3D Printing and me
I’ve been 3D-printing for a few years now. It all started after my friend Ed convinced me to buy a Wanhao i3 after I saw the kind of cool stuff that he was able to make. The bed was a tiny by today’s standards 20x20x18cm volume but using that little workhorse I was able to build an entire Iron Man mk45 costume using Do3d files. It took me nearly 18 months, but I still have that suit of armour and still wear it to conventions today.
I since moved on to printing with Creality CR10 printers. I have an S4 and an S5 which have a 40x40x40 and a 50x50x50 build volume respectively and allow me to print large sections of armour without having to cut up parts into sections. The CR10 is a real workhorse. I’ve put several thousand hours of print time in to each but they can falter when they start showing their age and mileage and I have since upgraded the extruders to Bondtech DDS Direct Drive system which allows me to print faster, and more accurately than ever before.
I use exclusively Simplify3D to slice my prints. Whilst this is software that I had to purchase it produces excellent gcode and the results I think speak for themselves.
As a designer myself, I often take on the challenge to model parts that I need to complement my projects. For this I generally use SketchUp and 3D Builder. Occasionally I edit models using Blender, but for most of the work I do it is not necessary.
Plastic-wise I print using Spectrum PLA Pro which I find to be an excellent filament and sourced in the EU, where I live.
I’m currently building my third Iron Man costume and often take on commission builds for Iron Man and Star Wars related projects.
Good to hear about the 3d printing tools review, and after the review, our self book publishers in Manchester try to make a 3d illustration design, and it looks amazing. Thank you for sharing the review.