What do you 3D print?

[jpot1]

I’ve got an ender 3 pro and print all my firewalls, control horns and scale details for the FT planes. So far I’ve printed PLA, PETG, LW-PLA, and TPU. If you want to do flexible filament it can be done but I would recommend an upgraded metal extruder.

I know you said not interested in printing full planes and I agree with that BUT lately I’ve tried 3D printed fuse with DTFB wings and tail. Kind of the best of both worlds especially with LW-PLA.

 

[mdcerdan]

I’ve got an ender 3 pro and print all my firewalls, control horns and scale details for the FT planes. So far I’ve printed PLA, PETG, LW-PLA, and TPU. If you want to do flexible filament it can be done but I would recommend an upgraded metal extruder.

I know you said not interested in printing full planes and I agree with that BUT lately I’ve tried 3D printed fuse with DTFB wings and tail. Kind of the best of both worlds especially with LW-PLA.

View attachment 193789

That approach is intresting, printing the fuse and building the rest with foamboard. I like it.
Tomorrow I will hit the buy button and get the Ender.

 

[Matagami Designs]

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

I use solidworks for all my designing. Since this isnt freely available I would suggest onshape like others have mentioned. It's very similar to solidworks and fusion360 I think the biggest advantage is that it doesn't require a very robust computer.

 

[mdcerdan]

I have my new Ender 3 pro up and running! Amazing little thing, printed the cat example and after almost 6 hours it came flawlessly. Then I printed a couple of control horns. Now i am printing an skeleton frame for the gopro.

 

[sprzout]

I've used mine for all sorts of cool things (and not just airplane related things!)

I've printed a ton of Versa Wing firewalls (because cutting them or bending angle iron to get the right thrust angle is somewhat intimidating to me), lots of control horns, and a couple of spinners.

I've also printed some Lego figure stands, some cosplay items for my wife (she wanted a Deathly Hallows pendant for a Harry Potter cosplay she was doing), fidget spinners, and board game pieces. I also printed a Dice Tower for our board games (you drop your dice in the top, they tumble down into a tray at the bottom so you don't have to shake them and have them go all over the place), and a few coasters.

I bought a Monoprice Mini v1 about 5 years ago, and the thing is still going strong. I've had to replace the power switch on it because I wore it out, and I've had a few filament clogs in it, but it's been a workhorse. I think I paid like, $200 for it when I bought it? Only downside to that printer is its small print base (I can only print 120mm x 120mm x 120mm), but it's done ALMOST everything I've needed it to do.

 

[MillerTime]

Just printed a fully self-contained swappable fpv setup. Just held on by 2 toothpicks

 

[mdcerdan]

Today I made a new V tail for the 3D printed pod motor glider. The original one was way too small and had very little control. I hope to re-maiden this weekend.

 

[The Hangar]

I printed off some servo extension securing clips a couple days ago. They work great!

 

[chris398mx]

I printed off some servo extension securing clips a couple days ago. They work great!

PIctures? Where did you get the .stl?

 

[The Hangar]

PIctures? Where did you get the .stl?

Here’s a link to the thingiverse page:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2454804

 

[FlyerInStyle]

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

Use the dimension tool in sketchup and you will get accurate measuurements, they have a special 3d printingtemplate that gives you more precise and acurate measurements, adn also you can adjust the size of a virtual print bed that is shown to you.

 

[Rl70]

Not related to RC Planes but to RC and 3d printers. A full Land Rover Camel trophy for 313 wheelbase crawlerhttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4596945

 

[Rl70]

Not related to RC Planes but to RC and 3d printers. A full Land Rover Camel trophy for 313 wheelbase crawlerhttps://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4596945

Here my YouTube video

I Hope you'll like it

 

[Keno]

Been printing with the MK3s Prusa great machine. No major problems. Found Cure 4 the the other day, upgraded and love it. Now printing PlanePrint Eagle but forgot about is size, it take up a lot of space, beautiful bird though. Ready to fly my Savage Bobber today I just finished. Maybe will build the big Bobber in the future. I have a Ender 3 pro sitting out in the garage & like to get rid of it but don't want to ship it, FOB Moses Lake, WA, it seems like nobody here in town wants it. Anyway thats what I am do have a great day all...

 

[skymaster]

I do not own one yet but thinking of getting the ender 3 v2 . im always thinking of making modifications to my planes and with a 3d printer i can make parts that i can design and fit my needs.

 

[mdcerdan]

These printers can be used for numerous purposes. I'm working in the digital signage industry and we print digital signages for businesses using the best sign printing machines

Reported as spam

 

[jpot1]

Started experimenting with ColorFabb varioshore tpu - wow awesome stuff. Printing with an ender 3 pro Bowden setup. Only change is a metal extruder. Can’t tell from the pics but the tires squish!

 

[kilroy07]

Started experimenting with ColorFabb varioshore tpu - wow awesome stuff. Printing with an ender 3 pro Bowden setup. Only change is a metal extruder. Can’t tell from the pics but the tires squish!

View attachment 205430

I have a roil on hand I haven't opened yet... Care to share your settings?
Is it similar to the LWPLA?

 

[peraspera]

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.

Just passing by, but from my experience, entry-level printers are no good. Maybe I wasn't so lucky, but the models I've tried were not so great for small details. Need to mention, it was about four years ago.
If that's an option, find a company that makes 3d prints on professional equipment near you. It will save you time and money.

 

[quorneng]

mdcerdan
In my experience it is 'whole planes' that benefit from 'professional' standard printers. They have more rigid frames and tracks so the highest accuracy can be maintained over the whole print volume.
Small parts are not a problem for the low end printers after all they use the same stepper motors so the accuracy and repeatability over shorter distances is just as good.
Any 3D printing take some understanding and experience to get reliable results. In general it is not as simple as 'load the file and print' unless you are simply repeating an already successful and recent print!

My philosophy is print small parts and stick them together if you want bigger, like this tissue & dope covered electric powered RC glider.

A very conventional build with ribs, spar, leading and trailing edges but every part (over 40) is individually printed and stuck together just the same as if it were in balsa.
Even the fuselage has 9 individual bits. Only the tail boom is a bought item.
1000 mm span, well under 250g ready to go and all done using my budget 'self assemble' Anet A8 printer.