Update status on my experience with 3D printing

[Barc 1]

3D printing is certainly one answer to this hobby. You don't have to wait for a major to release anything. I.e I doubt any of the major manufacturers would ever put out a Volvo 122. The Volvo and Falcon were two cars I wanted as slot cars, and the 3D printer made it happen. Again as I have said many times this technology has advanced to the point of needing to know very little about CAD drawing. The warehouse of files available for free or for a small fee is huge. It is just a matter of download, software slice, and print

I got my printer in November and I now have 21 fully completed slot cars built entirely from resin. Biggest disappointment has been the durability of the resin in a chassis. I still have not found a resin really durable enough. I have had many chassis failures at design narrows and around the guide post. I continue on the hunt for "the" resin that will satisfy the requirement for a working mechanical application. I have a couple of ideas to try out once I get my printer back functioning.

My local library now offers 3D printing in PLA. So I may use that service to print out my chassis designs. People tell me the heated extrusion method allows you to use material that is more durable and can stand the impact forces of slot car racing. Cost to print is like 15 cents a gram so hardly worth me buying another printer. I can do all the design and fine tuning in resin and then take the file to get it printed in nylon or something

I am also entertaining the idea of taking a chassis plate design and have them laser cut out of aluminum sheet at a local machine shop. I will then just print out the pods and attach them to the aluminum frame.

As far as the printer itself goes I am having issues with the manufacturer. I went out and purchased the parts I needed and have them on the way, Anycubic has not replied to any of my emails concerning the Mono screen failing after 6 months. The machine claims to have a 12 month warranty so this should be covered, and so far I have heard nothing back after emailing customer service and messaging them on their face book page.

Machine has worked as advertised and the whole experience has been great up until this screen failure. As long as parts are available, I am fine considering the mono screen a consumable part that needs replacing from time to time. It is an easy task to do and the cost is less then $70 . My understanding is that all of these resin printer manufacturers get their screens from a third party, so I doubt the screen failure is specific to any brand. I imagine no matter what brand you go with this screen should be considered consumable. Supposedly this had a 4000 hr life span, It did not. 4000 hrs should make it a yearly replacement for a machine working 12/7 /365

I hope this info is helpful to people who are considering a purchase.

Cheers

Dan

[chappyman66]

We haven't had any issues with PLA chassis breaking, but it depends on design. If parts are thin they will flex and can break.

For $200 or less you can have your own Ender or clone. I am so spoiled that if the wheelbase looks off by a mm or two I just toss the chassis and reprint. I already have a stack of "spares".

[Akronmark]

3D printing is certainly one answer to this hobby. You don't have to wait for a major to release anything. I.e I doubt any of the major manufacturers would ever put out a Volvo 122. The Volvo and Falcon were two cars I wanted as slot cars, and the 3D printer made it happen. Again as I have said many times this technology has advanced to the point of needing to know very little about CAD drawing. The warehouse of files available for free or for a small fee is huge. It is just a matter of download, software slice, and print

I got my printer in November and I now have 21 fully completed slot cars built entirely from resin. Biggest disappointment has been the durability of the resin in a chassis. I still have not found a resin really durable enough. I have had many chassis failures at design narrows and around the guide post. I continue on the hunt for "the" resin that will satisfy the requirement for a working mechanical application. I have a couple of ideas to try out once I get my printer back functioning.

My local library now offers 3D printing in PLA. So I may use that service to print out my chassis designs. People tell me the heated extrusion method allows you to use material that is more durable and can stand the impact forces of slot car racing. Cost to print is like 15 cents a gram so hardly worth me buying another printer. I can do all the design and fine tuning in resin and then take the file to get it printed in nylon or something

I am also entertaining the idea of taking a chassis plate design and have them laser cut out of aluminum sheet at a local machine shop. I will then just print out the pods and attach them to the aluminum frame.

As far as the printer itself goes I am having issues with the manufacturer. I went out and purchased the parts I needed and have them on the way, Anycubic has not replied to any of my emails concerning the Mono screen failing after 6 months. The machine claims to have a 12 month warranty so this should be covered, and so far I have heard nothing back after emailing customer service and messaging them on their face book page.

Machine has worked as advertised and the whole experience has been great up until this screen failure. As long as parts are available, I am fine considering the mono screen a consumable part that needs replacing from time to time. It is an easy task to do and the cost is less then $70 . My understanding is that all of these resin printer manufacturers get their screens from a third party, so I doubt the screen failure is specific to any brand. I imagine no matter what brand you go with this screen should be considered consumable. Supposedly this had a 4000 hr life span, It did not. 4000 hrs should make it a yearly replacement for a machine working 12/7 /365

I hope this info is helpful to people who are considering a purchase.

Cheers

Dan

Dan - thanks so much for the summary and for sharing your experiences. Based on what I hear from folks like you, I am seriously considering buying a 3D printer so I can create all the things I can't buy, too.

It's wonderful that so many slot car hobbyists are willing to share what they have learned; it saves so much time and hassle for the rest of us. 👍 It's also a great source of encouragement to see the incredible results many are getting. Awesome work!

[Barc 1]

Chappy

I have a lot of spares as well. When a Chassis fails I gut it and use another one. I modify just about every new chassis to tweak and fix areas that have proven to be failure points.

The chassis that I entered in the proxy is pretty durable . It has been enhanced slightly but over all the designs it has been my most durable. I moved away from it but the other design pods kept failing around the motor. Inline designs are easier to add some meat in critical areas. Sidewinders don’t give you a lot of room for adding extra bulk for strengthening.

Akronmark

Good to hear my experiences may be of some help. The technology appears intimidating, but once you get in to it, it is not too bad. My resin printer has almost been as simple to use as a laser printer. Just hit print and away it goes,

I very big shout out goes to all the people who make files available. Without them this printer would have been a brick to me.

[Barc 1]

Just for fun I have been looking at other resin 3D printers, paying attention to the warranty. Many companies are now only covering the LCD mono screens between 3 -6 months. So this probably means failures after 6 months are more normal than I thought.

[chappyman66]

My first printer (Dremel 3D20) had an extruder failure after 6 months or so. When I called, they asked how many hours were on it........the answer was something like 1700 hrs which made them go quiet....
Clearly I had used it far more than they typically expected, as I had a free replacement in a couple days.

Good luck....after you get used to having a printer, being down really stinks.

[Barc 1]

Well Anycubic and Amazon came through with a new screen at a prorated price, and promised delivery in a week. I find this satisfactory as most manufactures now only warranty this part for 6 months.

So a thumbs up from me to Anycubic. Every experience I have had with this printer has been positive. I have discovered these LCD screens are a consumable, which is something I did not know prior to my entry into 3D resin printing.

So I now have two screens on the way, and I will consider having a spare on hand going forward. My 3D printer is now considered a critical part for my hobbying pleasure.

So my advise when buying a printer would include purchasing a replacement LCD screen and get it shipped with the printer. That and extra FEP material. You will need it

[Barc 1]

I received an email from the Anycubic Canadian rep. They will cover the cost of the failed LCD screen, and somehow I ended up with a $40 credit for my next Anycubic purchase as well. So no complaints from me. Anycubic really delivered with respect to managing resolution on the failed screen.👍👍
Cheers

Dan

[2cool]

Barc, Which model of Anycubic are you using? I am looking to get started in 3D printing, any recommendations would be most appreciated.. Ed

[HO RacePro]

Barc 1,

If you haven't tried it yet, try making your hot-extrusion prints using PET-G filament. PET (PolyEthylene Terephthalate) is the plastic almost all disposable drink bottles are made from. It is much, much tougher than PLA, but is almost as easy to print. Not expensive either. (The 'G' means the plastic is modified with Glycol. I'm not sure what it does, but I guess it helps.)

How tough is it? Hard to say, but I once tried impact-testing two identical samples -- identical except one was printed in PLA and the other in PET-G. One modest whack with a hammer broke the PLA part. After several similar whacks the PET-G part was only bent.

There are enough differences in printed parts versus injection-molded parts that for best performance they should be designed differently.

For one, because you can print a low-density infill in a thick part (typically 20%) you can design a part with much thicker walls than are practical with injection molding. You can make a part that weighs no more than an injection-molded part, but is much, much stiffer.

There is also less reason to design-in fillets and radii. In injection-molded parts they help the molten plastic flow into the mold and fill it efficiently. In printing that's not a factor.

You can also join heavy sections with thin sections and not have to worry about molded-in stresses or voids.

In other words, copying the design of an injection-molded part to be hot-filament printed may not yield the best possible part. Modifying the part design to better adapt it to 3D printing may be helpful. For the best possible part a complete redesign for 3D printing may be necessary.

Ed Bianchi

[Choke05]

Barc thanks for posting all the pictures and info of your 3D printed stuff, really motivational to see what is possible. I have been 3D printing filament feed stuff for about 6 years but just recently bought my first resin printer( after looking at all your pictures). The filament printers are definitely better for chassis, PLA is OK but ABS is really the best material for stuff like that. You just have to get a printer with a heated bed to do ABS. I have used about 7 different FF printers now and for the money I think the CR10 is the best low cost option. That being said the FF can't get close to the detail for things like figures and bodies. I have been using Phrozens "ABS like " resin and it seems less brittle but still not close to the FF PLA or ABS.

[Barc 1]

I bought the Anycubic Mono. It has a print bed large enough for 132 scale cars. You really want a Mono screen as they are 4 times faster

re Anycubic Mega zero 2.0 FDM printer has a heated bed and can print at 255 C

I am using PTEG and it is working great for chassis work. 12 hour print of a Lancia LC 2 was a big fail. Much more fine tuning seems to be required for FDM printers and I got some learning to do

Cheers

Dan