3D Printing

[Bonvivant]

I know that this is kind of a niche hobby and there might only be a couple of us on the whole forum that dabble here, but I just got my first home printer after working with them for months at work. I figured it would be cool to have a topic on here to share projects, single prints, or just cool videos on the power and flexibility of this technology. I am running an Ender 3 V2 from Creality, and currently it is just stock but plan to do upgrades in the future.

Here is a fun video that shows how deep you can go into the hobby. A (almost) fully 3D printed mechanical clock! The main spring only gives about 15 minutes of use, but is amazing what was designed and engineered here.

 

[Bonvivant]

Some of my first prints. I designed the ball mark repair tools in fusion 360 by hand. They are kind of flimsy but should work. I can always adjust the design accordingly. 

[Vinsk]

2 hours ago, Bonvivant said:

Some of my first prints. I designed the ball mark repair tools in fusion 360 by hand. They are kind of flimsy but should work. I can always adjust the design accordingly. 

Can you make a PlayStation 5? 😂

[Double Mocha Man]

5 minutes ago, Vinsk said:

Can you make a PlayStation 5? 😂

Can you make a guy/gal to mow my lawn so I can go out and play golf? And mix a good gin & tonic when I come home?

[Club Rat]

I designed a hinge for my new cart cover and had my brother print / make them.
I did the design / drawing in 2D and he converted it. 

It was a simple item which has worked well over the years.
I then sent photos to the manufacture showing them the new hinge.
My design allow the door to pivot out, while the original fixed position hinge snapped when a gust of wind opened the door too forcefully. I also designed a couple of custom ball markers and had them printed.
Fun stuff to be creative and build useful objects.
 

Edited January 2, 2021 by Club Rat

[TN94z]

I actually told my wife last night that I was thinking of getting a 3d printer to play around with. I have done no research on them to date though. I would be totally new to it.

[Bonvivant]

3 hours ago, TN94z said:

I actually told my wife last night that I was thinking of getting a 3d printer to play around with. I have done no research on them to date though. I would be totally new to it.

It's pretty fun, but there is loads to learn. If you are any kind of mechanically inclined, I'd say go for it, and the Creality Ender 3 would be my choice. It comes partially assembled, but you have to install everything on the X and Z axes. With a bit of fine tuning and a healthy does of reading on the web, you'd be just fine. The Ender 3 is sometimes as cheap as 160 dollars, which is a blistering deal, but normally sits around 200, so you can tell your wife that it is way cheaper than a new driver 😉

[DoubleAce]

Got into 3d printing around a year ago. Intended to be a hobby, but have also made a nice little side business out of it (workshop related designs). Since committing to play more golf this year, I've been finding all sorts of uses for the printer. 

Have designed and printed the following golf related items so far...

• Cradles for the SwingLogic SLX golf sim
• Air compressor adapter to install grips
• A shim to snug up a putter grip that was a little loose as the shaft tapered
• A shaft extension to experiment with longer putter lengths
• Flat golf cup targets for putting in my Florida room

Any other makers out there? What type of stuff do you print? Anything golf related that I haven't thought of yet?

[DoubleAce]

Nobody? Guess this will be a short thread, lol.

Added another item to my list of golf related designs today. You know those things you can clip on a ball to mark it with lines/symbols? Decided I wanted a custom one of my own. Turned out pretty well...

[Club Rat]

I needed to make hinges for my cart cover doors a few years back. 
My brother had a printer, and I designed the part.
Worked much better than the OEM part.

Years ago, a guy offered Custom Ball Markers for TST.
The ones he made were not very good.
IMO, the wall thickness deterred felt markers the ability to apply ink properly.

My brother designs parts for his hobbies, remote planes, cars and boats.
Other than occasionally having a need for specific plastic objects, it's a great tool.
 

[DoubleAce]

2 hours ago, Club Rat said:

I needed to make hinges for my cart cover doors a few years back. 
My brother had a printer, and I designed the part.
Worked much better than the OEM part.

Years ago, a guy offered Custom Ball Markers for TST.
The ones he made were not very good.
IMO, the wall thickness deterred felt markers the ability to apply ink properly.

My brother designs parts for his hobbies, remote planes, cars and boats.
Other than occasionally having a need for specific plastic objects, it's a great tool.
 

It really is nice to be able to repair/improve stuff. Uses for a printer are pretty much endless. Learning CAD is the biggest hurdle. But it gets easier over time.

I'd agree wall thickness is important with a ball marker tool. The one I made is 5 hundredths (IIRC). And I could probably go thinner. I even toyed with the idea of printing one basically as an ultra thin flat sheet that could be "folded" around the ball. As opposed to the clip on "cup" design. Still may give that a try, but pretty happy with how the first attempt turned out.

[Club Rat]

And there are tons of cool ideas out on the web.
Many have the STL files already which you can DL

I used to use Corel for drawing items to cut out on a plasma table.
Only played around with 3D stuff a tad for visual details.

The CAD program I used for the plasma was mainly for detailing objects in 2D
I get totally loss when creating radial objects with a deviation or offset of the angle. 

[DoubleAce]

On 4/20/2022 at 2:26 PM, Club Rat said:

And there are tons of cool ideas out on the web.
Many have the STL files already which you can DL

I used to use Corel for drawing items to cut out on a plasma table.
Only played around with 3D stuff a tad for visual details.

The CAD program I used for the plasma was mainly for detailing objects in 2D
I get totally loss when creating radial objects with a deviation or offset of the angle. 

I'd love to have access to a plasma table. Or even just a CNC. 

3D design can definitely get complicated. For instance, you'd think that clip on ball marker is pretty simple. Most of it is. With the exception of whatever custom design you want in it. As you can't easily "draw" on a curved surface. So, instead you need to create a secondary plane. Create your logo/design on that plane. Then extrude it so they intersect just right. Merge them together. Then reverse extrude the logo portion. And good luck if you get to the end and want to make a minor change.

I still really enjoy it. It's fun skill to learn. And you get better with time. I think back on early stuff I designed. Things that I took hours and hours to figure out. With the benefit of hindsight, some of those designs should have only taken minutes. 

It is also nice that the "maker" community is pretty nice with sharing their STLs. I generally share mine. Even the ones I sell. I just ask that people only print them for personal use. Haven't run into anyone yet who's ruined it for the rest of the community. 

[DoubleAce]

Liking the idea of printing custom ball markers, I gave another design a shot. Think I like this one better. And guessing know one even knows what the heck the first one is. 

Edited April 22, 2022 by DoubleAce

[Club Rat]

@Bonvivant started a thread several years back - 

 

I'm still searching the site for the custom ball markers Scott made a long time ago.
I still have them in the basement and will dig them out later.

 

[DoubleAce]

Little guy was pretty excited about my latest golf related print. Designed a hollow golf ball, printed in 3 pieces. Glued the first two halves together. Filled with flour. Glued the top cap on. Viola, exploding golf ball! 

Worked on the first swing. He really got a kick out of it.