Aur0ra145 and the Photon

[Twokidsnosleep]

Followed your advice and did have a successful print. That will get painted up soon. As for today, I'm moving slow after more dental surgery yesterday. It was stage 2 of a dental implant. So trending in the right direction. Not nearly as invasive as the last time around. Maybe this afternoon I'll get some bench time.

Fun times. Stay on some ibuprofen for three days, taking it by the clock and you will get pst the swollen/achy phase.
Glad to hear the print worked out too

[aur0ra145]

Well, I finally broke down and bought a laser cutter. This thing is cool! I've only experimented with slate coasters so far, though the machine came with a bundle of different materials to try out. It can cut materials like acrylic and MDF. I've been experimenting with it making coasters. It engraves very quickly. Average engrave time is about 5 minutes. The software is a bit weird to get the hang of, thankfully the materials to engrave are pretty cheap. I think the coasters were about $0.50 each.

[digger303]

Cool.
What's the laser size.

[aur0ra145]

10W but there is also an IR laser for other types of stuff. I need to mess with it more. Did some slate drink coasters and a metallic business card. I may be metallic business card for the rest of my life. It's also so easy to do a coaster, I sort of want to make an Etsy shop for cheap to get people what they want for not an arm and a leg. It's incredibly cool. I want to try engraving glass and see how it goes.

[aur0ra145]

This thing is humming right along. I ended up hooking up the conveyor belt to allow for more work through put. Been able to make custom dice, which is epic. Next up will be doing some Yeti style drink containers. Looking forward to see how they come out!

[digger303]

[Twokidsnosleep]

How did I miss that?!
Super cool. I like the enclosed set up. Geeze there are a ton on the market now

Matthew sent me his old laser cutter, 5W I think little cnc style Emblaser I unit
Haven’t used it in ages as the software is a bit binky to work with but it is fun

[digger303]

Cool tech even if it's not the latest.
Yesterday I saw a hand held router that did not need a template to cut a perfect circle. Yep it's got a built in computer with pre loaded designs, you just position it and move it within a few mm's of where it has to go and the computer will guide the cutter on the predetermined track making adjustments for your lack of precision much like a cnc machine. Only one draw back of course the PRICE...3,500aud.

[aur0ra145]

Latest in drink coaster tech. The wife and I play some Magic: The Gathering and the color combinations have names. Which, I would like to learn but not dedicate a lot of time to. How to you solve this? Make a coaster with the color combos and hopefully I'll learn the names through osmosis.

The coaster was laser engraved on slate. Then used Tamiya acrylics to free hand the colors. Not the best in the world; but, good enough from about 3 feet away.

[digger303]

Cool

[Twokidsnosleep]

Is it a piece of slate??
That is super work

[aur0ra145]

Saw some second hand tentacle terrain at the local game store. The set of 4 tentacles was selling for $210 USD. So, I said, "Think the 3d printer can do that for cheaper." Found some free .stl's and got to printing. These are just getting primed. Though, the unit cost for these is astronomically cheaper than buying the polystyrene version.

[digger303]

Saw some second hand tentacle terrain at the local game store. The set of 4 tentacles was selling for $210 USD. So, I said, "Think the 3d printer can do that for cheaper." Found some free .stl's and got to printing. These are just getting primed. Though, the unit cost for these is astronomically cheaper than buying the polystyrene version.

Yes and as units get better and buying pre molded items gets more expensive it's only going to sway more of us to buy 3d printers and STL files.

[aur0ra145]

As promised, the tentacle/arm/thing. This was painted using the dry brushing technique. Also added in some "Blood for the Blood God" technical effects paint. Total time spent painting was maybe 2 minutes.

[aur0ra145]

Tried another print recently. The goal was to print two US Airborne 3-man MMG teams for Bolt Action (six total models.) The result, was none of the figures printing correctly. I used pre-supported .STL's which were purchased. I have a few theories as to what happened.

• 1. The resin had been setting in the vat for a long time, and the molecules of stuff wasn't where it should have been. Brent mentioned this in his video about how 3d print resin works.
  

• 2. Because all the prints didn't fail in the same spot, maybe the pre-supported models weren't compatible with my machine/settings. [Most likely in my mind]

• 3. 3d printer settings weren't properly adjusted for the type of resin used. Meaning, specifically for my machine, I had the settings wrong.

• 4. This is a sign that I should buy a bigger, better, more expensive, deluxe, wifi enabled machine. [Least likely according to wife]

Overall, I'll try the print again. Though this time I'll place the supports. Which is my least favorite thing to do, thus why I trust the default ones that come with the files. The two items that didn't fail, were dragons teeth obstacles that I manually placed the supports.

A second problem, is the impellor on my wash station is rusting or something. Which is causing sediment to get stuck on the models when washing them. I've tried washing out the wash basin, straining the alcohol and putting it all back in. But the rust continues. I'll likely just need to get a better wash station for future use. This problem has been going on for about 1.5 years. This is just the worst that I've seen it.

[digger303]

A awful set of problems to contend with or at least they would be for me. Not knowing much about the whole process.

[aur0ra145]

A awful set of problems to contend with or at least they would be for me. Not knowing much about the whole process.

It's all good. I treat this thing more like a science project that occasionally makes neat modelling accessories and figures. What's the fun if I don't have to force myself to learn new things.

[Twokidsnosleep]

Yep yep yep and yep

New files not print right, various reasons
New bottle of resin acts weird
Supports seem inadequate
Rusty impeller fan
It’s a fun hobby this

[Rubicon]

I was playing with Clear Resin on my Mono 2 a month or so ago and my prints failed. I ended up on Anycubic's website and found that the clear needs a much longer cure time, almost double the time of their standard V2 resin. Haven't tried again yet with the clear though.

[digger303]

I was playing with Clear Resin on my Mono 2 a month or so ago and my prints failed. I ended up on Anycubic's website and found that the clear needs a much longer cure time, almost double the time of their standard V2 resin. Haven't tried again yet with the clear though.

Just printing available stl files and yet there is so much to learn in the way of the little details that ultimately determine success, I'm finding.
Thanks for the info.

[Rubicon]

I was playing with Clear Resin on my Mono 2 a month or so ago and my prints failed. I ended up on Anycubic's website and found that the clear needs a much longer cure time, almost double the time of their standard V2 resin. Haven't tried again yet with the clear though.

Just printing available stl files and yet there is so much to learn in the way of the little details that ultimately determine success, I'm finding.
Thanks for the info.

Same here, just stuff I find on Cults or Thingiverse. I'm traveling for work right now I hope to get the printer filled and running again after this weekend.