Build DIY 3D printer

[solidmodeler]

I found this website that describes how to build your own 3D printer. I have access to a printer at work but this might be good for those custom Christmas parts. Maybe even custom Lynx enclosures.
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[castortiu]

For what I see in the video it prints 2D projections images on a 3D space so a top layer can't never be bigger than a bottom layer, which I deduce will never be able to create a hollow surface under a layer of plastic so a resonator chamber of a velociraptor is out of question .

I doubt even it can print the plastic hanger that is been shown, since the holes for the screws probably has to be made with a drill.

Cas.

[budude]

I watched the video also and I don't see how it gets to what is being made on the table to looking like a finished product (like the coat hangers). They seem to come out all bumpy ands stringy and appear to need a lot of finishing work. They don't really show that part of the process unless there's another video somewhere.

Neat gadget for sure though - not sure I want to plunk down a grand for the kit though quite yet...

[castortiu]

I found a couple more videos and some stuff done with it.

Looks like a top layer can be bigger than the bottom layer after all.

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Probably the plastic cools relative quickly to allow creates a bigger top layer in some degree.

Here is another one but made with several pieces.

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Cas.

[RJ]

They can produce much more advanced parts than it sounds like you guys think. They could for example make the holes in the hanger.

Its just a matter of what is or is not put at each layer which is very thin. The rough look of the part being made smooths out as other layers are put on it.

RJ

[castortiu]

What I was interested or hoping from this machine was if it was be able to print 3D objects in one solid piece something that is difficult to make with ABS injection unless is made of several pieces, I can see that top layers can bigger than the bottom layer, but only at some degree since it depends of the thickness of the melted plastic and how quickly it cools, I don’t see possible it can make a 90 degree angles on the Y axis. To do that I would imagine a 3D printer that uses two materials instead just one, the plastic to make the desired shape and a second soft biodegradable material (kind of baby powder) to be used on the internal hollow parts, so the plastic can rest on this material on the process of making the piece, when the piece is finished is submerged in water to remove the second material.

Cas.

[solidmodeler]

The commercial machines we have at work use a very similar process. They melt one layer onto the next about .007 inches thick. The parts can be made hollow or filled up to 18 x 18 x 12 inches. Depending on your length of structural the overhanging area the machine will develop support structures that you just break off when complete. Most machines will give you better than + or - .007" tolerance. This is usually the thickness of each layer.