About 10 years ago I purchased my first 3D printer. It was a Creality SP10Pro and a fine piece of kit. It only cost around $500 at the time. I worked it hard and over the years and developed a 3D printed wheelchair for 3rd world countries. It only cost around $200 to print and can still be seen on thingiverse.com. Over the preceding years it is hard for me to find a time when I have not found a place to incorporate 3D printing into my work, particularly when it comes to boat building.
There are a few steps required to getting your final model or part ready for use so I thought today I would give an overview of the whole 3D printing process.
Firstly, to design your own 3D models, you will need to learn how to use 3D modelling software. Probably the most well-known out there is Fusion 360 and is available under subscription from AutoCAD. However, there is a wonderful alternative, it's called Free CAD FreeCAD: Your own 3D parametric modeler which is also a very good, stable modeling software. It uses similar sketch-based design principals, and you can be drawing basic stuff and have it printed within days as there are plenty of YouTube tutorials. It's really good fun actually. Download a copy and have a play.
My First Important Tip!
It does take some practice and one of the most important things to consider when learning is how you will design in relation to the way you are going to print it........ For example, I always try to incorporate at least one flat side on my models. This gives me a good starting point for printing and ensures that the model adheres itself to the print bed for the full duration of the print. you also need to design in a way that minimizes the need for the print job to generate its own support. This saves you time and money, as less materials are used and it prints a lot quicker. A lot of this type of design and printing has been trial and error for me; I think that most people that go down this path expect to do some prototyping as they learn.
You will need a 3D printer. There are so many on the market these days. I have kinda got stuck on the Creality brand which I find to do a reasonable job from a print quality perspective and an excellent job from a reliability point of view. I run my machines 24/7 when building a boat. At the moment I am printing the entire deck of the port hull on my Trimaran. I'm sitting here writing this and the boat is still be built by my printers. You get used to one brand of equipment, and it's hard to change. There are however many good quality machines available on the market today. JayCar in Australia support the Egloo Brand if local service is important to you. At the moment I run the Creality K1Max, a very fine printer and under $1000 these days, wait for the specials. There is also a carbon fiber specialised version of the K1 if you need extra strong parts. There is also the K2 now which offers multiple colours, not really needed for me.
I would suggest spending a little more and buying a 3D printer with an enclosed chamber. This helps to regulate the temperature for the various plastics, and it improves overall print quality. Auto leveling is also a very important feature. On the older machines we had to level the bed manually which took some practice to get right. Bed leveling is very important when printing as it's really all about the first layer. Most miss prints occur early in the print job and its usually because a small section of the first layer failed to adhere to the print plate. Now, with auto leveling, dry filament, modern print beds and a little bit of paper glue, my print jobs rarely fail and if it does, it's usually my fault, I tangled the filament and the like.
Other Options for Printing
If the whole design your own things sounds daunting to you, do not despair. There are many websites that support the 3D printing community. Thingiverse.com for example is an excellent starting point. It offers millions of models that you can just download and print, from toys to everything practical, it is an excellent resource. I am also a contributor to Thingiverse.
These are the printers that we are currently using.