Hello from the Faroe Islands

[Nudel]

I think you're right - my current setup is is a Prusa i3 (I bought a kit off ebay!) with bowden extruder, something my printer didn't start with, but the extruder change makes a very lightweight hotend & X-Carriage which gives great quality prints in PLA... TPU though tends to get very stringy on parts where there is a lot of retraction.
I'm going to experiment with the retraction settings before I give up on it entirely - but I've been so busy recently I haven't had much of a chance.

I honestly think that using an FDM printer to produce parts for sale is a bad idea though - its just too slow! Prototype it that way, and then make moulds,... but selling printed pieces would never make money.

Bowden and flexible filament is a (somewhat big) no-no, the amount of springiness in the filament while in the tube makes it hard to do precise retractions. Might be better off turning retraction off? If you increase the travel speed you might counter the strings, but you will end up with a few blobs depending on the travel length. Again, not personal experience, but what I've read about the material over time.

Yeah, agree with the mass production aspect with a FDM printer. You need a factory floor and a bunch of machines to do that. I do have a decorative item I produce and sell, but I only print the shell and fill the void with plaster, thus keeping print time and filament cost way down.

Again, what I design I do not intend to mass produce sell. It'll mostly be of use to people like you Njones, who can print it yourself. Of course, if someone really wants a part, I'll be more than happy to help.

Doing rubber casting is something I've wanted to try for years, but the startup cost is not cheap, and requires a lot of time and experimenting.

His English is better than most UK posters on here :thumbsup:

Welcome to the forum , I am one of the first of the members of the forum and that is the best introduction I have seen ,I am really looking forward to your post from now on

You flatter me. Thank you sirs. (I do use a spell checker though).

By the way, I love your trolley builds mark m!

Here is the first open source window cleaning part. (Anyone have an idea for a good name/abbreviation?)

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Should I post this elsewhere on the forum, or do you consider cross posting spam?

 

[Solarpanelcleanington]

Wow!

What sort of micron tolerance do these machines work too?

What material is it? Polymer?

 

[Nudel]

Wow!What sort of micron tolerance do these machines work too?

What material is it? Polymer?

I usually print the layers (z axis) at 0.2-0.3mm thick, you can go way lower (I've tried 0.05mm) if you want a smoother surface finish (at the cost of increased print time).

The x+y resolution is largely determined by your nozzle size and rigidity of the frame as well as speed. I use a 0.35-0.5mm nozzle. Wikipedia claims it has the same resolution as a laser printer (510-250 dpi) but that seems a bit high compared to my real world experience.

The plastic I prefer is Polylactic Acid , but there are a vast range of other polymers to use. ABS is popular (like in LEGO).