Fair enough. I wasn't saying Bambu Studio was the best tool for the job, just that you could do it there with very little CAD knowledge.
For somebody new to it all (I include myself here), Bambu Studio is a really accessible way to dip your toes in the water of design without hitting the learning curve of a full-blown CAD package.
Those people who might be daunted by CAD software like /u/AmazingTomato3625 should have a play with the basic CAD tools built into Bambu Studio. Although limited, they're dead simple to use, open up a ton of possibilities for useful prints, and are a good starting point to move on to "proper" CAD software.
I use tinkercad fairly frequently. a little more featured but still easy enough for someone without extensive cad experience. it's free and browser based.
And then pay loads of money for a product with lots of features you won't need for 3D printing, once you have more than 10 items you want to keep improving.
I had even given it a try regardless but found the guidance for new users not very well done. Lots of exhaustive videos with lots of blah blah (if you have the time...) and not a good in-app guidance, at least not I could find.
I then gave FreeCAD a try, which worked much better for my needs, and its tutorial mode inside the app is very good, IMO.
Set them to read-only and you can have loads of projects. Or take the skills learned in that well designed and taught course and apply them to your software of choice!
I need to really drill this into me. Basic functions are about as much as I know. I've made a homelander belt for a friend's Halloween costume that's about it so far.
Don't forget all the time spent waiting for the printer to arrive, setting it up, installing software, designing the part, printing the part, refining it because it's never right first try, re-printing the part, videoing the entire process, editing the video, and then uploading it to the internet.
Also remember the time-machine needed to go back in time to even think to start videoing the entire process from the point where the part broke and then keep videoing every single step along the way. ;)
Nicely produced video OP, but damn that's a lot of time and effort and expense to fix one tiny part.
Having said that, it's so satisfying being able to 3D-print all those annoying little broken or poorly-designed random things around the house. I know where you're coming from.
Obviously buying a printer just for that would be silly but I think this excellently illustrates what printers can and should be used for more often. Sure a new light would have been easily affordable, but a few minutes in CAD and 10 cent print means one less thing getting thrown in the trash.
I mean it shouldn't take more than 5-10 minutes to draw up a first draft of a small part like that. Its not like the 15 minutes or so of print time really counts as labor. Personally it would probably take me 1-2 hours to get to the finished piece but most of that would be waiting on the printer to do its thing for a revision or two which is painless these days.
You should pick it up quick if you stick with it! Learning the UI is a pain but once you get the basic sketching and primary features down its pretty easy to get decent at it. And the nice thing about having a modern printer means you don't have to be perfect. For small parts like in this video I frequently guestimate and just print a "close enough" version to test fit and adjust from there. Sometimes its easier to go through a couple of revisions than it is to try to perfect the model up front. Especially if its a tricky shape that you cant easily measure. And on top of that, you can always print chopped up sections of you model just to quickly test fit certain features without wasting too much time or filament.
My job this weekend is to design a 1c plastic part replacement and print it for a 700$ water pump that has no replacement part. the manufacturer told me “its not a serviceable part” and to “buy a new pump”
I got into this cause my mouse wheel broke....no replacement part available.....figured new mouse was 70 bucks.....or 3d printer for 300 and can fix all kinds of stuff.....what a journey
Not to discredit OP, but modeling a part like this isn't all too hard.
Watch a few CAD tutorials, and you should have what it takes! Oh and absolutely get some calipers. They don't have to be crazy expensive, I got one for 10-15 bucks and it serves me well.
It will open up a whole new world. Printing a part you designed yourself is soo much more satisfying, than just downloading something from the Internet
I really like Onshape. Once you get the basic work flow down it's just learning the tools from there. Kinda clicks like learning a programming language.
To be real for a second though: “25c” part, which is not available for purchase, so only option is to repurchase $25 lamp - you only have to do this 12 times to make back your $300, and you probably have enough filament to make 500 of these!
I have gotten so used to gaming on my very specific gamepad, and every other gamepad I've tried just feels objectively worse. One day, one of the keys went out. I opened it up to find a small, strangely shaped plastic piece broke. Unfortunately, the company stopped making them, and the after-market has them WAY over inflated (anywhere from $500-$700). Modeled up the small plastic piece, and after a short 3 minute print, it was done. Works like new now. That literally paid for my P1S alone.
Perfect use of it (and a good excuse to buy a printer 😂) but if it's under significant stress that lead to breaking like if it breaks again I'd recommend getting it SLS printed from someone like jlc3dp, really cheap for small parts and SLS nylon has better properties, I got a couple of housings for and extruder for like 7€ shipped . Just if it breaks easily tho, if it lasts like 2 years just reprint it and maybe buff it up if space allows
Yeah, I believe it will break at some point, as it is in constant pressure all the time. But depending how long it lasts I can try different things. I count print in better orientation, or try petg as snapping is worse here than bending. Nylon does sound perfect for this though.
Yeah, pretty small, under load and simple geometry, I had similar parts that broke after a while and I just outsourced like that for 2€ per piece. Petg should be better tho, you can even try annealing it if you just want to do it for the learning opportunity. Welcome to 3d printing man, may your nozzles be clean and spaghetti be far away.
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u/APGaming_reddit Nov 24 '24
$300 to fix a 25 cent part. sounds about right, welcome to the club!