Where do we start with CAD and production?

[MJI]

Sorry for a generic post.

 

Got a son who wants to do Cosplay so needs weaponry, (think Destiny Guardians), considering CAD and the like, so he is thinking of buying some of this kit. 3D printing parts to go on drain pipes and the like.

 

Now it would be silly to buy stuff I could not use as well.

 

Now I want to knock up plans for a station building not sure if to 3D print or CNC cut card, complex brick work as well. 4mm

 

I also want to laser cut clear plastic for windows Laserglaze are unlikely to do.

 

1) 3D printers

 

Where is a good list of what is available for purchase? Big and cheap is more important than fast.

 

2) CAD

 

Seems to be many recommending Sketchup but I thought it was free not £600 odd. Have I got this right or not?

 

Planning on giving said son a pile of pictures and basic sizes.

 

3) Laser cutting

 

What can cut thin plastic suitable for 4mm scale windows?

 

Already considering a Silhouette cutter for card and plastic card.

[ChrisH-UK]

What kind of parts on drainpipes? I've seen a lot of great looking detail made from various thicknesses of foam which requires skill and dexterity (and probably a bit of trial and plenty of error) rather than tech.

 

I'm not sure that big and inexpensive go together for 3D printing. I had ambitious plans to cooperate with a friend on designing and making models for ourselves, the designing was no problem but getting a kit printer with a reasonable build size to actually work reliably was a problem. Ok things have moved in leaps and bounds since then but in that time I realised what I want to do could be achieved with a smaller build and by using other tech like laser cutting or a vinyl cutter like the Silhouette.

 

I'd think the Silhouette would be capable of cutting the windows but I have no experience of this. 

[Damo666]

Sorry for a generic post.

 

Got a son who wants to do Cosplay so needs weaponry, (think Destiny Guardians), considering CAD and the like, so he is thinking of buying some of this kit. 3D printing parts to go on drain pipes and the like.

 

Now it would be silly to buy stuff I could not use as well.

 

Now I want to knock up plans for a station building not sure if to 3D print or CNC cut card, complex brick work as well. 4mm

 

I also want to laser cut clear plastic for windows Laserglaze are unlikely to do.

 

1) 3D printers

 

Where is a good list of what is available for purchase? Big and cheap is more important than fast.

 

2) CAD

 

Seems to be many recommending Sketchup but I thought it was free not £600 odd. Have I got this right or not?

 

Planning on giving said son a pile of pictures and basic sizes.

 

3) Laser cutting

 

What can cut thin plastic suitable for 4mm scale windows?

 

Already considering a Silhouette cutter for card and plastic card.

SketchUp I believe is still free for personal use, but you can also pay for a more inclusive product. If you are using it for commercial purposes you'll need to buy a licence.

 

Seems that there are two free versions available: SketchUp in a browser (so I assume needs internet connection all the time) here,

or as a download, here.

[chris p bacon]

If you want to do some 3D try something simple like this one https://www.tinkercad.com. create something then upload the .stl file to shapeways to see if what you've done actually works.

 

I'm no expert on printers but for what I've read 'Cheap' is going to be £500, would you get the use from it or cheaper to get printed by a 3rd party ?

 

There is a thread about laser cutters but from memory there is a limited amount of plastic that can be laser cut, most use Rowmark (?) or card/mdf. On the other hand a Silhouette cutter might be more use (again a thread here) and a fraction of the cost.

 

For the Silhouette I use Inkscape (free) I convert to .dxf to load into the Silhouette but others use the software that comes with it.

 

I find Sketchup annoying and seem unable to use it, same for Blender which is way above my skills.

[thegavs]

Assuming you are in the UK aldi currently do a 3d printer for £300.  This is a clone of a wanhao i3 of which I have 2 with a few tweaks they do work very well.  Not the fastest but can do some good printing.

 

For smaller parts I use a Anycubic photon, there are threads on the forums for both of these printers.

 

For CAD I either use Freecad or Tinkercad

 

Hope this helps

[MJI]

That Aldi one looks good, he does want that one!

 

Blender has been mentioned, as to DXF I know the format myself.

 

Thanks everyone

[MJI]

What kind of parts on drainpipes? I've seen a lot of great looking detail made from various thicknesses of foam which requires skill and dexterity (and probably a bit of trial and plenty of error) rather than tech.

 

I'm not sure that big and inexpensive go together for 3D printing. I had ambitious plans to cooperate with a friend on designing and making models for ourselves, the designing was no problem but getting a kit printer with a reasonable build size to actually work reliably was a problem. Ok things have moved in leaps and bounds since then but in that time I realised what I want to do could be achieved with a smaller build and by using other tech like laser cutting or a vinyl cutter like the Silhouette.

 

I'd think the Silhouette would be capable of cutting the windows but I have no experience of this. 

 

Foam has been mentioned.

 

I want to gently push the creative side which he wants to do as I think it is very good for him.

 

Even though he never went beyond trainset himself he likes the ideas of helping with a small model.

[AndyID]

Google "Prusa I3" or "Prusa i3". You'll find lots of kit versions for about 150 GBP. The kits are not difficult to build and you learn a lot about how they work in the process. I use one to print my 00 track and points and they are quite capable of printing very fine details like lattice signal posts and even spoked wheel inserts. It does take time to learn how to get the best out of them, but that's part of the fun.