erk
Valuable Member
I have an Ender 3 and print most stuff in PLA, but have done ABS. ABS is trickier, but not impossible. No, I don't cover the machine either.
I use Creo 3.0 as my MCAD design tool. It is a professional engineering tool and my primary CAD tool I use at work. You can also get a hobbyist license for Fusion 360. In Fusion 360, you can model and process the work. I use Cura for my post processor because it is easy to use and setup for the Ender 3.
As for the machine, a couple things I've noticed. First, do not pull the finished work off the plastic sheet while it is clipped in place. Completely ruins your bed level and then you have to re-level. Second, if you touch the plastic with your fingers, wipe it down with alcohol before running a new build. If you want to build with ABS, I can give you my settings and tips. Keep the ABS parts small though. If you are trying to make a part that will have a slip fit over something, you need to factor in the expansion of the plastic, but this is only important if the opening is perpendicular to the bed. The extruder tip opening is .4mm, so I add .8mm to my hole dimensions just in case. Not the case for holes that are parallel to the bed. This is why you have to keep in mind how you plan to build while modelling. Lastly, material. I purchase my material off eBay for 12 bucks a spool. People will tell you it is garbage, but I haven't had an issue yet. Build quality is great. No popping or distorting or anything. I think people blame the material when in reality they are the issue. Kind of like when people blame LEDs for killing all their corals, but we all know they kept playing with the color mix and intensity till it burned their corals.
If you have a soldering iron and you want to add threads to parts you will be using outside of the aquarium, you can purchase heat set inserts. These are brass threaded inserts with a knurled surface on the outside. I use my soldering iron to install them. Great for adding solid hardware retainers to a build.
I've used the more mainstream machines at work like the Makerbot, etc, and I prefer the Ender 3 far more than those machines. And the Ender 3 is half the price of some of the big name guys.
I use Creo 3.0 as my MCAD design tool. It is a professional engineering tool and my primary CAD tool I use at work. You can also get a hobbyist license for Fusion 360. In Fusion 360, you can model and process the work. I use Cura for my post processor because it is easy to use and setup for the Ender 3.
As for the machine, a couple things I've noticed. First, do not pull the finished work off the plastic sheet while it is clipped in place. Completely ruins your bed level and then you have to re-level. Second, if you touch the plastic with your fingers, wipe it down with alcohol before running a new build. If you want to build with ABS, I can give you my settings and tips. Keep the ABS parts small though. If you are trying to make a part that will have a slip fit over something, you need to factor in the expansion of the plastic, but this is only important if the opening is perpendicular to the bed. The extruder tip opening is .4mm, so I add .8mm to my hole dimensions just in case. Not the case for holes that are parallel to the bed. This is why you have to keep in mind how you plan to build while modelling. Lastly, material. I purchase my material off eBay for 12 bucks a spool. People will tell you it is garbage, but I haven't had an issue yet. Build quality is great. No popping or distorting or anything. I think people blame the material when in reality they are the issue. Kind of like when people blame LEDs for killing all their corals, but we all know they kept playing with the color mix and intensity till it burned their corals.
If you have a soldering iron and you want to add threads to parts you will be using outside of the aquarium, you can purchase heat set inserts. These are brass threaded inserts with a knurled surface on the outside. I use my soldering iron to install them. Great for adding solid hardware retainers to a build.
I've used the more mainstream machines at work like the Makerbot, etc, and I prefer the Ender 3 far more than those machines. And the Ender 3 is half the price of some of the big name guys.
