Print Quality/ surface finish

Hey guys,

I am on the verge of getting myself a 3D printer... the Ormerod is looking like the winner at this point (i love the idea of the RepRap system), but i would really like to see what the results from the ormerod look like when it is pushed on the quality settings. now I understand that it is still very much a "Beta" stage at the moment and I'm really not averse to playing with it at all id just like to know i can get something presentable out of it when I'm done.
The thing im looking for here is something like a .1mm layer thickness and a half decent surface finish.
again with the disclaimer on this I am prepared to do plenty of surface work on my prints, I just need to be able to make sure i can print some surface detail and not lose it all in cleanup.
if anyone has seen the halo pistol print by the nerdgasm guy thats the sort of surface quality i would LIKE but i can live with something close to that. (it was printed out on the ultimaker v1).

i suppose that since the ormerod is still pretty new there is still not all that much out there about it so im hoping you guys can give me an idea.
and with a little luck i will be posting here again soon begging you to help me figure out how it all works

Thanks guys

Blake

Hi,



I'm printing a robot for someone's birthday gift. ( [www.thingiverse.com] )
Since Ormerod came witrh 0.5mm nozzle, I sliced with slic3r in 0.14mm layer heigh for the black color hand, and 0.2mm layer height for white color objects, ( I can't get 0.1mm layer height with good result yet, because of low quality PLA??). SD card just for size reference. I'm using cheapest unbranded China PLA, with temperature at 170. ( tried 185 , but not work well for this China PLA)

I still trying hard to tweak the Ormerod to get better result, because I saw almost flawless prints directly print out from an expo , with some others 3d printers. I believe I can improve better with good PLA.

Just for your reference.

Regards,
Ew

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/01/2014 02:13AM by tru168.

Quote
nistrum
...The thing im looking for here is something like a .1mm layer thickness and a half decent surface finish...
...again with the disclaimer on this I am prepared to do plenty of surface work on my prints....

Be prepared to do plenty of work on the printer - if your main goal is to print and not spend your time tinkering and upgrading you will be better of buying something else

How good is Ormerod print quality:
[forums.reprap.org]

The bed should never have been created with MDF:
[forums.reprap.org]

Erik

well I'm used to tinkering, I build RC planes and multiroters every weekend.
i just want to be sure i can get it to work reliably, im not really looking to make massive parts. i just want to be sure i can create something of relative quality to say an ultimaker...

I was looking at getting a prusa i3 at first but the idea that the ormerod will be the platform that is likely to be most future friendly is what has made me look into the ormerod.
The reason i ask is that i am obviously about to invest a lot of time and money in something i just want to be able to make the best informed choice.
so as it stands now, if i am concerned only with the finished quality of my prints is the ormerod a good printer?

Quote
nistrum
well I'm used to tinkering, I build RC planes and multiroters every weekend.
i just want to be sure i can get it to work reliably, im not really looking to make massive parts. i just want to be sure i can create something of relative quality to say an ultimaker...

I was looking at getting a prusa i3 at first but the idea that the ormerod will be the platform that is likely to be most future friendly is what has made me look into the ormerod.
The reason i ask is that i am obviously about to invest a lot of time and money in something i just want to be able to make the best informed choice.
so as it stands now, if i am concerned only with the finished quality of my prints is the ormerod a good printer?

It won't give you the ultra-smooth finish of injection moulded parts, but you can get pretty close if you spend time hand-finishing and polishing (easiest if you use ABS and do the final polish with acetone treatment). However the finish it does produce has its own appeal, and I found that I liked the way most of my parts looked right off the printer just as much as injection-moulded parts - i.e. not worse or better, just different.

I'm presently test-flying my own design of quadcopter with a fully enclosed body and motor mounts built using my Ormerod, so it might fit into your other hobbies quite well. The Ormerod is excellent for making bespoke fittings and fixtures, e.g. to attach cameras and circuit boards etc. or complex custom linkages. Once you become adept you can print in nylon (e.g. for strong control linkages) or a rubbery material (e.g. for vibration damping mounts).

Dave
(#106)

Quote
nistrum
...The reason i ask is that i am obviously about to invest a lot of time and money in something i just want to be able to make the best informed choice.
so as it stands now, if i am concerned only with the finished quality of my prints is the ormerod a good printer?

Again, there is no right single answer to your question as I cannot know the outcome of you time and money invested

Money:dave's aluminum x-axis and ditto bed, dc42's probe, a new z-treaded rod and brass nut (new sd-card?), a new non-vibrating fan ..and if you want to move the printer and keep repeatability, aluminum support plates for the y-axis-end-plates, and a pulley for the y-belt (esp. if you don't support the Y-axis-end-plates)

Time: install the hardware mods, print some parts, Mr. burns extruder unit with ptfe tube insert, Matt's y-belt tighteners, Kwikius/dc42's fan backwash guard, modify the glass clips, if first 220, turn and resolder R60 and R61, if first ? re-solder USB, install the not-compiled software to be able to print via USB, install dc42's firmware

...then you will get a finish and quality as expected from any printer with the same step motors, hot end and extruder system - its all about repeatability

Again, out of the box: no

Erik

ha, yeah that was one of the things i was looking forwards to. was even thinking of designing an FPV headset and printing it on there. but thats an ambitious project for a later date.

well as to the finish i would probably end up getting the finish by hand and then casting the prints for resin. that would be the plan i think.. i just want to know that i CAN get the prints to a relatively fine state.. thats what matters.

Quote
nistrum
ha, yeah that was one of the things i was looking forwards to. was even thinking of designing an FPV headset and printing it on there. but thats an ambitious project for a later date.

well as to the finish i would probably end up getting the finish by hand and then casting the prints for resin. that would be the plan i think.. i just want to know that i CAN get the prints to a relatively fine state.. thats what matters.

Oh, with a lot of work it is possible to get an excellent standard - without spending a lot of money above the cost of the printer. But it was work that I enjoyed doing, so while it would be unreasonable to some people, for me it was fun rather than work. If you enjoy building flying models etc. I expect that you will also enjoy it - but it will take time, so don't plan on getting excellent prints a week after you buy the printer. Three months is probably more realistic a time frame to get it working really well.

FPV goggles are mechanically a completely realistic thing to print (probably in 4 or 5 parts). I would like to do that as well (they are too expensive to justify otherwise). It's the VDU(s) and optics that will be the most challenging part to get working adequately rather than the housing. I printed a bracket to mount a small TFT display on my RC transmitter as a FPV display, but it's only usable on very dull days and at dusk no matter how I try to screen it from the light, and I'm not confident enough yet to fly the copter from inside a room or vehicle using FPV alone. Maybe I could carry a blanket to pull over my head and the display!

Dave
(#106)

hahahah, yeah i took my 9 yr old neice out to fly the other day and she used her coat. although that was just to see the plane... i really want to find a cheapish display i can use for FPV. do you know a good place i can look to find the info on a passable screen i can use?