Skewworks (Inc ) has just placed an order for a 3D printer! Weāll be offering enclosures for the full GHI line soon after the printer arrives.
If youāve got any case requests go ahead and start posting them. I plan to have generic enclosures as well as some more fun ones like a Gameboy style case for the T35 with space for a couple of buttons (with 3D printed caps) , etc.
Iāve read very good reviews of their product and one of the perks is it comes fully assembled and tested (unlike most of the 3D printers < 3K Iāve seen).
Downside is thereās a long turn around. 10wks to get it in, Iāve reached out and they are going to try and cut a couple of weeks off that for me.
In the mean time Iāll start designing some cases and upload 'em for you guys to look at. Donāt forget to post ideas as well.
Sounds like youāll be giving Steve some competition Iāve never seen that printer before either. Interesting design. Looks like the bed moves up & down rather than the head. I canāt wait to hear your review. I have a 3D printer coin jar started. I keep hoping this will be the year that the prices go down and the jar goes up to the point that the two collide. It will be great to have you in my bag of tools until I get my own.
Donāt mean to piss on your parade (danish proverb donāt know if it translates), but -
I have one of those and though in many ways itās a great printer there are some shortcomingsā¦ You will do much well in studying the forum at soliforum, particularly digging out the newbie guides. Will save you a heap of problems.
Their extruder is infamous for clogging up, and to unclog it youāll need to soak it in acetone or do what did i: Forum message ā SoliForum - 3D Printing Community (donāt breathe in the fumes!). Main problem is that the extruder is set in a puzzle of acrylic layers that you wonāt enjoy taking apart and putting back together again.
Best advice I can give you is this, get two extruders and, most important of all, before you print anything else print the Solidoodle Jigsaw Replacement Extruder mk4 by lawsy - Thingiverse extruder casing replacement parts. This will make it a breeze to get the extruder out and put it back in.
Also, itās much recommended to print the raft - the initial layer that the model will be printed on top of - at a higher temperature than the standard config offers. If you donāt theres a risk of it not sticking to the build plate. Thereās a āraftā setting in the skeinforge software for that.
Incidentally, if youāre printing ABS plastic itās essential you keep the enclosure on, to keep a high general temperature in there - to avoid warping/flexing the printed model. Especially important if youāre printing larger models. Ideally install a fan to immediately cool the melting plastic, too.
Last but not least(!), expect to be doing more maintenance on the thing than youād thoughtā¦ It can be tricky to get it right, and sadly the technology is not there yet that itāll work out of the box like a regular printer thatās maintenance-free.
Having said that, when it up and working and the models are turning out great, itās a terrific feeling - Iām guessing the same you guys get from having a perfect pcb arrive from seeed or something.
@ harleydk - āPiss on your paradeā is known here too.
Thanks for the heads up! Iāll keep an eye on that extruder, if it does end up being troublesome Iām sure I could find a more reliable one to replace it with.
Iād like to see back-side panels for modules and mainboards just to protect them from shorts. If you could make some kind of interlocking design that would be really cool.
Quality seems to be a result of prep time. If you lay out your case properly and get the printer ready the only thing Iāve found shy of injection molding is a super smooth edges and you can fix that with sandpaper or chemicals.
Definitely not something that would be for normal sale through Skewworks but I can see doing some rapid prototyping for members so they are 100% before they go to injection molding.
If anyone is interesting in having 3D stuff printed but canāt afford a machine and only do a few every now and then, I would recommend www.shapeways.com for your designs.
I have used them quite a few times and the service and quality is good. Great thing is the colour choices!