Time to unveil "Project Blackstone"

-
Peyote said:
I think I'm going to hold off on printing a new radio bracket until my new printer arrives. It will print much faster and cleaner, and with water soluble supports, so I don't have to worry about quality and warping. That new printer likely won't arrive for at least a couple of months as it is new to market. Incidentally this will be the printer that I start using when I work on the 3d printed tail lights, and eventually the center console, dashboard, and potentially armrests and other things I would want to improve on.

View attachment 1715972122
Click to expand...

Is this printer where you would suggest someone started if they were looking at doing some 3D printing and didn't have a machine?

This summer has further illustrated that I "need" AC in my Duster. I've been planning to run a heat/AC box out of a '98 Ram or similar and grabbed one out of the wrecking yard to mess with. My plan is to mount it and then duct the original air intake to the box, thus keeping the option to run outside air or recirc. I also plan to try and duct the dash vents to the stock A-Body underdash vents. In both cases, I could see a 3D printed piece being the cleanest method to make the connection.

I looked at MakerBot and love the idea of doing the parts in carbon fiber. Both because it seems like the most durable option and it would just be cool. But a Method X CF Edition is a real investment. :eek:
 
DionR said:
Is this printer where you would suggest someone started if they were looking at doing some 3D printing and didn't have a machine?

This summer has further illustrated that I "need" AC in my Duster. I've been planning to run a heat/AC box out of a '98 Ram or similar and grabbed one out of the wrecking yard to mess with. My plan is to mount it and then duct the original air intake to the box, thus keeping the option to run outside air or recirc. I also plan to try and duct the dash vents to the stock A-Body underdash vents. In both cases, I could see a 3D printed piece being the cleanest method to make the connection.

I looked at MakerBot and love the idea of doing the parts in carbon fiber. Both because it seems like the most durable option and it would just be cool. But a Method X CF Edition is a real investment. :eek:
Click to expand...

While I don't have first hand experience with the Bambu X1, the reviews are mostly very good. There are three main reason I'm buying one: 1)speed...you can't get this kind of speed in a printer without spending a lot of time and money upgrading one. 2)multi material system...some really good advantages to having this, but not totally necessary for a beginner printer, it's more something that comes into play when you start using soluble supports. 3)the advanced features...auto bed leveling, flow compensation, wifi access, built in camera...all things you can add to a printer, but again...money and time.

I learned on my Ender 6, and have upgraded it along the way, which has been a great learning experience. But I'm looking for something that out of the box has the features I want, and there's nothing else like that at the price. The Prusa XL is coming out soon, and will be $1K more expensive. What Bambu did is basically look at all the ways really talented people are modifying their printers, and put it in a turnkey package at a great price. It's a game changer. If you don't need MMS, you could get the X1 Carbon when it's released that should be $1,000-$1,200. MMS can always be added down the road. Or you could get the base model and upgrade it with their parts like the carbon hotend and camera.

Markerbot made a big name for themselves and have been riding that brand name and it's a part of their pricing. But their tech just doesn't compare to what Bambu is making. But going the Bambu route you're taking a chance, since it's a new product. There will be bugs and quirks. So far they have been extremely responsive to the community feedback which is a sign this isn't just another chinese product with no support. The founders are the team behind DJI, makers of the famous Mavic drone and others, so there's some caché there and experience. It all comes down to how much you value what Bambu can offer vs others. You may not need something ultrafast, I have projects in the pipeline that are big and will be iterative, so I need the speed. Printing a big part in 5 hours vs 12 is huge for me.
 
I think I’ve decided the radio is going to go in the dashboard, not the console. It just fits but I’ll have to have a plate made up to replace the part of the dash that has the heater and vent controls and the ashtray. Then I’ll just need someone to weld it in. Going to design it in 3D, print it, make sure it works and fits the bottom curve of the dash, then have it made in steel
C105AD95-001F-4424-A438-CF78E6C5C90A.png
 
One thing I always wanted to do in this project is to give the illusion that the old school radio decoy face was a working radio. My first test print with a .4mm nozzle was more successful than I expected. I ordered a small LED strip that goes behind it to backlight it. I printed in a material called ASA, in black, natural, and red for the indicator line. The issues with the print are a few gaps where you can see light leak through, and less than perfect lettering quality (I had to choose a compromise between more gaps and less precision). Currently printing in .2mm nozzle size which should in theory provide much finer detailed printing and less gaps. But it could be a bit of a process as I've never printed in this nozzle size and there can be complications.
Note in this photo a flashlight is used to backlight, but the net effect is more or less the same.

Again, to be clear...all numbering you see in the radio face was 3d printed.

radio face bare.jpg


radio face old.jpeg
 
I realize I hadn't updated this thread since I got the new printer...the multip material printing is fantastic. I'll be printing the new face bracket soon, I've already done test prints and am very happy with how it's looking
 
KevinB said:
One thing I always wanted to do in this project is to give the illusion that the old school radio decoy face was a working radio. My first test print with a .4mm nozzle was more successful than I expected. I ordered a small LED strip that goes behind it to backlight it. I printed in a material called ASA, in black, natural, and red for the indicator line. The issues with the print are a few gaps where you can see light leak through, and less than perfect lettering quality (I had to choose a compromise between more gaps and less precision). Currently printing in .2mm nozzle size which should in theory provide much finer detailed printing and less gaps. But it could be a bit of a process as I've never printed in this nozzle size and there can be complications.
Note in this photo a flashlight is used to backlight, but the net effect is more or less the same.

Again, to be clear...all numbering you see in the radio face was 3d printed.

View attachment 1716029709

View attachment 1716029707
Click to expand...

Were these done on your bambulabs x1? I'm very impressed with the multi material system
 
TurboGLH said:
Were these done on your bambulabs x1? I'm very impressed with the multi material system
Click to expand...
Yes, but the features I'm printing here really are beyond the capabilites of the .4mm nozzle...I've gotten much better looking multimaterial prints using larger features. My initial test of the .2mm nozzle looks promising, more defined corners in the lettering and bars, but there was some stringing to sort out, and the first layer could be a bit better. Test 2 in progress, these take about 3 hours to print because of the small nozzle and 3 materials being used. Multimaterial prints up the print time enormously
 
KevinB said:
Yes, but the features I'm printing here really are beyond the capabilites of the .4mm nozzle...I've gotten much better looking multimaterial prints using larger features. My initial test of the .2mm nozzle looks promising, more defined corners in the lettering and bars, but there was some stringing to sort out, and the first layer could be a bit better. Test 2 in progress, these take about 3 hours to print because of the small nozzle and 3 materials being used. Multimaterial prints up the print time enormously
Click to expand...

What did you do for a nozzle? I know they only offer .4/.6/.8 directly and they use a custom nozzle/heat break/heat sink assembly?

The fast print speed, high temp materials and MM system are the appealing features to me. I had a second large print fail mid print recently and the spaghetti detection is looking pretty a appealing as well.

Fast prints with dissolvable supports in asa or cf nylon. :thumbsup:
 
TurboGLH said:
What did you do for a nozzle? I know they only offer .4/.6/.8 directly and they use a custom nozzle/heat break/heat sink assembly?

The fast print speed, high temp materials and MM system are the appealing features to me. I had a second large print fail mid print recently and the spaghetti detection is looking pretty a appealing as well.

Fast prints with dissolvable supports in asa or cf nylon. :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
They offer a .2 nozzle, or you can buy the whole hotend preassembled. Swapping the hotend is two screws and three wires to unplug. Spaghetti detection works sometimes (i haven't had an issue that would cause it) but some claim it's too sensetive, and others claim it didn't detect the spaghetti.
I'm using Ionic as a dissolving support with ASA and have had mixed results...don't really have it dialed in yet. It's expensive and finicky, but best used not as the support itself, but as an interface layer between the part and the support material, that way much less of it is needed.

Anything with carbon in it will introduce wear over a shorter timeframe so I avoid it, but others are printing with carbon and making some bits meant to be chewed up by it in the MMS to protect the actual MMS parts
 
getting close to being dialed in at .2mm...some stringing issues due to the temp I think, it was reset on me and I didn't notice...hoping to wrap this part up by tomorrow

radio number block v3 led.jpg
 
Hopefully another update tomorrow...I tried printing the radio numbers block a few different ways and am mostly happy with what I have, but I had to break it up into two parts. Waiting for the epoxy to set and then I can sand it and see if its been worth the effort. I am breaking up the old radio bracket into two pieces, the back half is done and has been epoxied for strength, the front half with lettering is going to start printing shortly and should be done by EOD
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top