R/C hobby related 3D prints?

Turbojoe

Elite member
Just got and assembled my daughters 3D printer. Can't accurately specify because it was ordered by my daughter on her WOOT account but it's the latest Prusa Creatality Ender 3D.

I've assembled the unit and gotten past the initial failed builds caused by my bed adhesion stupidity. 3 perfect prints in a row now. I'd like to find some 3D printer R/C specific files to look at and possibly print. Thingiverse is pretty specific in its search engine and I'm likely bypassing what I'm looking for. Any hints on a search string for R/C stuff that we as modellers will be interested in?

Joe
 

Fluburtur

Cardboard Boy
I print a lot of control horns, it saves a lot of time. Otherise I print rather specific stuff that I design myself (or vases, a lot of vases)

I also designed this a while back, if your printer is decently accurate it should print nicely.

Otherwise, you will quickly find what to print when you need some parts.
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Wow. Several replies already. Many thanks but zero interest at all in FPV or drones in any way by myself or my daughter. For now it's all balsa (for me) and anything that takes way less than 8 hours or so to print is out. For me I'm more interested in R/C shop tools and they don't all need to be specific 3D printer mods. (I have them all for mine) More for tools I can use in shop/balsa builds. I know there are lots out there, I just don't know the proper search string to find them. My daughter is more her Thingiverse/modified. Mine is all R/C related....;)

Joe
 

donalson

Active member
amazing printer for bang for the buck... the guy who is in charge of the maker space at our library was talking about possibly buying one... which is irionicly what got me looking at buying one... my mother in law got me a cr10s... so a bit of an upgrade from the ender 3 (same company)

anyway you don't get more RC awesome than printing an entire plane... https://www.eclipson-airplanes.com/airplanes I've seen the T in real life and the Y was built by one of the guys on the round table podcast... he reviewed it on his youtube channel and it seems pretty kewl... I'll be buying the plans here soon...

there is also https://3dlabprint.com/ which has some freaking impressive options and in some cases much longer
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
The 3D printed planes are intriguing but I already have way too many planes. I'm more interested in our R/C work bench tools etc.

Joe
 

kdobson83

Well-known member
Be careful with the ender 3. Mine was fine for about a month and then I started to have to level the bed after every print. The boom that hold the nozzle and allows for left to right movement got loose and was messing me up. Took awhile to figure it out. There are two bolts that hold the boom to the wheels on the left side, they got loose. Had to take a few pieces off to get to them to tighten them but after that it's been perfect.

I use a pices of paper for spacing when aligning the head, and Aussie hair spray for bed adhesion, works great!! Oh, and I got a document frame from Dollar tree and cut it down to fit the bed. Printing on a glass bed makes for super easy removal of parts and a smooth bottom surface.

Anyway, I don't have any suggestions for you as I've never done balsa. Good luck with the printer!
 

jaredstrees

Well-known member
I’ve collected some items on thingiverse as well. If you search for jaredstrees under members you’ll be able to see it. From there you can click an Item, scroll down and you’ll see other collections that have that item or similar. Been a good way for me to find things I didnt know I was looking for.
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Be careful with the ender 3. Mine was fine for about a month and then I started to have to level the bed after every print. The boom that hold the nozzle and allows for left to right movement got loose and was messing me up. Took awhile to figure it out. There are two bolts that hold the boom to the wheels on the left side, they got loose. Had to take a few pieces off to get to them to tighten them but after that it's been perfect.

I use a pices of paper for spacing when aligning the head, and Aussie hair spray for bed adhesion, works great!! Oh, and I got a document frame from Dollar tree and cut it down to fit the bed. Printing on a glass bed makes for super easy removal of parts and a smooth bottom surface.

Anyway, I don't have any suggestions for you as I've never done balsa. Good luck with the printer!

I had an immediate issue with mine on the X axis rail. Everything fit together exceptionally well during the build but when I checked the table it was on and the entire machine for level the X axis rail was low on the right side by 8mm!!! I used my digital level and luckily there was just enough wiggle room in the bolt holes for the rollers/steppers brackets to adjust the X axis rail and print bed dead nuts level to each other. Those bolts got a dab of blue Loctite. Kind of a P.I.T.A. as you have to remove the top rail and pull off the X rail to access those bolts. Once done it's done though. I've only done 4 or 5 prints now but I still check bed level before each print. I've had a few false starts for prints. All related to my still learning about adhesion and every failure 100% my fault. Luckily I catch it early on and don't waste hours and filament. I've been using the Elmer's glue sticks. They work fine WHEN I put enough down. I attached a failed print of a unicorn. Probably had no more than 10-15 minutes to complete when it came loose from the bed. This was after over 8 hours!!! My daughter is going to add a little hair to the flat head and make it a "punk" unicorn. :) The second properly adhered unicorn came out perfect.

Joe
 

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Turbojoe

Elite member
I’ve collected some items on thingiverse as well. If you search for jaredstrees under members you’ll be able to see it. From there you can click an Item, scroll down and you’ll see other collections that have that item or similar. Been a good way for me to find things I didnt know I was looking for.

You post was a HUGE help. Now I know I should save collections ON Thingiverse and not just in a folder on my hard drive. They'll be much easier to find at Thingiverse. Your "Hobby" collection is a big help too. Thanks!

This 3D printer is my daughters but I'm thinking it'll get a bigger workout printing R/C related stuff. ;)

Joe
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
haven't had the need to any, but would a propeller balancer suit your need ? https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=propeller+balance
Or balsa strip cutters https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=balsa+strip
If you use foamboards, bevel cutters ? https://www.thingiverse.com/search?q=bevel+foam

I have several prop balancers so I'm good there and I don't do foam. Good info though.

I do have a few of the Master Airscrew balsa strippers but I'm always looking for something less sloppy. I'll have to take a closer look at some in your link. Thanks!

Joe
 

kdobson83

Well-known member
Try a glass bed with hairspray. I find that the light hold Aussie brand hair spray on the glass with about 60c bed temp works amazing for PLA. Have never had a print detach. Simple document frame glass works great, have been using the same piece for almost a year. When printing with ABS it's even harder to remove it holds so well.
And creality made a replacement bed for the ender 3 that has a removeable flexible surface that you can take off and bend to remove prints. Looks promising but I'm happy with my glass bed. In my opinion hairspary is easier to put on than a glue stick and holds better. Be careful tho, I had my wife pick up a can of the max hold Aussie hairspray and I almost couldn't get the print off the bed...

Oh, and if you like 3d printing, try designing your own stuff. I use tinkercad.com, it's free, LOTS of how to videos on YouTube, and very easy to use. I have used it to design all kids of stuff from spacers for my storm door handles, to brackets for my kitchen drawers, to cup holders for my sons bed. It's saved me a ton of money and trouble! It's also addicting!! Lol
 

jaredstrees

Well-known member
You post was a HUGE help. Now I know I should save collections ON Thingiverse and not just in a folder on my hard drive. They'll be much easier to find at Thingiverse. Your "Hobby" collection is a big help too. Thanks!

This 3D printer is my daughters but I'm thinking it'll get a bigger workout printing R/C related stuff. ;)

Joe
Ha! Slight repay for all the help you’ve given me! Good luck, and let me know if you have any questions, I’m no 3D guru but I’ll try anyway!

And mine prints lots of stuff for the house, but R/C is it’s primary focus. Printing off localfiend’s northern pike right now, just took off an echo dot holder for my son. Very handy tool.
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Try a glass bed with hairspray. I find that the light hold Aussie brand hair spray on the glass with about 60c bed temp works amazing for PLA. Have never had a print detach. Simple document frame glass works great, have been using the same piece for almost a year. When printing with ABS it's even harder to remove it holds so well.
And creality made a replacement bed for the ender 3 that has a removeable flexible surface that you can take off and bend to remove prints. Looks promising but I'm happy with my glass bed. In my opinion hairspary is easier to put on than a glue stick and holds better. Be careful tho, I had my wife pick up a can of the max hold Aussie hairspray and I almost couldn't get the print off the bed...

Oh, and if you like 3d printing, try designing your own stuff. I use tinkercad.com, it's free, LOTS of how to videos on YouTube, and very easy to use. I have used it to design all kids of stuff from spacers for my storm door handles, to brackets for my kitchen drawers, to cup holders for my sons bed. It's saved me a ton of money and trouble! It's also addicting!! Lol

I just checked Walmart and they show 7 different Aussie hairsprays. Sounds like I could (and probably would) buy the wrong one. Can you be specific on which one I should try? Our printer came with the flexible sheet. Seems to work well providing I use the right amount of glue. I do have a sheet of glass. It's 10 5/8"x11" so will have to cut it down to fit. Gotta find my glass cutter first. Then hope to make my first ever successful glass cut. I've failed at every previous attempt.....

While there are a lot of things I wish I could design in CAD I'll leave that to my daughter. My attention span is less than that of a 2 year old since I hit my 60's so learning something like CAD probably isn't going to happen. Besides, there are so many cool people out there sharing cool stuff for us to print.

Joe
 

kdobson83

Well-known member
Take your glass, mark where your cuts need to be with a sharpie, use a ruler to make sure you get a good straight score cut with your cutter, go over the same cut a couple times if need be. Hold the glass on the edge of your table with the score cut right on the edge, hold down evenly, grab the part you are cutting off with some pliers, and bend down. May not come off all in one piece but it's shouldn't be too bad to remove any remainder this way. Then, take your trust dremmel and smooth out the cut edge. And I use small binder clips to hold the glass to the bed. Clip them on and take off the silver piece so it doesn't get in your way. I find that two clips on the back hold it on just fine.

Here's a picture of the spray I use. Works awesome! Don't use Dollar tree or generic hairspray tho. I tried it before and it didn't hold at all. This stuff works awesome tho.
IMG_20181219_115615_01.jpg
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Printing off localfiend’s northern pike right now, just took off an echo dot holder for my son. Very handy tool.

I didn't even think about Echo Dot! Thanks for making me search. I found a couple of ideas to print out. I have one at the computer desk in my room, one in the kitchen and one in the shop room hooked to an incredible sound system with a sub woofer. I always have Pandora blasting while I work.

Alexa is like the perfect female. She doesn't talk unless spoken to and she does what she's told without an argument. 180 degrees from my EX-wife. We just need Alexa transplanted into one of those hot Japanese female robot dolls.

Probably too much information huh? :eek: :)

Joe
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
Take your glass, mark where your cuts need to be with a sharpie, use a ruler to make sure you get a good straight score cut with your cutter, go over the same cut a couple times if need be. Hold the glass on the edge of your table with the score cut right on the edge, hold down evenly, grab the part you are cutting off with some pliers, and bend down. May not come off all in one piece but it's shouldn't be too bad to remove any remainder this way. Then, take your trust dremmel and smooth out the cut edge. And I use small binder clips to hold the glass to the bed. Clip them on and take off the silver piece so it doesn't get in your way. I find that two clips on the back hold it on just fine.

Here's a picture of the spray I use. Works awesome! Don't use Dollar tree or generic hairspray tho. I tried it before and it didn't hold at all. This stuff works awesome tho.
View attachment 120554

Outstanding! I just added that to my Walmart cart for my next grocery pickup. I just picked up an order yesterday so it'll be a week or two before I submit another.

I'll have to organize a 10 man search for my glass cutter. I have no clue where it is. Maybe I'll add one to the Walmart order with the hair spray....

Joe
 

Turbojoe

Elite member
I just printed two of these Xacto knife holders. A third is printing right now. I cranked the nozzle temp to 220 and the print speed to 125%. Hoping to produce one per hour. I will need nine more. Then I have to make bench top frames to glue them to. I'll make them from wood. Sure wish I knew CAD. I could 3D print them.......

Joe
 

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