3d printers Archives

3d Printers, hobbyist-to-pro, learn the 3d printing manufacturing process utilizing various filaments – carbon fiber, wood, metal and vinyl/plastics

June 13, 2024September 27, 2024

TPU Upgrade Action

Full Install, System Inspection and Testing

TPU(Thermoplastic Polyurethane) Action – Sprite Extruder, Motherboard and Prints In Flight

TinkerCad Design - TPU Box with compartments

Max Neo Upgrades: The Parts, the pain and TPU Series

Covering TPU Action, starting with the removal, adding modifications, clean-up effort, settings for successful prints and final production.

Why Upgrade, Pieces and Parts

Let’s start with the why. Why upgrade your Max Neo board, extruder etc.? The easy answer is successful TPU prints. Prints of high quality, with low errors (blips and globs), working usable prints and again, TPU. How long did the upgrades take, i.e. duration, to upgrade the required parts for successful prints? In short, the installation took 30 – 60 minutes, with tweaks taking an additional 2 weeks. The time to achieve successful and consistent prints was 2.5 weeks. This includes time for troubleshooting, adding/removing parts, multiple test prints (which might slightly affect the duration), and finalizing print settings within the Creality Slicer.

Slicer and Pre-Print Preview

Tinkercad Design

Creality Slicer 4.3.8

Slicer Pre-Build

If you have not checked out TINKERCAD yet, please do. This is where my drawings, ideas and digital designs come to life. It’s a web based application, specifically CAD (Computer Aided Design) software, used in the maker space and ideally in the global manufacturing industry. Tinkercad allows tinkers, students, and teachers to quickly learn, build and create in a simplified AutoCad environment. Tinkercad is like the younger sibling of AutoCad by AutoDesk. This web-based application is part of the AutoDesk software family which includes Fusion360, AutoCad, TinkerCad, and more. The point here is simple: if you’re looking for fun, easy-to-use CAD program, give Tinkercad a try. It’s free to sign up and create 3D designs, circuits and code blocks. It’s a very cool, fun, and free way to learn something new for #makers.

Next, let’s discuss the cost. It may be helpful to share the components that were included in this upgrade session – TPU Update. The parts are as follows, or you can skip ahead to the upgrade process in the second post of this series. Below, we will cover the parts list, Creality upgrades, Duramic 3D Filament and Wyze Cameras, for live video action.

Upgrade Shopping List – Electronics, Parts and Accessories

Sprite Extruder

Motherboard v4.2.7 (Required)

Bed Upgrade PEI

Digital Spool Rack

Wifi Box 2.0

Creality TPU Filament

Duramic 3d TPU Filament

Wyze Cam Pan

Wyze Cam v3

Refurbed Max Neo

September 21, 2023September 26, 2024

WiFi For Legacy Creality Devices

Bring Bluetooth and Wifi Connectivity to Legacy 3d Printers

Creality WiFi Box

Tech | Tools – Creality WiFi Box 2

Need a boost, WiFi or Bluetooth connection for your Creality printer? How about the Creality WiFi Cloud Box 2.0?

For those of you who are using using WiFi or Bluetooth connectivity, especially the older 3D printers, the concept of ‘Apple AirPrint’ or printing over WiFi is now a luxury. Unless, of course, you want to take advantage of Air Print or prefer to print from your desk chair by connecting to a WiFi/Bluetooth ready 3d printer. It’s simple if the hardware and software are installed or onboard, as is often the case. You can easily sit down, go through your sketch or drawing export, and then send those slices directly to a printer via WiFi/Bluetooth. Finally, you can kick off the print job using WiFi/Bluetooth slicer software.

Creality Wifi Box

Before I discuss the best-case scenario and the benefits of WiFi for legacy Creality devices, let’s first talk about the old-school models. For those of us who still use old printers, MicroSD cards, USB 2 cords, and swap nano SD cards and USB sticks, this information will be relevant. If you’re tired of constantly switching USB dongles and nano cards and dealing with manual process, then this if for you. It may be old school, but it work.

Please note that I have not yet set up the Creality WiFi Box so there is no Wifi available for the legacy Creality devices I own. We will get something up here shortly, once the rebuild is complete which should take about a week or two to wrap up.

Rebuild pt 1 – involves installing a new drive, assembling, and finding the back plate. Currently, we are reconnecting the new assembly housing, heating element, etc. rebuild part 2* did start the today this article was posted. *Article was updated, so that we could share a link to the second article.

Finally, we will cover Creality solutions for older 3D printers such as the Creality Ender 3 Neo Max.

June 9, 2023September 27, 2024

3d Printer Usage

3d Printer UsageUsage, New and Refurbed

Best 3d Printers On the market ’23

Lab Work – 3d Printers

See 3D Poll Below (closed), participate in the ‘who’s who of 3D Printer Usage Brands and Manufacturers’.

The poll has since closed on 3D Printer Usage. However, what we discovered is interesting. The question was ‘What 3D printers have you used, any success’? We are specifically looking for a TPU thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU) filament option. Tests with the NEO Max have been inconsistent, mostly unsuccessful, unless we swap out filaments. Interesting right?

We have generally, stuck with Creality for sometime, maybe four years or more. Today, we are looking for the best TPU lite printer. Do you have any suggestions regarding 3D print usage or brand? We have used Dremel for cutting and sanding, typical applications for a Dremel tool. As for Prusa, we have only used their products in theory, as some items we have purchased were made via a Prusa lab or outsourced printer. Anyhow, we are looking for feedback or comments. Please kindly leave your commentary below.

Please note, if you’re looking to swap out resin liners for the CL-89 model, it is advisable to purchase a number of them in advance, as they can be difficult to find when global stock is low.

Let us know what you’re thinking?

February 14, 2023September 27, 2024

New Creality Series

Creality Makers-space

Creality 3d Printing Series – Ender 3 Neo Max & Halot Sky

Lab Work – Creality Settings

3D printing? If you have a need, give us a call. We will be posting a handful of new work in the weeks to come. From testing and prototyping, to 3D model printing and extruding, resin printers versus PLA/TPU filament printers, the the trials and the tribulations i.e. issues we faced while running our 3D printers. Check out the latest Creality Ender series printers, as we will be covering the Max Neo in this article.

I have attached a few sneak peek video clips and photos of the New Creality Series, showcasing our latest test prints and demos. Als have some ‘real-world’ solutions coming out soon. We will also be putting out some polls regarding 3D software/applications – TinkerCad, AutoCad, Creality (design) software, SolidWorks and more. We have started with TinkerCad and AutoCad so that we can print prototypes to finish products within a few hours.

In The Lab

Creality Tablet

Prototypes

In The Lab

Got any ideas? Do you need 3D prints? Leave us a comment, drop us a line on the Connect, please include: file type, filament, sizes, etc. Let’s see what we can come up with!

As usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?

December 15, 2022September 26, 2024

Ender, Halot & Prusa 3d

3d Printers, Resin Printers – Ender, Halot & Prusa 3d

Creality, Prusa or Something else? Ultimaker

Gear – 3d Printers

With the holiday season in full swing, thought it might be worth while to do some research on a 3D printer… Should we go with Ender, Halot & Prusa 3D? Should we choose extruded filament or resin? Which brand offers the best cost/benefit ratio?

After conducting our research, in shop testing, we found a printer that meets the shop needs. Once the device has been received, we will porovide more information. Stay tuned for updates on the device, our 3D lab startup, and our first runs. Let me know in the comments below: should I choose Prusa or Creality CR Series Ender series or Halot Series?

3D Printers

There are a couple of different models, filament types, series, etc. to choose from. We are considering the Ender 5 Plus, Halot Series (Resin) versus the Prusa I3 MK3S+. Perhaps some other tools to go with the printer as well, such as wash/cure, filament, bed, boxes/enclosures, etc. There are lots of options to consider. The point is, we are looking for the best option for the shop. Help us understand why and what factors might have influenced your decision to purchase a 3D printer. Should we choose something else? Dremel, MakerBot, Ultimaker, LulzBot… there are more options out there, but it is time to narrow down the list.

As usual leave a comment below, let us know what you’re thinking?