3D printing thread - Who's printing what?

The Ender 3 3D printer will print 8.7" square by 9.8" high which allows a fairly
large speaker box to be printed. It is interesting that the wall thickness does not
have to be 100% solid and a matrix style internal bracing could be designed in.
I'd think that a Minimus 7 sized box would be easy.
 
Interesting notion regarding printing cones. Add some spiders, magnets, surrounds, paper former, copper wire you could print a speaker nearly from soup to nuts. There are a few enclosures on the net. Sounds ambitious, but if someone else makes and publishes the plans I'd give it a go!

I got a Parts-Express catalog a few weeks back that had an article featuring a 3D printed enclosure.
 
Hi,

I just saw this thread and thought I'd chime in. I've got a 3d printer at work (Fusion 360) and I've spent sone time learning FreeCAD and Slic3r (I try to stick to OSS when I can).

Anyway, years ago I pulled a Pioneer SA-7500 (?) from the recycle pile. The power switch was burnt out and my ham-fisted attempt at fixing it didn't work. So I just soldered it permanently "on" and it just sat unused for years due to other problems.

Recently, now that I've had some success bringing old things back to life, I had another go at the Pioneer amp. I disassembled the power switch into two halves : the "mechanical" half and the "electrical" half. I threw away the electrical half and replaced it with a little plastic doodad that I 3d printed.

Basically it's just a flat disk with indents so that the metal tabs from the "mechanical half" can bend over and grab it. In the center of the disk is a hole for the mechanical pushrod/plunger/actuator to pass though. And right next to that is a little shelf with mounting holes for a mini snap action switch. Everything worked out so that the pushrod turns the snap action switch on and off. Since the tiny switch can't handle the full current for the amp (neither could the original!) I used a thyristor circuit that I learned about on AK.

Anyway, this was sort of a one-off ad hoc job, but it helped keep an old amp alive. In my opinion, its a perfect "use case" for what 3d printing is actually good for.

Now for some pics.

First, the two halves of the original switch:
20190116_163646.jpg

Next the doodad I printed and the mini switch:
20190116_163856.jpg

And finally the whole thing assembled:

20190116_170619.jpg

In that pic you can see the (brass colored) pushrod pressing the miniswitch shut.

I could have done a better job (made the disk a tad thinner) and been more precise bending the tabs, but I was in a hurry to test it. Then I decided the best thing was to NOT bend those poor little tabs any more!
 
Hi,

I just saw this thread and thought I'd chime in. I've got a 3d printer at work (Fusion 360) and I've spent sone time learning FreeCAD and Slic3r (I try to stick to OSS when I can).

Anyway, years ago I pulled a Pioneer SA-7500 (?) from the recycle pile. The power switch was burnt out and my ham-fisted attempt at fixing it didn't work. So I just soldered it permanently "on" and it just sat unused for years due to other problems.

Recently, now that I've had some success bringing old things back to life, I had another go at the Pioneer amp. I disassembled the power switch into two halves : the "mechanical" half and the "electrical" half. I threw away the electrical half and replaced it with a little plastic doodad that I 3d printed.

Basically it's just a flat disk with indents so that the metal tabs from the "mechanical half" can bend over and grab it. In the center of the disk is a hole for the mechanical pushrod/plunger/actuator to pass though. And right next to that is a little shelf with mounting holes for a mini snap action switch. Everything worked out so that the pushrod turns the snap action switch on and off. Since the tiny switch can't handle the full current for the amp (neither could the original!) I used a thyristor circuit that I learned about on AK.

Anyway, this was sort of a one-off ad hoc job, but it helped keep an old amp alive. In my opinion, its a perfect "use case" for what 3d printing is actually good for.

Now for some pics.

First, the two halves of the original switch:
View attachment 1423477

Next the doodad I printed and the mini switch:
View attachment 1423480

And finally the whole thing assembled:

View attachment 1423483

In that pic you can see the (brass colored) pushrod pressing the miniswitch shut.

I could have done a better job (made the disk a tad thinner) and been more precise bending the tabs, but I was in a hurry to test it. Then I decided the best thing was to NOT bend those poor little tabs any more!

Now that's the sort of thing I had in mind when I bought my printer! Very creative and well executed!
 
Very cool. You could probably sell something like that for the SX-750 and other ones with unobtanium switches.
 
I'm wondering if a single layer of PLA, or whatever might be the best filament could
be printed onto a copper PC board as etch resist. It would be very cool if there was
a translator to get PCB files into the STL file format. But for simple designs it could just
be drawn in the usual 3D CAD program.
 
Interesting notion regarding printing cones. Add some spiders, magnets, surrounds, paper former, copper wire you could print a speaker nearly from soup to nuts. There are a few enclosures on the net. Sounds ambitious, but if someone else makes and publishes the plans I'd give it a go!

I got a Parts-Express catalog a few weeks back that had an article featuring a 3D printed enclosure.

Regarding printing a speaker frame, there are some drivers made today that
use a very strong plastic - not sure what that would be. I remember when ABS came
out and how strong that was but perhaps something newer.
This GR Research for example:
http://gr-research.com/m130woofer.aspx

People have commented on the "cheap" plastic and Ritchie has responded that it is
stronger than a stamped frame driver.
 
I'm wondering if a single layer of PLA, or whatever might be the best filament could
be printed onto a copper PC board as etch resist

I'd suggest a low-power UV laser or led source, and fit that to the 'extruder'. Then just use normal UV-sensitive, NaOH developed resist copperclad, and design your '3D' print as a negative layout. There are 3D printers that are already designed to double up as laser engravers; look at one of those, and use the UV resist process.
 
Laser engravers exist for these printers, but are apparently low watt. I have no idea how they would work, and my anxiety starts to flex when I think about shining them at a reflective surface. I just imagine engravings on the ceiling or my retina. I'm also not sure about the resolution. Unless you're talking mass production, it might be easier to just point to point wire. Again, I have NO idea about this notion! If someone tries it, and still can see the computer afterward, please report back!
 
I was able to print the first plate 3 times without any problems.
I used DesignSpark Mechanical to design another rectangular plate about 6"
on a side. It prints a ring around it fine then starts the actual part, and when it
gets to a corner that is cut out fails to stick to the build plate. Tried leveling the
bed, different temps, hair spray but nothing works.
Using the build plate that came with it which seems to be fiberglass on the back
and a rough rubber like coarse sand paper on the top.

I took a close look at the 3D model and it looks fine.

I'm using CURA to slice the .stl with similar settings as the last time.

I wonder if the PLA has taken on moisture.
 
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I"m new to this but it seems that most of the experts use something for adhesion
glue stick seems to be very popular.
 
For the print surface I got a piece of mirror from the hardware store. I use hairspray for an adhesive. I haven't had to level the bed in a while. Occasionally I'll pull the mirror and wash off the hairspray.

You shouldn't need any adhesive with the build plate you have. You may have some hand oil on the build surface. I'd try a wipe with isopropyl alcohol before the next attempt.

Its not uncommon for the bed to be warped. It could be causing your problem. That's what I had, and moving to glass/mirror solved the issue. It's worth a try. You'll have to lower your z-stop.
 
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We use masking tape laid on the bed. Scotch blue stuff. I think the rough surface provides a keying that the PLA can bind to. Oddly, it also seems to make release easier...
 
Pete: I'm not sure of the problem you described, but have you tried adding support "feet" to your model? Just use small ones that can be easily removed with a Dremel tool after printing is complete.
 
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