3D Printing thread

Glasswalker · Apr 26, 2016

@applejk
I make a lot of my designs from scratch. I'll be sharing them on Thingiverse and posting links here in the near future. For now I've designed "feet" for my dry rock, I'll be using them to aquascape my tank but keep the rock well supported and up off the glass by about 1/2", while avoiding the problems with using egg crate for this (trapped detritus in the sand inside the "cells" in the egg crate for example). This way I can aquascape the rock first, lay the sand down later, burying the feet, and my rock stays nice and sturdy and stable, and sifters/cuc can't end up undermining the rock.

Here is a small list of things I've either already designed, or that I plan to design & will be released in the near future as my tank build nears completion (all will be released Creative Commons license):

Printable Live Rock (still in progress, I hope this can soon be heavily customizable with V2)
Rock Feet (parametric/adjustable)
Automatic feeder (parametric/adjustable)
Feeding Basket for veggie foods (nori and such, idea suggested by another R2R member, still clarifying details)
Peristaltic Pump, or dosing pump (parametric/adjustable)
Assembly for inexpensive ultrasonic water depth sensors (will measure water depth accurate to 1cm with no contact)
Magnetic Glass Scraper/cleaner
Probably a handful of random bits and bobs for use in the Sump (holders/clips/supports, and other such doohickeys)

Anyway, right now time is short, and most of my efforts are going into finishing my build and getting my tank up and running, but I'm a pretty hardcore "Maker" so once I've got my reef up and running, you can bet the flow of "things" from me will be fairly active lol...

Also if anyone has any ideas on something they would like to see, I'm certainly open to suggestions, and am quite skilled at prototyping/engineering based on rough ideas/concepts.

PurpleMonster · Apr 26, 2016

Good stuff man,

everyone that wants to share designs on thingiverse please ensure you reply with your link and brief description. I will put in a request to update the OP with links, and credit to everyone sharing.

Thanks.

jabeuy · Jun 4, 2016

PurpleMonster said:
Nice updates guys.... been away from the office so just catching up. I ordered some PET+ and cant wait to try it out! Currently I have both ABS and PLA in my sps dom reef with Bartlets, Clowns, Shrimp and other inverts with no issues.

Have you been able to test out the PLA+?

PurpleMonster · Jun 4, 2016

I have been using it for the past few print and I think I am almost done dialing it in. Only took half a spool haha, I was using recommended settings on the spool which called for like around 260c but I found that it was too hot and I was boiling the tiny bit of moisture in the filament. I even threw the spool in the oven for like 3hrs at about 170f but it did not dry enough I guess because I was still popping bubbles on the prints.

Finally reverted back to my PLA settings and now I'm getting some decent prints. No more bubbles and finer quality.

I will post some prints sometime this week.

What settings are you guys that have used PET+ and G using?

805reef · Jun 4, 2016

I've used both madesolid and makergeeks PET. The madesolid was great stuff, but is pricey. The madesolid is actually pretty comparable though but I've only printed 1 small thing so far with it. I finished the roll of the madesolid stuff.

cope413 · Jun 6, 2016

Just found this thread... I work at MatterHackers and have extensive experience with materials and printers, as well as over 2 years of multiple printed parts in my tank. I wrote this last year for R2R (http://www.reefedition.com/print-that-custom-aquarium-part/)

I'd recommend you guys post designs to youmagine instead of thingiverse. Lots of not so savory things going on with tverse and their eula.

As for PET materials, it's mostly marketing. PET+ , nGen, nVent, colorfabbXT. .. they're all copolyesters. nGen and nVent are both amphora 3300 polymer based - same material but packaged and marketed differently by different companies.

I can speak from experience - ABS, PLA, and PET have all held up beautifully for 2+ years in my tank. I have 2 pieces printed in nylon that aren't fully submerged, but occasionally contact the water and they've held up great as well.

If you have material or machine questions, or want me to print something for your tank, let me know. I've got about 20 machines I run daily, pretty much every filament currently available, and I love printing stuff that's functional.

revhtree · Jun 6, 2016

cope413 said:
Just found this thread... I work at MatterHackers and have extensive experience with materials and printers, as well as over 2 years of multiple printed parts in my tank. I wrote this last year for R2R (http://www.reefedition.com/print-that-custom-aquarium-part/)

I'd recommend you guys post designs to youmagine instead of thingiverse. Lots of not so savory things going on with tverse and their eula.

As for PET materials, it's mostly marketing. PET+ , nGen, nVent, colorfabbXT. .. they're all copolyesters. nGen and nVent are both amphora 3300 polymer based - same material but packaged and marketed differently by different companies.

I can speak from experience - ABS, PLA, and PET have all held up beautifully for 2+ years in my tank. I have 2 pieces printed in nylon that aren't fully submerged, but occasionally contact the water and they've held up great as well.

If you have material or machine questions, or want me to print something for your tank, let me know. I've got about 20 machines I run daily, pretty much every filament currently available, and I love printing stuff that's functional.

Can you print a full size winter soldier arm for my daughter? HGAHA!

Glasswalker · Jun 6, 2016

revhtree said:
Can you print a full size winter soldier arm for my daughter? HGAHA!

Probably in pieces that could be assembled (which would be required to wear it anyway).

revhtree · Jun 6, 2016

Oh I was kinda joking! That would be awesome!

cope413 · Jun 6, 2016

well, we are working on a full size Iron Man suit... so it's not far off

Btw @revhtree , did you ever use the R2R frag 'plug' I sent to you? I'd love to see one covered in corals. (My wife mainly likes LPS, so I'm short on the zoas, softies, or other encrusting types to make one in our tank).

PurpleMonster · Jul 1, 2016

@cope413 Glad to have you a part of the team! haha, awesome stuff brother!

I have been using my PLA printed frag racks for almost a year now in my tank and no ill effects, no breaking down of material. I also bought PET+ but had a lot of problems printing with its "suggested" settings.... right out of the bag it looks like it had already soaked up a lot of moisture as i had a lot of blistering from "steam" coming out of the extruder? I turned the temp down and ultimately went with the exact settings i used with PLA and had a much better quality print.

Thanks for the heads up on thingi issues.... I will look into and request to have the OP updated to reflect. If you guys have stuff you'd like for me to have updated in the OP please let me know ASAP so i can compile it and have the thread updated

Looking forward to seeing more goodies, I will release my Mag Rack STL and post it here for R2R members only.

revhtree · Jul 1, 2016

cope413 said:
well, we are working on a full size Iron Man suit... so it's not far off

Btw @revhtree , did you ever use the R2R frag 'plug' I sent to you? I'd love to see one covered in corals. (My wife mainly likes LPS, so I'm short on the zoas, softies, or other encrusting types to make one in our tank).

That's amazing work bro! WOW!

Oh and the frag logo is ready to be used but I haven't used it yet. I am going to start it with the new build. I can't wait to see what it looks like!

805reef · Dec 29, 2016

Glasswalker said:
Yeah I'm ordering both Polycarbonate and PETG plastic (Colorfabb XT and NGen) will test those out as well. I think PET based plastics might be the best way overall, they seem to be overaking PLA/ABS as the "preferred" plastic... As easy to print as PLA, but with mechanical properties equal or better than ABS. And they are food safe.

Old post, I know, but was curious if you had tried xt and ngen out? I am looking to get some clear filament and not sure which one to go for between those two.

Glasswalker · Dec 29, 2016

805reef said:
Old post, I know, but was curious if you had tried xt and ngen out? I am looking to get some clear filament and not sure which one to go for between those two.

Hey, yep been printing in both.

So XT is strong, and turns out nice, bit is a bit harder to work with than others, just hard to get it dialed in just right. Once you do it prints really nice and makes strong parts.

NGen is much easier to print in, almost as nice to work with as PLA but for cheap easy parts for everyday tinkering I still use PLA. NGen is reef safe though, so for reef parts I'll use it over abs any day, it's far nicer to work with than abs.

Quality and detail in NGen is good about equivalent to PLA, where XT is not quite as nice a finish. NGen is more "glossy" than PLA.

As I said PLA is still my go to except for reef parts, or customer orders using NGen/XT of course.

XT and polycarbonate are my go to for high strength parts.

Hope that helps.

805reef · Dec 29, 2016

Glasswalker said:
Hey, yep been printing in both.

So XT is strong, and turns out nice, bit is a bit harder to work with than others, just hard to get it dialed in just right. Once you do it prints really nice and makes strong parts.

NGen is much easier to print in, almost as nice to work with as PLA but for cheap easy parts for everyday tinkering I still use PLA. NGen is reef safe though, so for reef parts I'll use it over abs any day, it's far nicer to work with than abs.

Quality and detail in NGen is good about equivalent to PLA, where XT is not quite as nice a finish. NGen is more "glossy" than PLA.

As I said PLA is still my go to except for reef parts, or customer orders using NGen/XT of course.

XT and polycarbonate are my go to for high strength parts.

Hope that helps.

Thank you! That helps a lot. I will give ngen a shot. and maybe try xt another time.

cope413 · Dec 30, 2016

XT and Ngen are very similar in terms of mechanical properties. They are both Amphora copolyesters. Don't believe all the marketing wank.

Both can be stringy if not dialed in, but XT more so. Both are hygroscopic and need to be kept dry

There are much stronger materials available, and I would definitely not mention PC in the same breath as XT or Ngen. Not similar in the slightest.

mannyhernz · Jan 1, 2017

Awesome thread! Anyone in here with 3d printing skills do conttact work? Wanted a couple of small brackets made nothing too crazy..pm me!

spinycheek · Jan 10, 2017

I just made this magnetic, ball joint frag base. The frag disc screws on and off, so you're not permanently married to the magnetic base.

http://s393.photobucket.com/user/spinycheek/media/3D%20printing/IMG_3893.jpg.html]

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fetta · Jan 10, 2017

spinycheek said:
I just made this magnetic, ball joint frag base. The frag disc screws on and off, so you're not permanently married to the magnetic base.

http://s393.photobucket.com/user/spinycheek/media/3D%20printing/IMG_3893.jpg.html][/URL]

Very nice, great idea