3D printing advice

[Westy619]

Thats the interesting, I imagine a lot of people will move over from Fusion360 if they release it at that price point.

 

[Bodone]

There are student editions, here’s the one for NX.

https://blogs.sw.siemens.com/nx-design/nx-student-edition-free-download/
I believe there are Cura plugins that will talk directly to NX, haven’t tried it with the student version though. STL’s from the full commercial work great.

 

[Dr W]

I use Fusion 360 and love it. Very expensive to buy for work - but the full edition is absolutely free for personal/hobbyist use. Frighteningly steep learning curve, like any industrial-strength software package but there's a heck of a lot of free training materials and community support to help out when you get stuck. Once you get past the initial bewilderment ("ConFusion 360", my son calls it) and start to realise what it can do, it's a wonderful thing.
In terms of printers, I went for the Tiertime Up 2 Mini. Quite an expensive option - but I needed something that I could have running in my home office which could print 'exotic' filaments like ABS+, Polycarb, carbon-fibre/Nylon mixes, etc 'out of the box' (it has a high-temp print head, heated enclosure and HEPA filter, so doesn't stink the house out). The small print volume (140mm cube) would be a blocker for many people, though it's just fine for what I needed it for.
I would reiterate what others have said though about 3-d printing generally being a frustrating and time-consuming activity that will eat deeply into your workshop hours. The technology is still very far from mature, so expect to spend long sessions on fettling and troubleshooting. Even when everything seems to be running perfectly, there are still glitches - and few things are more frustrating than getting 90% through a 10 hour print job only to find that the filament has stopped adhering, leaving you with a mound of plastic vermicelli on top, or that the X-axis has inexplicably shifted 5mm (recent bugbear of mine).

 

[aaronjose]

I've been doing 3D printing for about a year so I'm no expert. I bought a Prusa MK3S based on the countless views online that, while being more expensive than the chinese machines, its one of the easier machines to learn with as there is far less tweaking required to get really good results.

While sites like thingiverse are great and can provide some great things to print, you really will want to learn how to design your own parts otherwise you're never really using the full potential of the technology. I use Fusion360 to design my parts and export the STL file into the Prusa slicing software. Its still currently free for hobby users and there are countless youtube tutorials to help you learn. Fusion360 is a CAD/CAM system so once you've learned it, you can also go down the route of CNC Routers.

I recommend PETG for filament over the common PLA. Its almost as easy to print and has great strength, isnt brittle which makes it great for jigs and anything that is to be used Munbyn etikettendrucker as a 'functional' part.

I recommend starting with user-friendly platforms like Tinkercad for design and exploring tutorials on YouTube for step-by-step guidance. Additionally, online forums such as Reddit's r/3Dprinting offer valuable community support and advice. Sites like Thingiverse provide ready-made 3D models for printing without the need for design skills. Start with these resources, take your time to learn,

 

[Richard_C]

This thread suddenly jumped from Feb 2021 to a few minutes ago. The technology has matured and UK workshop has a forum, Cad, 3d printing etc., which is active and contemporary.