3D printing


Just tested my new Anycubic Photon Mono 2 (replaced a unit that was DOA). Ran the tests- results were good. Made two 40 foot containers and bottoms in a few hours. Two units on the build plate waiting for cleaning.
cont1.jpg
 
Very nice! Looks like you got nice straight edges along the base of the container near the build plate.
I recently bought an elegoo saturn s 4k. Amazing detail on some 80’girder bridges but i got a bit of edge lift. Think the part stuck to the FEP a bit. Maybe slower lift speed and slightly higher lift height is needed. Curious what your settings are.
 
Hi Using the standard gray Anycubic resin. 0.05mm layer, 2.5 second exposure, 5 layer raft/25 second exposure, 35um pixel size. 6mm lift at 4 mm/second, 6mm/sec retract.
Good luck!
 
Here is an afternoons pastime: I used files from Stephane Sevard (on the TrainBoard site). Great guy! He did the work. I modified the files a bit, then sliced them for my new AnyCubic Mono 2. I must say Stephane really knows his stuff!! Now to separate, add Sm-Co magnets with a bit of epoxy, and then break out the air brush. I ordered a bunch of container decals from N Scale Supply. So, find the MicroSol!
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c3.jpg
 
Those came out well. Mind sharing the design link? I may try these. Any chance you have a desing link for the intermodal railcars that carry the containers?

I think its amazing that we have the ability to make detailed models in vast quantities rapidly for pennies with little effort.

My justification for my purchase of a 3d printer was based upon my ability to make close representations of local buildings. If you factor in the cost of buildings needed for a small bedroom sized layout, the printer will easily pay for itself when you factor in the savings on buildings alone. I really wanted to make or build as much as i could for this layout.
 
Hi I found the guy on the TrainBoard site. Stephane Sevard; really nice guy. You will have to join the TrainBoard to access files under Resources. I chatted with him a few times through the TB site, then asked him for the files. I do not have intermodal models. I am modifying the designs from Stephane (slow work) to make 48 foot containers (my well cars are 48 feet to save space).
 
Here is an afternoons pastime: I used files from Stephane Sevard (on the TrainBoard site). Great guy! He did the work. I modified the files a bit, then sliced them for my new AnyCubic Mono 2. I must say Stephane really knows his stuff!! Now to separate, add Sm-Co magnets with a bit of epoxy, and then break out the air brush. I ordered a bunch of container decals from N Scale Supply. So, find the MicroSol!
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You are going gangbusters, and are certainly making N scale look good too. APPLAUSE!
And 3D printing too, of course. APPLAUSE again!!

After many years, I finally made my way over to N-scale supply myself...and left a lot of money behind when I went out the door. Almost glad they were closing for the evening, or the hole in my wallet would be a lot bigger. Definitely a good source for all kinds of stuff.

I'll go back next week and leave a lot more change behind too I imagine, as there are a couple of new books I'll want. At a minimum.

I should probably just bring an armored car. Filled with a lot of money. :p
 
Update- I tried FreeCad for designing N scale parts- it was the darling of the online raters. I tried two versions, let's say it might work (I spent literally 9 or 10 hours fighting simple box designs, then deleted the programs- ridiculous) Definitely not made for an AutoCad guy. AutoCad is expensive, so, at the suggestion of my son, I went to Tinkercad (a version of AutoCad). Took about 10 minutes to set up, 2 minutes of a training video, and Voila! I designed basic boxes of differing depths, sized for 9x16mm speakers. I designed more complex 9x16mm boxes with internal vents and supports to increase the back volume of the speaker, as well. I adjusted the cases to take into account resin shrinkage. Total programming time was about an hour; printing time was about 30 minutes per build plate. Will take some pictures and post.
 
I to have been playing around with tinkercad. Its basic and easy to learn. Ive also designed several ojects. This weekend im hoping to print a barn ive designed along with some bridge piers.
One thing i stumbled acros. My slicing software (chitubox) has a resizing feature. You can adjust up or down limitlessly or close to it without having to rework a design.
also handy if you find an online design you like in a differrent scale.
 
Chitubox does have the scaling feature which can be adjusted independently on all three axis, plus a mirroring feature. Most of my 3D work has been with shop models and I have done a lot of resizing for deck equipment, light AA and whatnot for different models. However at some point models do need reworking for a different scale because of the vagaries of the printing process.
 
Update- I tried FreeCad for designing N scale parts- it was the darling of the online raters. I tried two versions, let's say it might work (I spent literally 9 or 10 hours fighting simple box designs, then deleted the programs- ridiculous) Definitely not made for an AutoCad guy. AutoCad is expensive, so, at the suggestion of my son, I went to Tinkercad (a version of AutoCad). Took about 10 minutes to set up, 2 minutes of a training video, and Voila! I designed basic boxes of differing depths, sized for 9x16mm speakers. I designed more complex 9x16mm boxes with internal vents and supports to increase the back volume of the speaker, as well. I adjusted the cases to take into account resin shrinkage. Total programming time was about an hour; printing time was about 30 minutes per build plate. Will take some pictures and post.
Here is a picture of the first build plate. I let the Anycubic program make the supports. Next time, I will do it manually, and skip the big plate. You can see the different designs- simple cases of different depths, and the two designs with extended volume. I put a vertical plate at the junction of the two parts with holes to allow the extra volume to work on the backside of the speaker. The plate also serves to support the lid and the speaker edge. This design is for my Atlas SD60s which have a step in the frame at the rear.
rp1.jpg
 
I have liked Chitubox better than the Any-Q version. To fine tune things one can set the dimensions of the light, med and heavy supports. I'll often let it "platform" then go back and remove all the one's I don't want. Maybe a lot of light ones and mediums added for support strength. Allowing for a failure rate I'll always add a couple of extras, especially for small and fragile parts which may also have a fragility failure rate.

Good luck!
 
Those look really good. Im curious, are you getting perfectly square edges on all sides? Ive been struggling with this and ive tried a lot of different things. Don't want to hijack this thread but it Im curious if there is enough interest in this subject to start its own sub category where people can post success, designs, and problems. Seems that the cost of the equipment is making 3d printing affordable thus more people are dipping their toes into this.
 
Those look really good. Im curious, are you getting perfectly square edges on all sides? Ive been struggling with this and ive tried a lot of different things. Don't want to hijack this thread but it Im curious if there is enough interest in this subject to start its own sub category where people can post success, designs, and problems. Seems that the cost of the equipment is making 3d printing affordable thus more people are dipping their toes into this.
I'd say this is the place, and no sub category needed. Successes and problems are all part of the experience.

Calibration is one of the many hurdles--sizing, and not necessarily adjusting things to all the same degree in all three directions. I have these issues even when 2D printing, and, while it's possible to balance out results in one program against results in another...(WYSIWYG? Hah! WAJTI*)...which version of your given file is the baseline file? I can't even keep that straight half the time.

[*What A Joke That Is]
 
As to the photo above of the cubes, the tops will always look good, it's the bottoms that usually are problematic. I printed a large ramp/hatch for a ship model and just couldn't get it thin and flat and finally printed it right on the platen without supports. The big issue with resin 3D is really it only prints 5 of the six sides adequately. sometimes changing the angle of printing is helpful. For instance masts or barrels (gun) are best printed vertical or near vertical, though this takes forever. For ships I printed them hollow and reinforced them with piano wire as they tend to be too flexible.

Freight cars generally print fairly decent horizontal but flatcars ironically need to be at an angle of 45 deg or greater to prevent excessive curvature.

Angle, supports, and best how to design for removal and if as one piece or parts. All questions to be solved. It's not. push button technology yet.
 
I'm putting up this link both because I now have a pair of older diaphragm compressors I won't be using for airbrushing anymore, and because it'll (hopefully) help keep workstations neat. Compact.

Seems like good idea. Give 'em a second life.

This could keep 3D print cleanup mess well away from the airbrushing/painting and weathering station, without having to cross connect hoses in order to use a single compressor.

 
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Those look really good. Im curious, are you getting perfectly square edges on all sides? Ive been struggling with this and ive tried a lot of different things. Don't want to hijack this thread but it Im curious if there is enough interest in this subject to start its own sub category where people can post success, designs, and problems. Seems that the cost of the equipment is making 3d printing affordable thus more people are dipping their toes into this.
Hi I forgot about this post. Yes, the edges are very square. I use 0.7 to 0.9mm wall and bottom thicknesses. Up to 5mm depth. I also add steps to mount LEDs. Also, I now only use a few supports- usually using small cone structures as the supports. They remove really easily and do not burn up resin like the automatic support programs. You can see that the tops are flat. Here are some other designs:

IMG_1286.jpg
 
Here are pictures of finished containers, 20 foot and 40 foot units. I redesigned for 48 feet, paint and decals in progress.

containers.jpg
containers2.jpg
 



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