Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Hello everyone,

Firstly, I apologize in advance if this post is in the incorrect sub-forum. I felt it was the most appropriate to post my question in.

So, has anyone had any luck in asking or contacting a company in regards to donating a 3D printer to the their team?

I'm trying to obtain a 3D printer for my team, before the start of the 2017 FRC season - so I thought I would attempt alternative, more direct route.

Thank you so much!

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

You might try contacting FormLabs, I've heard some good things about them :)

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

We had one of the ecocycles from the FIRST Choice grant a couple years ago. It was an ok printer but a bit limited.

We are now the proud owners of a Fusion3 F400-S. They are fairly local and gave us a bit of a discount on it and saved us shipping costs because we could pick it up. Their support is simply phenomenal and the printer is proving to be valuable so far.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Brook Drumm from Printrbot donated 4 printers to our team during the summer after we sent out a request email to several companies.
He mentioned it on the Printrbot twitter in August and invited other teams to send requests.
https://twitter.com/printrbot/status/760919047030439936

You might have better luck with local companies, there are several start-ups producing decent quality printer all over the world. The hardest part is finding them. (and an appropriate contact email address)

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

A SLA printer probably isn't the best option for robotics applications (in our "robots"). FDM/FFF is the way to go 99.9% of the time (SLS being the .1%) if you intend to create functional parts in a reasonable amount of time with decent strength and low operating costs.

https://all3dp.com/types-of-3d-print...ogy-explained/

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

So there are good printers out there less than $400.
Monoprice has there MakerSelect printer (it is a rebranded Wanhao I3) that I can recommend.

When choosing a printer avoid:
1. Proprietary filament cartridges
2. Proprietary and closed source software/hardware

Get a printer with:
1. Heated bed
2. All metal hot end if you want to do plastics like Nylon
3. Enclosed build space is nice
4. Wide parts availability

Also, there are some really good kits out there that your students can build as a learning project.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

3dhubs is a really awesome resource if your team doesn't have the funds to warrant buying a 3d printer. In reality you probably won't print that many items for the robot and with 3dhubs you can save a ton of money.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Actually, SLA printers produce very strong and accurate parts (I have a sample from formlabs that is extremely accurate and has survived multiple stress tests) :ahh:

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

But how long did it take to print, how much post processing was required, and how much did the resin cost? 1 liter of resin costs over $150.
In the long term, you also have to factor in the cost of the resin trays ($60 each) which degrade faster than normal print surfaces.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Do you know of any specific teams that use SLS? I know 3824 had a few parts made on an ARCAM machine via EBM for their 2013 bot. It might be interesting to find all the teams that use methods of additive manufacturing other than FDM.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

I wouldn't be sure of this. Last couple years 125's bots had a fair number of 3d printed components and not just the usual spacers. The Behind the Design book has a feature on the 2015 power transmission blocks for the elevator and the entire leading edge of the robot in 2016 was 3d printed.

Also yes, spacers, spacers galore and sensor mounts... Idk, seemed like a lot of random small parts that got printed the least 2 years.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Yep. Troy, you might want to check the '05 robot for white sprockets.

Back in '05 330 managed to get a sponsorship from a local company that did 3D printing (SLS/SLA). Had a few small parts--and some large parts--in a run or two. The mecanum wheels didn't make it to the competition robot, but we did have a demo unit in the pit. On the other hand, there was a sprocket or two that were mounted on jackshafts to connect encoders to arms/drives(?).

I don't think they've had SLS parts since, though.

I think the best way to go with SLS is if you've got a sponsor who can put your parts in the empty space in a normal run (if there is any).

And I know there's a team that 3D-printed just about their entire robot, can't remember who, though.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

I'd say you're thinking of the team I mentioned, 3824. They've always printed pretty significant portions of their robots, including structural and frame components on a Fortus 900 printer. For 2014 and 2015, they printed large portions of their robot in a few large pieces on ORNL's BAAM. Their 2015 bot was featured in Behind the Designs. It's a really good read. This year, they went with pultruded fiberglass as their structural material after they did some prototyping with a printed chassis and decided Stronghold was too rough for an all-printed robot. However, their drive sprockets were printed v-belt pulleys, which I think is one of the most interesting ways to do power transmission in FRC.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

I have a formlabs printer in my classroom. It makes a lovely paperweight. Out of 60 prints, I had 3 successful jobs. There were so many occlusions and failures I couldn't believe it. Their customer service is near nonexistent. Overall it was the biggest waste of $4k I've every been involved in. Beyond that, the materials are a mess and the end prints are super brittle.

I would stick with FDM all the way.

Re: Acquiring a 3D Printer?
 

Ouch. I saw their printers at Maker Faire NYC a couple years ago. Good but not great is how I would describe them.