Oliveros

Well, I got my roll of natural Kodak Nylon 12 today and my oh my it is such a breeze to print with, it sticks to the bed really well, seems really strong and the prints come out very smooth. Just installed 1 part on my commercial dishwasher and it is for sure less flexible than it's little brother (Nylon 6) when hot and wet so I'll have to modify the part a little (going on, about 20 different versions now, lol) to make it easier to install but otherwise it looks promising. The Natural color of the nylon is transparent or whatever the word is for not very see through, but a little. I like the way it prints, looks and feels and it's printing at 235*C which is recommended with a bed temp of 40*C-110*C and fan speed of 50% very little warping and again, just easy to print with so far. Got 4 parts printing for a 12 hour print so we'll see how it goes but I wanted to let you guys know, I like this material so far. With a heat deflection of 120*C and rated food safe (Per an email directly from Kodak) in it's natural color I'm happy so far.

Sketchup will export .Obj That's what I currently use.

Just a security concern.

Well, that won't work then. darn.

Thanks guys. Will I be able to install it and use it without internet? My modeling computer is kept strictly offline so I need something that'll download as a program and just run.

Yeah, converting files and moving it into different softwares CAN mess up the file at times, it would be easier if the source is the correct file type and would also give it the best chance of being accurate. I don't know of a 3D modeling program that can't export in an .Obj or .STL file.

I just tried it, can't seem to load it, my screen just goes white. Perhaps I'll stick with Sketchup.

I want to use Fusion 360 or Solidworks, I'm just not willing to pay that much money for it without trying it out properly.

Interesting, good advice, thank you.

Okay awesome, thanks a lot for the feedback. I'm going to give FreeCad a shot and see how it works, then i'll at least have an idea of how parametric modeling is from sketchup.

How do I do that? I saw Fusion 360 and it seems really cool but I couldn't figure out how to use it, I want a downloaded program, not a browser one since the computer I design on is not on the interweb and won't be.

Yeah, I made quite a few fittings yesterday and tested them, It's really hard to tell and they seem to break really easily, I mean, 1/4" is not a lot and it's tricky to try and compensate with wall thickness and making sure where the fitting joins the main parts body is strong, it's a bit of a learning curve for sure. The fittings I made didn't hold up, the thread was fine, printed in 0.6 layer height and they matched the thread I wanted but it wasn't very strong and broke off If I tightened it too much. Thanks for the tips though.

Can your customer provide .OBJ files? Cura supports it.

I find if I use file type .OBJ instead of .STL and make sure the 3D model was exported in MM, then it's all good. If I don't then it get's whacky.

Awesome, thank you. I got Free CAD and I have never done the parametric modeling, only stuff with sketchup and blender so that's gonna take some time to learn.

Hey Guys, I'm trying to replicate a detergent system using 3D printed parts, I'm currently using PETG and after some tweaking it seems to be coming out okay. Are there any tricks to making the prints waterproof, I find if I print 7 or 8, perhaps 3-5 of them come out good enough to consider they would hold water and slight pressure. One end is a threaded connection, the other is a barbed fitting.

Very interesting, thank you for sharing. I've tried printing PLA directly on the glass bad that was cleaned with alcohol with no glue and the layers still don't come out very clean. I don't have the part anymore since I gave it away so I'll have to print another one, perhaps I can get a good shot of it somehow, showing what I mean.

Hey, I've been using sketchup for a while, originally started out by doing plans for building stuff but now that I'm having to get accurate for 3D printing. I want to get a software alittle more oriented to engineering. What do you guys recommend?

Haha, no problem. Cool, I'll be curious to see how it works out. I'm sure it could be a very useful material and I'm sure I'll find a use for what I have left... Only about 600 grams of it, lol. Go for it, I'll be happy to know. I feel there's not enough information on various filaments and applications when it comes to 3D printing so It ends up with people (like me) having to experiment A LOT to get results and see what works and what doesen't so anything I test that's a bit more exotic, like Nylon or this colorfabb, I want to put the information out there so someone else can use it and they avoid having to go through the same process of buying 10 different rolls of material to see what works. So by all means, be my guest and post your results here, the more the merrier.

Yeah. I mean I wasn't going for a clear print, I don't care about that part, I needed the HDT and the FDA approval, if it would've been white it would've worked as well for me. I'm sure you CAN get clear prints by printing at the right temp, right layer height and speed and so forth I just didn't bother trying. Well, I tried once and it wasn't clear and my printer won't run much higher than 260*F for some reason so I gave it up. I'll be trying Kodak's Nylon 12 next, I think that'll be the winner.

There has to be a clearance between the parts. If you slide a part into a 20MM hole the part going into it would have to be around 19.5MM in diameter and it would fit pretty snug, may need to be 0.4 or 0.3 MM smaller than the part it goes into but it does have to have a little bit of clearance.

Yes it is.

The problem is i'm trying to get it perfectly smooth or not noticeable to the eye unless you get close to it. I'm using Monoprice white PLA filament, it's not very shiny.

Good to know, I tried taking a picture but it's hard to see. I gave one to the guy who needs them to test it out and see if it's good enough as is.

turned out it was 210*C. I tried pulling the tape off my bed and just bare glass, turned the bed temp up to 70*C and redid the Z offset so it makes a drag mark on a piece of paper or -0.55 Offset so the nozzle is very close to the bed. Sticks to the bed OK without anything but I can still see the layer lines on the bottom, I need it to be completely smooth.