3D Printing

You can get started with a decent enough printer for a couple of hundred euro. Here are a couple solid examples:

• AnyCubic i3 Mega: https://www.anycubic.com/products/anycubic-i3-mega
• Creality Ender 3: https://www.creality3dofficial.com/products/creality-ender-3-pro-3d-printer
• Original Prusa Mini: https://www.prusa3d.com/original-prusa-mini/

Seriously, seriously good software is available for free and any home computer is plenty enough to get started, Windows and Mac for those below (and Linux with some tweakage or virtualization).

• Fusion 360 for CAD (as long as you respect non-commercial use): https://www.autodesk.eu/products/fusion-360/
• PrusaSlicer (can work with all of the above, not just Prusa printers) for slicing: https://www.prusa3d.com/prusaslicer/
• MeshMixer when you get to the point of wanting to adjust models manually: http://www.meshmixer.com/download.html

Also, a massive community freely sharing models that are already tried and tested:

• https://www.thingiverse.com/
• http://cults3d.com/

Here are the sanding blocks I did this week, one flush-sided and one bow sander:

Calahonda52 wrote: »

So how big are the items you show above, I see some physical limits on printers such as 150 mm cubed?

Are you FDM or SLP/DLP?

To give some scale to the photo, the bow sander is about 135mm long.

FDM's the option for me; it's easier for beginners in terms of materials handling and process, cheaper in terms of material costs, and usually the machine too, and at the DIY FDM level tends to produce tougher workpieces, subject to filament choice - resin machines tend to use harder/more brittle plastics but with the benefit of a better finish.

I say DIY level because when you get into big money all kinds of fancy technologies become available, e.g. imagine a polycarbonate filament with a single continuous strand of carbon fibre through it, the engineering possibilities become very interesting at that (thousands of euro) level!

Both of those sanders are the bog standard, cheap PLA filament from Prusa and they're working great so far! https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/prusament/712-prusament-pla-galaxy-silver-1kg.html

Even at the DIY level tougher filaments are available, poly carbonate, carbon fibre flecked etc. and all of the orange components you can see on every Prusa printer are printed with their own PETG filament.

Capacities of the above printers:

• AnyCubic Mega: 210x210x205
• Creality Ender 3 Pro: 220x220x250
• Prusa Mini: 180×180×180

I'm really interested in seeing how I can integrate the tech into woodwork - perhaps a year from now I'll say that I don't use it that much and that it was harder to integrate than I thought, or maybe I'll be using PETG butterflies and polycarbonate click together panel joints; who knows

Calahonda52 wrote: »

Or even carbon fibre 6" nails

Some more photos and a bit of info:

https://www.chillyspoon.com/blog/2020/7/29/3d-printing-a-block-plane

Yeah, there are definitely companies (and sole traders) out there doing that kind of work. Avoid any that offer instant quotes through an online form because that's basically impossible for something bespoke and it doesn't inspire confidence!

It'll definitely cost extra to have the boat re-modelled from a 2D hard copy, and that could add up quickly in terms of labour hours but sounds worth it for a boat that's close to your heart!

Make sure they have a phone number and give them a call, here are a couple of examples, with Irish phone numbers:

• https://3dprintingireland.com/
• https://weprint.ie/store/3d-printing-service-ireland