What do you 3D print?

[mdcerdan]

I am considering the purchase of a 3d printer, an Ender 3 Pro. Not interested in printing whole planes, I can do it cheaply with styrofoam and wood but to make small parts like control horns, servo trays, nose cones, etc. But I want to know what do you guys (and gals) use your 3d printers for? Are cheap entry level 3d printers any good? What filament material do you use?
I am a machinist, I can do a lot of stuff in my milling machine and lathe but this 3d printing stuff is new to me.

 

[the rc project]

I am considering the purchase of a 3d printer, an Ender 3 Pro. Not interested in printing whole planes, I can do it cheaply with styrofoam and wood but to make small parts like control horns, servo trays, nose cones, etc. But I want to know what do you guys (and gals) use your 3d printers for? Are cheap entry level 3d printers any good? What filament material do you use?
I am a machinist, I can do a lot of stuff in my milling machine and lathe but this 3d printing stuff is new to me.

I have an old anycubic i3 and I’ve made all kinds of stuff. From phone stands to custom suspension landing gear. Any servo mechanism ever. I recommend going on thingiverse.com and just type whatever you can think in the search bar. I only use pla and have found the quality of the plastic makes a big difference.
note: I use CURA to slice and Onshape for free CAD design software, it’s a great entry level way to get into cad if you dont wanna pay for it.

 

[2jujube7]

I use CURA to slice and Onshape for free CAD design software, it’s a great entry level way to get into cad if you dont wanna pay for it.

I agree with you there. CURA and Onshape are both free, and Onshape can be accessed from any computer.

I've made all types of stuff, like a new volume knob for a car, new shifter, a (work in progress) cyclocopter, a needle cutter, landing gear, etc... 3D printing really fits in with this hobby and has been great for servo horns, custom firewalls, supports, and other RC stuff. There's a HUGE variety of things to make and fix. It's really nice to have an idea in your head, make it in CAD, then print it out within a few hours (or minutes, depends on your CAD skills. ) My printer is an old Monoprice iiip from 2016(?) or so, anything recent like an Ender 3 would be great. For filaments, I just use PLA and ABS, in varying colors.

 

[The Hangar]

I am considering the purchase of a 3d printer, an Ender 3 Pro. Not interested in printing whole planes, I can do it cheaply with styrofoam and wood but to make small parts like control horns, servo trays, nose cones, etc. But I want to know what do you guys (and gals) use your 3d printers for? Are cheap entry level 3d printers any good? What filament material do you use?
I am a machinist, I can do a lot of stuff in my milling machine and lathe but this 3d printing stuff is new to me.

I’ve been using mine to add scale detail to planes mainly. @Matagami Designs designed some awesome cowls and scale accessories for the p-38 that I’m using. They are also great for printing firewalls and control horns.

 

[JasonK]

I have used my 3D printer to print motor pods for my tilt-rotor vtol, control horns, various connectors, motor mounts, etc. Basically to make parts that can't be built out of foam and would be a pain to build out of something like hobby plywood.

[then I have my 3D terrain, miniatures, and other non-RC related printing stuff...]

 

[sundown57]

I am considering the purchase of a 3d printer, an Ender 3 Pro. Not interested in printing whole planes, I can do it cheaply with styrofoam and wood but to make small parts like control horns, servo trays, nose cones, etc. But I want to know what do you guys (and gals) use your 3d printers for? Are cheap entry level 3d printers any good? What filament material do you use?
I am a machinist, I can do a lot of stuff in my milling machine and lathe but this 3d printing stuff is new to me.

There are warnings on all 3D printers that they should never be used by anyone who has a machinist mentality.You may be able to make a mill sing but a 3d printer is intimidating. Anyway, that's just one machinist to another, As for cheap printers, I bought an ender 5, and buzzbomb bought an ender 3. took us a year to finally get fair at using it. but the better you get with it the more you will find a need for it. I find now I'm constantly printing something, either for a plane or something around the house. Creality printers seem to do everything we need. Maybe not as good as a 6000 dollar one but .... I also like the creality cause there is SO much support online for them.

 

[the rc project]

but the better you get with it the more you will find a need for it.

If that ain’t the definition of a 3d printer I don’t know what is. printing a tiny whoop frame right now

 

[sundown57]

I'm printing a wall hanger for a mac mini with a pocket for an external hard drive. I'm tired of knocking it off the desk every time I build a plane.

 

[mrjdstewart]

everything and anything. i cannot state enough how having my 3D printer and learning some basic CAD design has changed things. do not hesitate at making the jump. if u need it, u can design and print it is my attitude.

do it!

me

 

[mdcerdan]

Thanks for all the comments. I suppose there is a lerning curve as with every tool. So I change my question to: what can not be done with a 3d printer like the Ender 3 (rc related)?

 

[sundown57]

I believe an ender 3 will do anything any other printer will. Layer lines might be a bit more visible. Maybe a bit more work setting up the profile. but ender 3 is probably one of the best printers on the market in my opinion. If it will fit on the build plate an ender will print it.

 

[Matagami Designs]

Thanks for all the comments. I suppose there is a lerning curve as with every tool. So I change my question to: what can not be done with a 3d printer like the Ender 3 (rc related)?

I've not tried but I feel an ender 3 will probably struggle with flexible filaments because of the Bowden tube design. Ender 3 dosent have all the bells and whistles but it has enough to get good prints consistently on standard filaments like PLA and PETG and as others have mentioned tons of support and upgrades.

 

[whackflyer]

I've not tried but I feel an ender 3 will probably struggle with flexible filaments because of the Bowden tube design. Ender 3 dosent have all the bells and whistles but it has enough to get good prints consistently on standard filaments like PLA and PETG and as others have mentioned tons of support and upgrades.

My buddy has printed TPU on an Ender 3 with pretty decent results. It used to be mine and it does have quite a few upgrades to the filament feed system so that may help.

 

[SP0NZ]

Here are a few FT related things you can print with your 3D printer. The Ender 3 is a great first printer. I print almost entirely with PLA+

https://www.thingiverse.com/sp0nz/designs

 

[The Hangar]

@mrjdstewart and @Matagami Designs what CAD program do you use? I tried designing something in sketchup but the scale ended up being way off...

 

[LitterBug]

I started 3D printing about the same time I joined the FT Forums. Most of my printing has been focused on 3D printed planes. I use OpenSCAD to build my own various fixit parts and plates. Again, mostly to support my flying obsession. Mostly PLA, Some PETG, Some ABS, and a small amount of TPU. This is my biggest design to date:

I am thinking about scaling it up from 1.9" props to 3" props....
Cheers!
LitterBug

 

[Robert S]

I just jumped into 3D printing last week with a Ender 3 v2. As I understood it, its got a couple of upgraded components over the v1 but otherwise its not a whole lot different. I changed out the springs for neoprene bushings because it was recommended as a very cheap (~$5.00 on Amazon) mod that made a real difference so I figured what the hell. Other than that its pretty much stock out of the box.

It comes with a decent slicer but I've been using it with "MatterControl" via USB (really serial) connection to my computer. The only hiccup I had was that the USB driver didn't work so I had to go find a third party USB-Serial driver/ converter to make it work. Once I found a driver that worked, the USB connection has been flawless.

I've been printing like a madman all week trying to build parts to modify a Mini Arrow. I still got a few more to go. Not a fast process to do it right with acceptable results. Lots of new TTPs to learn and master. My first few test prints were a steep learning curve (see Doom Marine below) but I seem to be getting the hang of it... at least with PLA.

Once I work out what I want to do I'll try reprint everything with LW-PLA and build a whole new Arrow around it. My only concern was I wanted to print in different colors (Green on Starboard and Red on Port) and currently LW-PLA is only available in Natural and Black.

Edit: Got to give credit where credit is due...
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1972543
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2642132
https://www.flexinnovations.com/product/ft-aura-5-lite-3d-printed-mount/
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2975831

 

[mrjdstewart]

@mrjdstewart and @Matagami Designs what CAD program do you use? I tried designing something in sketchup but the scale ended up being way off...

for most the simple stuff i just use tinkercad. if it is something complex then i go to fusion360. there is a learning curve especially with fusion360 but tinkercad is pretty straight forward.

if you have any questions just ask.

me

 

[Robert S]

Pro-Tip from an idiot... if you print the Mini-Arrow pod and ECS cover (especially the ESC cover), flip them over 180 degrees and print them upside down. I can't tell you how much time (and failed ESC cover prints) this would have saved me had I just done this first.

 

[CraftyPilot]

I've owned a Prusa MK3 (MK3's now) since 2018 and I've only had to do major maintainance once.
If you keep your printer in shape it won't let you down. Great support, quality hardware and good software as well as out of the box printing
(if you buy it assembled) are their qualities.
If you can afford it, get the MK3s+ kit for 750$ or the Mini for 350$.