Can I buy dinner and drinks to teach me about 3d printing Glock lowers?

[esh21167]

Trinkets and do-dads seem to be print and go.

Anything that has specific tolerances can and will likely need some work. The amount of tweaking I've had to do for PLA makes me wonder how bad it will be with the more expensive filament.

True. Anything that is just a look at this item and does NOT have to fit well with another part is fine. I see tons of printed parts coming out of high schools, and even CTC's. They are cheap giveaways with no real application to generate a 'wow' factor.

Our CTC's one mechatronics instructor did print a reasonably good fitting male and female thread combination, but had to keep the STL file tolerances quite tight, and the print parameters very tight as well. Both increase printing time greatly.

It*s all printer dependent. I can crank out a stellar frame in 8 hours or less in my Bambu labs x1c. My ender would have taken closer to 30 hours and needed some massaging. You won*t be as durable as a Glock frame either. The jury is still out on the carbon fiber filaments. But again. Printer dependent not all can print that.

Also true. Printers that cost a few hundred bucks are not for such applications. Christmas ornaments and small lightweight brackets. (As I previously mentioned.)

I know of a medical device manufacturer that has a titanium sintering 3D printer that can do very good work. FDA has approved use of their printed spinal implants.

Of course, it was nearly $1 million about 4 years ago. And a 1/2 gallon size container of media was about $500. Probably still $500k today. 12 x 12 x 12 build envelope IIRC.

[esh21167]

Trinkets and do-dads seem to be print and go.

Anything that has specific tolerances can and will likely need some work. The amount of tweaking I've had to do for PLA makes me wonder how bad it will be with the more expensive filament.

True. Anything that is just a look at this item and does NOT have to fit well with another part is fine. I see tons of printed parts coming out of high schools, and even CTC's. They are cheap giveaways with no real application to generate a 'wow' factor.

Our CTC's one mechatronics instructor did print a reasonably good fitting male and female thread combination, but had to keep the STL file tolerances quite tight, and the print parameters very tight as well. Both increase printing time greatly.

It’s all printer dependent. I can crank out a stellar frame in 8 hours or less in my Bambu labs x1c. My ender would have taken closer to 30 hours and needed some massaging. You won’t be as durable as a Glock frame either. The jury is still out on the carbon fiber filaments. But again. Printer dependent not all can print that.

Also true. Printers that cost a few hundred bucks are not for such applications. Christmas ornaments and small lightweight brackets. (As I previously mentioned.)

I know of a medical device manufacturer that has a titanium sintering 3D printer that can do very good work. FDA has approved use of their printed spinal implants.

Of course, it was nearly $1 million about 4 years ago. And a 1/2 gallon size container of media was about $500. Probably still $500k today. 12 x 12 x 12 build envelope IIRC.

[staylo]

I have a 3-D printed knee replacement.

[esh21167]

I have a 3-D printed knee replacement.

But not done on a sub $1000 home hobbyist machine.

[staylo]

But not done on a sub $1000 home hobbyist machine.

I sure hope not! Lol

[jimbo242]

You can make make functional frames using PLA+ material on a ~$250 Ender 3 S1. If you get a ~$280 Ender 3 S1 Pro you can even print in carbon fiber nylon which will stand up to higher temperatures (although this material is harder to print with). A friend of mine has 300 rounds on a PLA+ 9mm frame with no issues. There is A LOT of tinkering and failure to get to that point though. You have to be technical and patient as others have mentioned.