For wood filaments best to go up to a 0.5 or 0.6 nozzle. Wood filament can be a pain in the posterior, it likes to block nozzles...

Thanks Marky, I'd twigged you meant me 😉

Don't know the scale Doug ,they have a wing span of about 20mm,suppose you can scale them up or down to suit.👍

Evenin' Mark,
Ta for the info👍 so if my DCM arrives 'as advertised' I'll be 'avin a go next week. Wish me luck!
I've seen various 'wood' filaments on offer, as well as other curious materials! So I'll be very interested to see how that turns out.
Not wooden seagulls I hope 😮😀 What scale are they?
Cheers, Doug 😎

Sorry,Doug the reference to seagulls was for you.hopefully Ricky can pull the finger out and get me the info you want.🤞
Cheers Mark

Asked Ricky who made them for me ,yes PLA ,he also said he has a wood grain effect PLA that he will try and see what the results are like ,he also hasn't forgotten about the seagulls.👍

Muchas gracias Nick👍 Look forward to that.
I just found the BP as well, my 'Oracle' said 39.6°C 😉
Would have vaporised instantly here last week.
We had temperatures up to almost 45°C, swelter swelter 😮
Guess I'll have to work in the fridge ❄️😊
Cheers, Doug 😎

I have not tried the vapor bath method with Dichloromethane yet, I applied it with a small brush. I will have to find the boiling point, if similar to acetone should work. Just checked the oracle. BP is 39.7 degrees so should vaporise the same. I will have a go and report back....

Bingo!
Found a supplier in North Germany 😊
Should be here on Monday, by post 😮
Have also read up on all the nasty side effects it can have!!😝

Nick: should I use the same procedure that you described for Acetone?
Or???
Cheers, Doug 😎

Thanks for all the info Lads, most useful👍
Now trying to track down some Dichloromethane (sounds explosive 💥😮)but we are also hampered by 'Nanny Laws' in Germany ☹️
Which leads to the question Mark 'What are the lifeboats made of, PLA?
Cheers, Doug 😎

I use Dichloromethane for smoothing and gluing PLA, easily available on t'internet. Also works with PET-G. Acetone for gluing ABS and acetone vapor bath for smoothing. Easy to make. Take a 🙄tuppaware box and put a 1/4 inch of acetone in it. Line 2 sides of the box with kitchen towel so it will act like a wick to help with even distribution of the vapor. Place the part on a wire rack or suspend in the box, we don't want the part to touch the liquid. Seal the box and sit it in a roasting tin. Pour boiling water into the tin. If the box is transparent you will see the acetone boiling off into a vapor. Acetone boils at around 55 degrees C so no need for direct heat. Keep an eye on it, it won't take long, 30 secs or so. The part will be sticky when it comes out so hang up until dry. WORK OUTSIDE, NO NAKED FLAME AND NO INHALING VAPORS! I would post a photo but The Dragon has repossessed her roasting tin and refuses to release it again. She said I could keep the tupperware box now that I have 'ruined' it....

Acrylic or Perpex Sheeting can be glued with ether , which is problematic for us as you can no longer buy ether direct from a chemist shop - even in countries that don't have strict 'ealth and nanny rules.

When I was young we made our own diesel fuel from a mixture of oil, paraffin and ether. Without anybody I know getting addicted or whatever.

We have had to resort to getting a friendly anesthetist to obtain our supply- could do the same with Chloroform. Or a friend in a university chemistry dept.

It's mostly elbow grease to remove support material or stringing.

ABS can be smoothed using acetone vapour but PLA requires chloroform. I don't know where you might get that.

I'm going to use needle files and fine wet and dry,the model makers at the University use chloroform they put it into a fume cabinet and expose the parts to the chloroforms fumes which smooths out the build lines ,not something most folk could try at home.👍

Hi Marky,
What do you recommend to clean 'em up? Acetone or ??
Cheers, Doug 😎

Here's the Titanic life boat I had 3D printed at my old work before I retired ,still to clean it up and join the 2 half's together,but that's for another day

Hi Nick,
Thank you for the link.
I have downloaded it and had a quick look.
Thanks again.

Martin.

Here is a link to the free download. Look on You tube for tutorials, both official and user. Keep an eye open for Jim Brown's videos...

Me too Nick👍
I have a 3D printer, wrapped up in a bin bag to keep it clean for the last two years!
Haven't had the time (or guts?🤔) to even calibrate it yet 😔
A 'step by step' Blog in the 'How To' section of the site would be great.
I'm certain it would have many highly interested followers.
Looking forward to it enormously😀
All the best, Doug 😎
Maybe you can teach an Old (Sea) Dog new tricks!

Hi Nick,
I would be interested.
I would like to see the process.
Would you explain it for the complete beginner?

Martin.

Can you tell me more about this designspark or point me in the direction so that I could see or even try it,

Martin.

I had never mastered CAD until I found Designspark Mechanical, a free download from RS. It is so easy to learn and there are loads of tutorials on you tube. There is something immensely satisfying in drawing something up on the computer then watching it appear before your eyes. Learning Designspark and making the parts for my MMS went hand in hand, so instead of measuring off the plans and drawing on to ply or plastic sheet, I measured off the plans and re drew into CAD then printed the results. If you think anyone would be interested I could do a start to finish thread to demonstrate.....

I must admit I have been looking on utube quite a bit and have seen a lot of tutorials.
I have also seen the results that some friends have done, and I am extremely tempted but me and computers are not the best of friends.
I could spend hours and hours making a small thing for my models then I have tried to draw something simple on a CAD program and made a right pigs ear of it.
I know that practice is the key but patience with a computer is a different thing.

Martin.

Go for it! If you get one in kit form it will keep the costs down, with the added advantage of learning how the machine works as you build it. Prusa probably do the best kits on the market, pricey but decent European quality. Tronxy or Creality are good Chinese machines starting at around 150 for something decent enough to get you going. Chinese quality has come on in leaps and bounds over the last few years and they have listened to the community and made improvements accordingly. And then comes the endless hours of fun 'upgrading'. There are plenty of on line forums and social media groups for advice and assistance, so for the price of a boat kit you can add a whole new dimension to your modelling skills. Not just modelling either, there is a thousand and one things you can do. For example, I replaced a £15 button on the washing machine in half an hour with 20 pence worth of plastic.

As technology changes, skills which are no longer economically required become redundant. We have very few Wheelwrights nowadays working in ash, and even fewer Knappers making flint axes.

At least we are able to record skills nowadays for the benefit of future generations.

Hi Guys,
Interesting, and I quite agree with all of your comments as I have seen some really fantastic things made on these printers.
I would like to be in the position to be able to purchase one and experiment.
I think my problem is that I am a bit old fashioned and like to see something made by hand as I feel that we are loosing to many skills.
As you guys say skills come in many fashions.

Martin.

There is still a range of skills involved, drawing up parts for printing, I use Designspark Mechanical , preparing the cad files for printing with a slicing program, setting up the printer and fettling the printed parts. I re made all the resin fittings and printed the superstructure parts for my MMS. I have also used wood for capping rails, doors etc and the results are well worth the effort. So, in answer to the question, I don't think it will remove the traditional modelling skill set, but it will add extra skills to out modelling arsenal. It will enable folk to make their own fittings at low cost, and at the end of the day if we end up with a creation we are proud of we can't really knock it. Photos show some MMS fittings and a Footy yacht hull being made...

Now that is an interesting question indeed, Martin!
In the "One to One" scale world, I have in my lifetime watched the steady march of machines taking over what i would describe as "Hand Skills" I have memories of being a trainee mechanical engineer and spending some time in a heavy machine shop and watching this guy "Knock on a cut" with a hide mallet. Just ease the lock nut and a tap with the mallet and he could put on a couple of thou!
Today it is all CNC and robotics. The skill being in the machine maker, the software designer and the guys & gals that programme them. Now I am not going to dare to say who is more skilled the guy with his mallet or the guy who uses the software. They are both skilful in their own right.
So if we turn that on its head and apply that to 3D printing. Software driven accurate 3D modelling against hand and eye skills. That is for you hardened purists to argue over.
However I do just wonder if it may be a way forward for us to attract the next generation of modeller away from their X Box or similar to a laptop and printer to make a modern model with a 3D printer.
Was it such a heinous crime against modelling when Vac Formed parts arrived or heaven forbid Glass Fibre Hulls.
I have a friend who uses a CNC milling rig to make the plugs for his gun turret silicon rubber moulds he uses to cast resin ones from. Is this not verbally the same?
For me the choice will be what is the best way to make the part I need. When a logical engineering decision is reached, just get on with it and make a great model to be proud of.
Great question Martin 555 am sure this will create loads of responses and run for ever

HI Martin - think a lot of modellers buy cowl vents, guns . bollards , lifebelts , anchors etc , and for instance when building liners or similar large ships you find you have to make several hundred of the same item , easiest is to cast them from an original - so the 3d printer is just another tool - the same way the Laser is.
What has made a real difference is the computer assisted drawing programs like Corel and Autocad . Without them the 3d printers & Lasers would be useless. In Corel and most others for instance you can zoom in to a drawing up to 45,000%. Gives you spurious accuracy as you could never actually cut that closely. Our laser for instance the cutline is about .3mm so when cutting small items you actually have to increase the size of the cutfile at narrow sections to allow for the width of the cut .