Dremel 3D40

I have a Dremel 3D40 printer on loan for review.

I won't give too much away as I will be preparing a couple of articles on setting up and using the machine.

First impression, however, is that it was easy to set up. level the bed and get the nozzle ready for print, and the test piece it is currently 3/4 of the way through seems to be printing to a very high quality,

Next test will be to see how easy it is to prepare a third party design for printing, then I will experiment with some designs of my own.

Neil

is it PLA or ABS?

When you have finished can you buy it cheep ex demo?

Are you printing loco drivers (people), have you got your driver yet?

Looking forward to the results.

Paul

The demo worked well.

Initial impression is that its a very high quality printer, but doesn't allow all the tweaking you can do with a homebuild.

Only downside is no heated bed - tough getting the print off the buildtape even with the 'special removal tool'!

Loco driver is appearing right now.

I think its PLA (I can't take the spool out to check mid-print!).

Can anyone tell me how to fill a 3D Turbocad model with a framework? I saved a test object as an STL and it's just a hollow shell.

Driver came off much more easily - probably because a much smaller contact area.

No heated bed means that it will be PLA. You need a heated bed for ABS.

Don't know anything about Turbocad but if by filling with a framework you mean something like including a honeycomb fill structure that is done by the slicing software such as Slic3r or Cura.

Russell.

The problem is that TC Deluxe can only produce 3D surfaces - not 3D solids. A reasonably simply "fix" is to use a free program called MeshLab (it's made by Autodesk) to convert the 3D surface into a solid. Use the "heal" facility.

The slicer program will convert the interior of a solid model into a framework with a specified density percentage, but there's nothing to convert inside a surface.

Looks nicely made, prices vary quite a bit, PLA filament is rather expensive at £19.94 for a 1/2Kg roll, I think it's possible to print a different holder to allow 1Kg rolls of filament to be used.

Looking forward to see your printed examples.

I've figured it out. There doesn't seem to be any issue with Turbocad STLs, they print fine.

Autodesk has an insignificant icon that when clicked brings up a bewildering array of options.

Must admit it's very easy to use as the software chain is reduced to one program - you puts yer STL file in and yer takes yer Dremel file out - simples!

This is a rough prototype for a tank track, please don't score it on accuracy or knock of marks for dressmaking pins being used as hinge pins...

Here's some pictures to show what the 3D40 is capable of.

Neil

Original 3D model of turret from Turbocad:

Cupola and hatch printed from above model:

Gun, since tweaked in several ways:

Suspension units, again since tweaked to improve the spring alignment:

Neil, that really is very impressive! The day is coming when we can scrap all of our dirty, oily machinery and tools and simply have a Dremel sitting next to our PC. Just imagine being able to work in comfort indoors. The car can be kept in the now redundant garage and sheds can be used to store garden tools. Absolute bliss?

Edited By daveb on 20/01/2017 13:13:09

Horses for courses, 3D printing needs to be seen as a complement not a competitor. To get to a working tank I will need a fair bit of 'real' model engineering, but it's fun and interesting exploring different materials and techniques.

One thing I'm planning on is 3D printing the air filter for my long-stalled Suffolk engine, the real one is plastic.

I also need to play with gearotic, 3D printed gears are ideal for mechanisms that aren't required to do heavy duty.

Well now that the review is in the forthcomming issue of MEW lets hope they don't ask for it back too soon, Might be best to spend the weekend printing stuff off just incase

Now we need someone to invent a machine that turns redundant plastic parts back into filament wire..

Already been invented, but rather pricey, although there are $25 examples on the web. Basically you need a shredder and an archimedian screw to force the pellets through a heated nozzle. Apparently just running it over a brass bar and letting it form open coils on the floor works well, although you need to experiment with nozzle sizes once it's approximately right you just adjust the drop.

I imagine that a design will appear in MEW eventually!

Still hoping for people to write up some projects that have a good balance of printed and engineered parts.

Neil, 3D printing may be a compliment to conventional machining at the moment but who knows where it will end, plastic filament for plastic parts, metal filament for metal parts, organic filament too. How long before we can load a program for a half scale traction engine, 2 bacon sandwiches and a black coffee? (the water filament may be a slight problem at the moment)

Dave

Hi Neil

Lets see a picture of your driver figure, will you be selling them to finance other projects? I could do with one for my 08. Just need to get a 3D scanner now and you can rescale any thing!

Paul

To slightly modify the article text for context: The figure is from a file for one of ARD Digital’s 3D printed figures for 16mm railway enthusiasts. They kindly sent me an OBJ file for one of their engine driver figures, which I was able to enlarge to suit my loco, Southam. The tall, thin figure benefited from plenty of support. Obviously I would be a scoundrel if I sold figures using their data and their prices are really very reasonable. If you are interested in these figures, visit their website at designscanprint3d.bigcartel.com to see more examples.

You may be able to persuade them to print at a larger scale than 38mm but expect to pay more as materials and time increase as the cube of the scale!

This is actually printed at the standard setting, not the fine one! ARD Digital's prints are at least as good.