Conjuring 3D printer pieces together

[sentience]

Greetings everybody! New recruit here, and I've been thinking of getting back into the 3d printing business after my failed attempt a year back or so! I have a few quick questions.

First - I could never figure out how you join two piece of armor/helmets together! My prints sizes always seem to have lines on them, and I was worried that if I sanded them too much my print would be uneven when connecting?

Second - I was also looking for a new 3d printer, with a bedside of 300-350 so I could print helmets out in one block! Any suggestions? 700 aud budget!

Thank you for reading this!

 

[FalseShepherd]

Generally what I have seen/done with joining pieces is use a Gorilla Glue brand super glue or something similar to glue them together and then do the sanding and line filling. That way you can fill the seam between the two pieces at the same time as the print lines and avoid any unevenness in the sanding.

Make sure when gluing pieces together to rough up the edges that will be connecting with a low grit sandpaper or something so there's more surface area for the glue to grip. If it's an armor piece or something that you are worried about breaking at the seam, you can always coat the inside with fiberglass or resin or whatever to reinforce it.

I can't speak for big printers tho. I have a small one and no budget for a bigger one at this time.

 

[Wraith0912]

I do the same thing that FalseShepherd said: sand down the joining areas and then hit it with a strong glue, CA glue in my case. One other thing that I like to do is that after the glue is dry, I take a soldering iron to the inside of the seam and lightly melt the two areas together. Doing so adds a small bit of physical overlap with the plastic fusing together, which I think really helps to bind everything.

As far as printer recommendations go, there's a thread with lots of recommendations from across the 405th. I'd start looking there and see what appeals to you.

 

[SgtSaint]

> I've been thinking of getting back into the 3d printing business
Please tell me you mean that more figuratively than literally. Every man and his dog thinks you buy a printer on Monday and open a business by Friday. And every one of them think that cosplay is going to be their road to riches. Its so over saturated now that you can't tell the experienced shops from the whackers that have an ender in their basement for a week.

300-350 Should get you most helmets in one go, but not all. Do you have room and budget for one of the new generation of 450mm machines?

Glue is fine. Welding is fine. There's some examples of using heated zig-zag staples to give more mechanical bonding between parts. But if you're going to be doing those things I'm a believer in backing up those seams with fiberglass mesh and resin. You really don't need to be play acting for a photo shoot at the convention, bang a wall a little too hard and watch your back or chest piece crack at the seams. There's plenty of write ups on that in the various build threads here.

Also... It sounds like you tried 3d printing before and failed (your words). So what was the problem? Because just buying a new machine isn't going to magically solve other issues. You still have to be kinda the DIY type. Eventually all machines need maintenance... you have to be willing to do the calibrations, and tear down and fix ups. If not wanting to DIY was the reason for the fails before, nothing has changed in the last couple about having to do those things. If the fails were for some other reason, well... only you can evaluate if something has changed between then and now. I'm not trying to discourage you. If now is the time to do it, then do it. But in this economy I just don't want to see someone throw several hundred dollars at something with only a hope that somehow things with be different without being able to actually point at that change first.

 

[Jev]

I swear by the process of: welding with a soldering iron, body filler/wood filler for seams, sanding then epoxy coat.
Give it a go!

 

[markvo1987]

My entire armor is 3d printed on 2 ender 3s. I joined the pieces with super glue filled in gaps after gluing and then sanded every thing. I recommend sanding the ends that you joining lightly first, helps the super glue adhere better.