass bed. Using tinkercad alot. It is primarily used for microscope accessories .

OT: last week, my kid was doing a school project and looking for a squid. Could not find anything locally and then it hit me. Sure enough, found a model in thingiverse and off I go to print many. This is the first time after the initial excitement phase, I printed something useful other than microscope stuff.

Sansub2 wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:32 am

One easy way to get it off without using alcohol or other scraps is to put the plate in freezer for few minutes. It will come off nicely. I have Creality ender 3v2 with a glass bed. Using tinkercad alot. It is primarily used for microscope accessories .

OT: last week, my kid was doing a school project and looking for a squid. Could not find anything locally and then it hit me. Sure enough, found a model in thingiverse and off I go to print many. This is the first time after the initial excitement phase, I printed something useful other than microscope stuff.

I'm forever printing little caps and parts for the various things around the house that break. If I live long enough, perhaps I'll have 3D printed it all except the furnace and stove burners.

dtsh wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 1:43 am

I'm forever printing little caps and parts for the various things around the house that break. If I live long enough, perhaps I'll have 3D printed it all except the furnace and stove burners.

Ha ha ha. We are the early adapters of this technology at consumer level. This is going to disturb many things in 10 years timeframe just like the internet did in the 90s.

I have a lot of projects in mind for the microscopes but I've settled in now on the hardest thing of all.... learning.

I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but patience is one thing missing from my DNA, so that's a learning curve too.
I know I'll get there. I've ordered plenty of pla because some of the things I make will be rather large.
It's enjoyable and there is plenty of you tube education.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:01 am

I've ordered plenty of pla

Beware, once they are open, they start to suck moisture and printing will get harder (bubbles, adhesion issues potentially). Don't open all at once (if different colors)

smollerthings wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 9:17 am

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:01 am

I've ordered plenty of pla

Beware, once they are open, they start to suck moisture and printing will get harder (bubbles, adhesion issues potentially). Don't open all at once (if different colors)

AND don't let the filament end fly off loose. I personally found that out when nearly at the end of a print the filament was tangled up !!!.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Fri Apr 22, 2022 5:01 am

I have a lot of projects in mind for the microscopes but I've settled in now on the hardest thing of all.... learning.

I know Rome wasn't built in a day, but patience is one thing missing from my DNA, so that's a learning curve too.
I know I'll get there. I've ordered plenty of pla because some of the things I make will be rather large.
It's enjoyable and there is plenty of you tube education.

For large prints it's sometimes helpful to switch to a larger nozzle, the time savings can be quite significant.

Kinda lost right now. I'm using Freecad. I'm able to do simple design work. I export the file as standard, cura recognizes it, slices, saves to disc, but the printer doesn't recognize the file. This confusion has lasted all day. I'm a little frustrated. I hope someone out there can help. Thanks. I'm using an SD card. It came with a USB but the printer isn't recognized that way so why have a USB connection? Greg

The printer doesn't seem to recognize the stl files. Cura slices ok and saves to SD card but printer not recognizing files. Twelve hours lost trying to figure it out.

Hi Greg,
the process is like this:
3D-CAD outputs *.STL
Slicer outputs *.gcode

So on your SD card should be a file ABC.gcode
Perhaps Cura has created *.gcode files but put them in a different folder than you expected.

Bob

1. See whether the printer can read from the card. I think many devices recognize ony FAT or FAT32 file system.
2. Make sure you have gcode file. Cura normally creates gcode file after you slice it.
3. Power off and on the printer while keeping the card in. I noticed in my printer that, new/all files were not recognized/read when I insert the card after it is powered on. It drove me crazy until I found the workaround.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 4:08 am

It came with a USB but the printer isn't recognized that way so why have a USB connection?

I think the USB port can be used to be printed directly on but it is not worth the hassle IMHO.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:06 am

The printer doesn't seem to recognize the stl files.

Cura slices the stl files into gcode. By the way, there is an addon on cura that recognizes directly the freecad files so you don't even have to convert to stl.
gcode files get saved onto the SD card. Check there are indeed on the SD card.

Greg Howald wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 5:06 am

but printer not recognizing files

Did you refresh on the printer's interface after putting the SD card in?

Sansub2 wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:49 am

Power off and on the printer while keeping the card in. I noticed in my printer that, new/all files were not recognized/read when I insert the card after it is powered on. It drove me crazy until I found the workaround.

You can refresh in your printer's interface.

Greg
Are you able to see if any files have actually been saved on the SD card on your pc?. I have an Ender3 V2 printer and the supplied micro SD card was not the best despite numerous reformats!.
Steve