Considering 3D printer...LulzBot users here?

After a really really nice fellow motorists “accidentally” tried to almost “accidentally” run me over on my bike, again I’m sure it was an accident ALL 3 TIMES, I decided to install a camera on my bike. I made a 3D printed mount that bolts on to my engine cowl bolts. I mount a GoPro Session cube camera there (its heavy for its size). I printed in ABS with 90% infill and it’s rock solid.

So you can make usable parts with a printer with the right materials, design, settings. My turn signals are also mounted on 3D printed standoffs, and my old bike I 3D printed complete turn signal strips.

Dan

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Nice! A truly useable thing. I assume 90% infill means the part is 90% solid stuff?

You most certainly can make usable stuff with 3d printers. The low end consumer grade units require a lot more skill and experience to do a good job, but compared to 10 years ago, it is a much nicer world. Just know that even with higher end gear, you need to understand the materials and process to design and fabricate parts that will do what you want. A trinket to sit on a shelf is easy. A structural component or a toy, less so. A structural component like the camera mount takes a good bit of consideration. A better machine reduces the number of issues, but does not eliminate the need for care in design and process.

(note that I am not a heavy duty user of fused dep machines, and rely on the expertise of others for critical parts done this way, which is not often in my world)

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Yup, 90% crosshatch and 10% air. One of the funnier uses I’ve had for a 3D printer…I was assembling some wooden furniture in a box, the kind that uses a bunch of dowels for alignment. My “kit” was shy one dowel and I was almost built. Didn’t have any dowel rod handy, so I modeled and printed one to finish the build. I don’t remember which piece of furniture, but I’m sure it’s somewhere around my house still kickin’! Haha!

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Bought a Prusa i3 MK2S and added the multimaterial attachment which allows for printing with up to four filaments. The performance is stunning. Liked it so much I just bought a MK3 and can’t wait for delivery. Cost, performance, print volume and quality all make it an excellent choice and you very likely won’t outgrow it.

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Cool, maybe I’ll go for a Mk2S.

This concerns me re Mk3: https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk3-f30/poor-print-quality-t12438.html. Thread is at 19 pages and counting.