3D Printer World Expo 2014 Burbank, California

Hey All,
I was wondering if anyone else is going to the 3D Printer world expo Friday or Saturday?

I have never been to an event like this and I was wondering how many Reprappers will be there.

John

BTW: I am not a promoter or affiliated with 3DPW Expo.

I will be there Friday. I am actually driving up today and taking a 1 day mini vacation staying at the hotel the expo is held at.

my company is sending 3 people.

Yea I am pretty excited. I am still pretty new to 3D printing and I haven't been able to attend any meetup groups yet. Unfortunately I have to work Friday and can only attend Saturday.

Wouldn't mind winning one of those 3D printers they are giving away.

Davew_tx Do u work for one of the 3D printing companies or a different type of company.

I wish the seminars weren't so expensive ( or at least to expensive for me.)

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Check out my blogs: [oc3dprint.blogspot.com] & [forums.reprap.org]
Hit me up if you have any tips or tricks.

What a con! Fish paying money to swim with the sharks. Very bushwa.

Hey theycallmejohn


I'll be there, as will Steve. We're the SeeMeCNC guys. Also Terence Tam from OpenBeam/minikossel, and Johann of Rostock/Kossel will be there. We're here already, stopped and talked with Brook from Printrbot for a while, saw the Deezmaker booth was all set up, so they're here somewhere too.

Ah, a convention isn't complete without them. And lolzbot too!!! I'm so exited!!!

Ya know,

Ohio, it's bothering me that we're getting many people that are being turned off of this forum nowadays from all your trolling. You really should try the 'kill em with kindness' approach, it would make everyone feel better And BTW, Josef Prusa says Hi

[forums.reprap.org]

John,
I look forward to meeting both you and Steve on Saturday as well as the other individuals you mentioned. I have had the pleasure of meeting me Diego with Deezmakers out at their shop about a month ago. He helped me out of jam when I messed up my aluminum extension and needed a quick replacement.

See you all Saturday.

John

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Check out my blogs: [oc3dprint.blogspot.com] & [forums.reprap.org]
Hit me up if you have any tips or tricks.

Just returned from the show. Took lots of photos. Talked with some friends and companies I wanted to. Got my face scanned (can't wait to see how it prints).

I was afraid the show would be 90% the big boys (strata systems, Makerbot...) and 10 smaller machines and RepRap but I was pleasantly surprised that smaller machines outnumbered the bigger companies. Lots of nice looking small rostock type machines along with many that were kickstarter funded like Robo and Form 1. Nothing super new. I did like the precious metal clay printer and talked with the guy a little (forget the name). The one printer from the show that I truly want now is the AirWolf HD, no longer really reprap but a very nice machine none the less I would put it ahead of Lulzbot Taz 3 but again not really open source so not a level playing field. They switched from threaded rod to the screw rod used in many CNC machines (more accurate and expensive) The build plate is only the Z axis now the extruder is X&Y, they moved to hardened chrome rods and metal timing gears (extruder gears are still printed). If I had $3k lying around I would pick one up.

@tmorris9:
Looking forward to your pics!
Did Airwolf talk about their hot end?



Airwolf JR (Jam Resistant) 3D Printer Hot End
Hot End (patent pending)
Say goodbye to stripped aluminum threads and anti-seize.
[airwolf3d.com]

My first thought when I saw this hot end was that the threads are going to gall and strip out.
If the Airwolf JR is using SS bolts threaded into aluminum it's going to eventually fail.
They should have used keenserts/Heli-Coil (metal threads).

I've designed lots of hot plate parts for fusion welding plastic,
and even with Keenserts and anti-seize it galls over time.
So I'm very interested as to what precautions they have employed.

The best way to handle this is to swage a SS ring into the aluminum that will then accept a Keensert.
Even the Keensert will eventually work its self loose from the SS ring,
but this approach allows you to replace the Keensert and save the hot plate.

Threaded insert
[en.wikipedia.org]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2014 02:57AM by A2.

Careful now, don't give them too many good ideas After all, It's "Patent Pending" and that's just unfortunate, since it looks about like a buda other than the nozzle

Plastic extrusion die heads
The idea is not new, or novel, and is well understood.
All industrial plastic extruding machines bolt the die head to the barrel, it's been done a million different ways.

In addition I believe that the die head is possibly missing an important feature.
The uninitiated will probably not notice.

I wonder how many hours they have tested their hot end, and how many time have they taken it apart?


[www.tokyo-hardfacing.co.jp]



[www.pitfallsinmolding.com]


[www.soyouwanna.com]

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/01/2014 02:59PM by A2.

we work for a company that does enterprise class computer enclosures, like storage and servers etc.

we've been piddling with 3D printer designs for almost one year.

The show was interesting and somewhat busy with people.

I did like the Airwolf a lot. Running high quality parts. had some great batmobile cars and a cool statue
Johann was very nice and about 6'7", which I didn't expect. Nice Kossel running thin nameplates.
The new makerbot machine was not running, said to be a broken prototype.
The 3DMonstr was beefy, and not running. Looks equally suited to be a milling machine.
The stratasys machines and sample parts easily demonstrated their dominance. (Edelbrock manifold in Ultem!)
Mostly PLA usage, and little was shown or shared about exotics and ABS.
Hyrel was there and friendly, not printing.

Give-away printers was cool, and wonder if anyone can post the list of winners?

Where are the photos

OK, here are some photos from my stuff. Mostly I took photos of the art that was on display, not sure if anyone wants to see more of that or not.

3D Printer World Photos

I enjoyed the show but not as much as I was hoping to. IMO it was very crowded on Saturday so it was difficult to get up to some booths. When I was there I thought there would be more printers running and more maker level printer companies. (i.e. Type A Machines, Ultimaker, Lulzbot). It was nice to meet some more makers in the area and check out the 3D printed art and medical exhibit.

Probably next year it will be more interesting once I know more about 3D printing and am more familiar with the community.

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Check out my blogs: [oc3dprint.blogspot.com] & [forums.reprap.org]
Hit me up if you have any tips or tricks.

I guess embedding imgur albums is not good anymore?

Edited 4 time(s). Last edit at 02/07/2014 11:47AM by davew_tx.

I noticed that of the printers that were running, none seemed to be going more than about 30mm/s, even the ones I knew should be easily capable of 100mm/s or more. It seemed like none of the exhibitors were confident in their printer's ability to make a quality print at higher speeds, and kept them slow to ensure the prints looked the best. That said, I was surprised to find a sample print at the Robo3D booth that had clear Z banding. It doesn't reflect well on the printer, or on the representative who apparently didn't know enough to recognize that it was an unsuitable demo print.

I noticed the same thing at several booths, especially Inventapart. They had a model of rook where the top showed gaps.

Of the smaller companies, I thought Deezmaker had some pretty good parts on display.

Did anybody check out the 3D Monstr? I liked the concept but seemed like some parts were way over designed and needs to be cleaned up some. Also maybe someone could explain why you utilize a lead screw and then connect it to the stepper motor with belt. Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

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Check out my blogs: [oc3dprint.blogspot.com] & [forums.reprap.org]
Hit me up if you have any tips or tricks.

I also noticed companies had less than perfect prints on display including AirWolf (my printer). Many booths had prints I would have trashed and been embarrassed to show. I know the printers are capable of better but maybe they get too deep into designing and marketing that they forget the art of getting a good print.

Quote
TheyCallMeJohn
I noticed the same thing at several booths, especially Inventapart. They had a model of rook where the top showed gaps.

Of the smaller companies, I thought Deezmaker had some pretty good parts on display.

Did anybody check out the 3D Monstr? I liked the concept but seemed like some parts were way over designed and needs to be cleaned up some. Also maybe someone could explain why you utilize a lead screw and then connect it to the stepper motor with belt. Doesn't that defeat the purpose?

You can use belt direct, or you can use a screw for more precision. They used a belt as a connection to offset the motor so it did not stick out from the front of the machine. Saves footprint.

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"Never argue with stupid people, they will drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience."

Quote
johnoly99
Careful now, don't give them too many good ideas After all, It's "Patent Pending" and that's just unfortunate, since it looks about like a buda other than the nozzle

The budascnozzle seems to be GPL3, so wouldn't the patent license from GPL3 apply to people making clones of the AirWolf 3d version?

Yeah, budda is gpl, BUT this guys' taking his and has applied 'patent pending' to it? Dick move.

[airwolf3d.com]

To Quote the website, for if/when it gets removed

"Jam Resistant Hot End (patent pending) - the best 3D printer extruder head on the market.
LEAD TIME: 7 days
The hot section of this hot end has been painstakingly developed from the ground up to provide higher performance than the standard buda-style as well as VASTLY increased serviceability. Say goodbye to stripped aluminum threads and anti-seize. Also, the nozzle and heater block mate up perfectly with plenty of aluminum-aluminum contact, promoting outstanding heat transfer to the nozzle. Finally, without the need for the threaded extender, the resistor and thermistor were relocated closer to the nozzle for quicker heat up times as well as more accurate temperature measurement. This is a drop-in replacement for Prusa-derived 3D printer extruders. We recommended using the updated Airwolf X carriage if you are using fans because this hot end is a bit lower profile (more build height!). Also, make sure and update your XL to v.16 firmware (contact tech@ airwolf3d.com) to account for the quicker response time.
Arrives fully assembled as shown.
Comes with a 0.50mm orifice nozzle (.35 will be available in late December 2013).
Takes 3mm filament."