3D Printing Experts in the House?

[annasea]

Digital calipers are pretty inexpensive. The mostly metal ones are $20, but they go down to @ $11 for all plastic.

I have a pair of metal calipers that I used when I was making jewellery. 'Analogue' though, so I'd need to check the accuracy on something I know to be an exact measurement first.

 

[davehicks]

Those objects look pretty simple to print. You'd get much better info if you shared the use case for them however. You can get clean prints with some attention to setup and the printing parameters. Do you plan to print this yourself, or send it out to a printing service?

 

[annasea]

Thanks for the replies, all!

@James79 , @sprockjohnson , @davehicks

The ring fits onto a beech Bodum spice mill. I need a white one to indicate salt. The square tube is needed to hold a place setting together. Vintage item and came missing one of the square tubes. The tube has a bit more leeway than the ring.

 

[annasea]

Those objects look pretty simple to print. You'd get much better info if you shared the use case for them however. You can get clean prints with some attention to setup and the printing parameters. Do you plan to print this yourself, or send it out to a printing service?

Likely a service as there are affordable options... public libraries and the major uni in town has a student-run printing services that seems quite cheap. My main concern are the files, actually, and the accuracy in measurements.

 

[davehicks]

Likely a service as there are affordable options... public libraries and the major uni in town has a student-run printing services that seems quite cheap. My main concern are the files, actually, and the accuracy in measurements.

I'm pretty new to 3d printing, having just started in the last month. In talking to others that have used services, it seems pretty common to end up needing to print things twice to get it right.

That said, these look pretty simple and if you take accurate measurements it would very simple to create these objects. Get a digital caliper as mentioned earlier for best results. It's a great tool to have around the house, not just for this project.

 

[sprockjohnson]

I'm pretty new to 3d printing, having just started in the last month. In talking to others that have used services, it seems pretty common to end up needing to print things twice to get it right.

That said, these look pretty simple and if you take accurate measurements it would very simple to create these objects. Get a digital caliper as mentioned earlier for best results. It's a great tool to have around the house, not just for this project.

+1 on this advice. Additionally- may or may not be a concern to you but if the parts are for a food related tool then consider the filament material you plan to have it printed with.

 

[-JD-]

Likely a service as there are affordable options... public libraries and the major uni in town has a student-run printing services that seems quite cheap. My main concern are the files, actually, and the accuracy in measurements.

Those are incredibly simple shapes.
Since these are truly one-offs, my guess is if you bring some extra beverage money for the uni students with the parts, they can knock out the shape files for you in less than 5 minutes (probably combined.) And they will be familiar with the design needs for the specific materials and printers they use. I'd be somewhat surprised if a uni print lab doesn't have digital calipers too.

 

[The Chairman]

Send me dimensions and I'll print them. The gasket could be made out of TPU or cut out of gasket material. I do have the proper cutters for that. I might even have the right material for it as well. Is color of the gasket an issue?

 

[The Chairman]

I have to follow up on this... I saw that they had a selection for an 8" caliper for $40 and since I need to replace one in the shop, I ordered it. What I didn't realize is that it not only does mm and decimal inches, it also does FRACTIONAL inches. I'm usually OK with 1/8"s converting back and forth in my head, and I was fairly adept when I was a kid in dealing with 1/16"s. In addition, the display is HUGE and these old eyes like that. This is nice and it feels solid. I ordered a second one for my desk.

 

[-JD-]

I have to follow up on this... I saw that they had a selection for an 8" caliper for $40 and since I need to replace one in the shop, I ordered it. What I didn't realize is that it not only does mm and decimal inches, it also does FRACTIONAL inches. I'm usually OK with 1/8"s converting back and forth in my head, and I was fairly adept when I was a kid in dealing with 1/16"s. In addition, the display is HUGE and these old eyes like that. This is nice and it feels solid. I ordered a second one for my desk.

For all of the other folks like me who saw no link: Amazon: Adoric 8" Digital Caliper

this is the link I get when quoting or looking at the BB code w/ curly braces substuting for brackets "{MEDIA=amazon}B091GHYV3L{/MEDIA}"

I'll check it out. My HF ones are 6" versions these could be handy. Fractions are nice, and, well old eyes too.

ETA: 2032s are nice, too. I hate having to hunt down LR44s for my HF ones.