Recommended 3D printer for printing knobs & buttons etc.

[HobGoblyn]

I love my CR10 V2.

Starting out was a very very long learning curve for me.

By the way, there is a forum section dedicated to 3D printing

https://www.eevblog.com/forum/3d-printing/

[1audio]

I'm also interested in knowing more about 3D printing. I need some precision (+/- .002" or so) parts made in a no larger that 2" dimension, My experience of the 3D printed stuff has been not too close tolerance and kind of rubbery material. The reports above suggest much better is possible. Ideally they would be machined from Delrin but that would cost me as much as a 3D printer. These would be adapters for microphones for acoustic calibration like the one below.

[Mr.B]

...I need some precision (+/- .002" or so) parts made in a no larger that 2" dimension...

You likely will be able to achieve your desired precision with a resin printer, however I doubt FDM would get close enough.

[MarkF]

I'm also interested in knowing more about 3D printing. I need some precision (+/- .002" or so) parts made in a no larger that 2" dimension, My experience of the 3D printed stuff has been not too close tolerance and kind of rubbery material. The reports above suggest much better is possible. Ideally they would be machined from Delrin but that would cost me as much as a 3D printer. These would be adapters for microphones for acoustic calibration like the one below.

I don't know if +/- .002" is achievable or not.  It would take some time to calibrate and tune your printer.  Even then, you would probably need to print several prints and adjust the scaling.  The scaling changes a little with filament types.  From the work I've done on my printer trying to match exact sizes, it would be worth a try.

Is Delrin a soft material?  What are you looking for?
PLA is a hard plastic after printing and tends to crack instead of flexing.  There are a range of material you can print from very soft like those rubber iPhone cases to carbon fiber material.

Check this video showing the process to get desired dimensions:

   


Edit:
   Just took some measurements of the scope feet I made not long ago.  Printed in PLA.
   Designed to 0.8" x 0.2" and they came out at 0.808" width x 0.19" height without really trying.
   So, it appears to me that you could probably meet your tolerances.

[1audio]

Maybe a little oversize and then apply sandpaper? How well do these handle 'rework"? Delrin is like a stiffer nylon and more stable. Its pretty expensive as plastic sheet or block. it machines pretty well I'm told.

For a simple part like above which software will get me an STL file with the least learning curve that works?

Maybe I should move this to the 3D discussions?

[MarkF]

IMHO, all CAD programs have a pretty steep learning curve.

To list some CAD programs (in no particular order):
   FreeCAD, Fusion 360, Solidworks and Alibre CAD

I believe you can get a free version of Fusion 360 and of course FreeCAD is free.
The rest require a license.

I have been using FreeCAD but you will need to learn how to work around its limitations.  I mostly do all my draw in the 'Part Workbench'.  For some reason the 'Part Workbench' doesn't play well with the others (see below). 

I found Joko Engineeringhelp youtube videos to be very helpful.

  - A comparison of FreeCAD and Fusion 360


  - An example of Alibre CAD


  - And a starter for FreeCAD


  - FreeCAD workbenches

[xrunner]

I believe you can get a free version of Fusion 360 ...

Yes you can if you are a hobbyist. It took me a long time to get as proficient as I am now (which isn't saying that much  ), but I've been able to make most of the things I want. The program is very intimidating at first and I found most of the tutorials started off way too fast without explaining the very basic process. Before that I was using Tinkercad which uses 3D objects from the git-go. So I had to un-train my brain and re-train it. But once you "get it" you are set. Same for any CAD application I suppose.

[dl6lr]

For your HP buttons I personally would choose resin because they are so small and the desired finish and clearances will be achievable.

I made a design for the HP button and printed it fine on a cheapo FDM printer in PLA. The finish is acceptable, it is a very usable part.

See https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/replacement-knobs-feet-and-fittings-for-test-equipment/msg3823214/#msg3823214

Bernd

[Rax]

You should add some Fluke 8500 series module guides.

Ha! Coming right up, m k!... 

[Rax]

I made a design for the HP button and printed it fine on a cheapo FDM printer in PLA. The finish is acceptable, it is a very usable part.
Bernd

I will give a shot to printing your file... Looks like the exact thing I'm looking for. Thank you for bridging over here.

[Rax]

My first printed button!!! Glorious, I'm sure everyone can see that.

[Rax]

...and the whole platoon supplied. They even snap on the shaft and stay put.

Disregard the color, I can always use my Microcenter coupon to grab a spool of "military khaki" filament for a better color match. Anyone figured where HP's color palette originated back in the '60s, '70s, '80?... 

[Rax]

one pic fell off

[MarkF]

I actually like the blue.

Good job!

[dl6lr]

My first printed button!!! Glorious, I'm sure everyone can see that.

May I ask what printer did you buy and use?

[rpiloverbd]

 Creality 3D Printer CR-10S

[Rax]

May I ask what printer did you buy and use?

It's an Ender 3 Pro. I'm pretty happy with what it does, and the learning has not been very steep.

[MarkF]

A few quick tips:

 1)  you might want to pick up some Capricorn tubing, which is more heat tolerant, and a few extra nozzles.
     https://www.amazon.com/Capricorn-Friction-Compatible-Printer-Filament/dp/B07V46S7L3/ref=sr_1_4?crid=1ZA0471R5TUCQ&keywords=capricorn+tube+1.75&qid=1640720132&sprefix=capcorn+tube%2Caps%2C158&sr=8-4

 2)  you also may want to check the stepper motors calibration for all axis and the extruder.  Mine were slightly off.  The values can be adjusted from the panel.

     

 3)  i made a few cosmetic changes to Marlin's display (Name, extruder shape, fan animation and current layer display instead of elapsed time).  They are for an older version of Marlin (I'm unable to run the lastest).  However, some are easy changes to the software.
     https://www.eevblog.com/forum/embedded-computing/show-layer-number-while-printing-on-creality-cr-10/msg3294466/#msg3294466
     

[Rax]

A few quick tips:

 1)  you might want to pick up some Capricorn tubing, which is more heat tolerant, and a few extra nozzles.
 2)  you also may want to check the stepper motors calibration for all axis and the extruder.  Mine were slightly off.  The values can be adjusted from the panel.
 3)  i made a few cosmetic changes to Marlin's display (Name, extruder shape, fan animation and current layer display instead of elapsed time).  They are for an older version of Marlin (I'm unable to run the lastest).  However, some are easy changes to the software.

Thank you very much, MarkF. I'm slowly (but steadily) getting into tinker and tweak mode with this thing, as I get the hang of the basics.

So you edited the code on the firmware as per link? That's pretty cool (would it work on an Ender 3 Pro?...). I wonder if adding the "currently printing" file name would be possible. This is to me this far the biggest misgiving to the firmware, as particularly if I am printing a set of models it'd be very useful to know the name of the currently printing one. I'm about to add wireless to the printer this afternoon, and I'm curious if that adds some such functionality.

[MarkF]

. . .
So you edited the code on the firmware as per link? That's pretty cool (would it work on an Ender 3 Pro?...). I wonder if adding the "currently printing" file name would be possible. This is to me this far the biggest misgiving to the firmware, as particularly if I am printing a set of models it'd be very useful to know the name of the currently printing one. I'm about to add wireless to the printer this afternoon, and I'm curious if that adds some such functionality.

My changes are to version 1.1.9.1 of Marlin.  This is the newest version of Marlin that I can fit into the Sanguino board in my CR10 Mini.  The latest version of Marlin is 2.0.9.3.  I'm not sure what board is in your Ender 3.  I would run the latest version possible. 

Be aware, the Marlin software was totally re-organized starting with version 2.  Also, you can NOT build the source code with the Arduino IDE.  It's a lot of work to setup the 'Visual Studio Code ' development environment in order to make changes.  Something I would do if I decide to upgrade the processor board in my CR10.

In reference to displaying the filename being printed.  The bottom line on the display already does that (at least in the old Marlin).  You do have to wait until the extruder and bed are up to temperature and the print has started.

Marlin version 1.1.9.1

[MarkF]

Using OctoPi to add wireless capability to your 3D printer...

I'm running OctoPi on a Raspberry PI 3B+ but still use the MicoSD card for all my prints.  Although printing via the network with OctoPi works, you need a very stable network to do it.  The last thing you want is a network crash near the end of a 20 hour print.  I really only use OctoPi now as a webcam that I can check on a print even if I'm away from home.

Here is some help setting up OctoPi if you need it.


Text instructions:

Code: [Select]

Tools needed:
   Win32 Disk Imager from [url]https://sourceforge.net/projects/win32diskimager/[/url]
   PuTTY from [url]https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/latest.html[/url]

Images needed:
   Download OctoPi from [url]https://octoprint.org/download/[/url]

Procedure:
   - Copy image to MicroSD card
   - Open MicroSD card
   - Edit "octopi-wpa-supplicant.txt"
         Uncomment WPA/WPA2 network section and enter WiFi SSID and PSK
         Uncomment the country Pi is in
   - Edit "octopi.txt" - Uncomment and set camera options:
         camera_usb_options="-r 1280x720 -f 10"
         camera_raspi_options="-fps 10"
   - Insert card into Raspberry Pi and power up
   - Open PuTTY and access Pi:  "octopi.local"
   - Login:  username="pi" password="raspberry""
   - Change configuration:  sudo raspi-config
         Expand file system
         Change user password
         Advanced options >> Hostname
   - Reboot

Change camera resolution:
   - Open PuTTY and access Pi:  "octopi.local"
   - Login:  username="pi" password="raspberry""
   - Change directory:  cd /root/bin
   - Edit "webcamd" file:  sudo nano webcamd
   - Change Init Config section:
         camera_usb_options="-r 1280x720 -f 10"
         camera_raspi_options="-fps 10"
         CTRL-O
         CTRL-X
   - Reboot

Get processor temperature:
   - Open PuTTY and access Pi:  "octopi.local"
   - Login:  username="pi" password="raspberry""
   - watch cat /sys/class/thermal/thermal_zone0/temp

Access OctoPrint from web browser:  http://octopi.local or http://hostname.local if hostname was changed

ALWAYS POWER DOWN RASPBERRY PI VIA OCTOPRINT (Top right system menu)


[xrunner]

I just compiled 2.0.9.3 yesterday (using VS Code) in preparation for installing it on my Ender w/BTT SKR mini E3 v1.2. I usually update Marlin each time they come out with a new version, just to keep my skills up and the config files current. Usually goes down OK but you never know.

Speaking of 3D printing knobs and buttons ... I may have something to show here in the next week or so. I'm restoring a Boonton Model 42A power meter. It's missing the last black button as you can see in the pic. It actually looks like two buttons are missing but the switch next to the red power isn't used at all.

If I have anything decent to show I'll report it - if not - forget I said anything ... 

[MarkF]

How to build and install the latest version of Marlin with VS Code :

[Rax]

Great stuff, thank you both very much.

I am very happy with how those HP buttons (HP part #5040-8832) came out - I am unsure if the end of the button is exactly as the original, though a similar button designed by someone else I printed (which doesn't fit anywhere close to how this one does) makes me think it's really close. The fact they fit so well on the switch stub, which they lock on with a distinct click, and also inside the opening is really satisfying. Not to mention they are fully functional. Surely, beginner's luck, but I printed 4 or 5 and tweaked in between before arriving to this exact model.

So I wonder if there's a library with such things.

[MarkF]

Thingiverse is most likely the place to go for models.