Budget 3D printed baffles?

[a_canadian]

A kid told me the other day about a couple of new 3D printers coming available, the Spark and the Bean. Though maximum size is obviously a problem for developing a single piece monocore of significant length, workarounds could include using two cores and threading them together or just enclosing them in a threaded tube. Whether for monocore designs or stacking baffles, it looks to me like the impressive resolution and finish quality of these devices is a match for home printing in casting plastics to a standard appropriate for suppressor building. A clean burn-out resin is available from one of these vendors, making casting in poured metal with decent materials and skills the only real barrier... along with learning to draw good plans, obviously.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/24 ... la-3d-prin

https://www.indiegogo.com/projects/bean ... 3d-printer

So is anyone considering this route, which seems a lot cheaper than buying a proper mill and certainly conserves a lot of shop space? Some wonderful design ideas could be brought into play, shapes not possible with conventional tools. And as a bonus such devices seem to offer a host of possibilities for fixing stuff generally, a great addition to one's capabilities as a jack of all trades.

[T-Rex]

I mostly agree with 35NCO's statements. We (I ) recently purchased a 3D printer at work. Being the type of person that I am, I spent about 3 months researching printers, filaments, forums, etc. I would compare the nuances of 3D printing to the parameters one must deal with while doing machining. Material choice and machine capabilities will change feeds and speeds.

For someone already into the design and manufacturing/production world, moving to 3D printing will not be hard. One thing must be understood, though. Do not expect great or close to usable prints for at least the first several dozen runs. The preloaded Mfr files (if your machine comes with any) will print great because everything is in the code already provided. Your job, with your models, is to find the balance of the the G-Code. Extruder temp, bed temp, layer height, layer width percentage, Multiplier, structural supports, brims, infill, min and max perimeter layers, on and on. A lot of people design the parts to how they plan to print. Printing at a .2mm layer height with an extrusion width of 150% and 3 layer perimeters? Then, your model's walls will be .9mm around and no infill.

Another thing to consider is that most, if not all, of the 3D prints you've seen, and that have blown you away, most likely were post-processed for hours or even days. Sanding, cutting, fitting and finishing to get that perfect piece. This is, of course, not an issue w/ multi thousand dollar machines being run by professionals at a production level. Your home 3D print learning will be another story.

Cutting to the chase. Jump in, with both feet and you'll not regret it. Just be prepared for hours of frustration and time away from printing to learn from other forums and tons of Youtube DIY videos.

Right now, my side project is a 2-stage, 3D printed, solid fuel rocket for my kids.

[Fulmen]

I also would not jump right to SLA

Care to elaborate on this point? I've never had any interest in FFT, I don't have to try that to see that it requires a lot of trial&error. They also have serious limitations when it comes to "overhang" and such. Without any experience SLA seems like a superior method, after all it's what most high-end equipment has used for decades. I can't see the same need for fine tuning that you'd have to expect from FFT. But I could be wrong.

I had a different idea that would be fun to try, laser sintering powder coat. Powder coat "paint" is basically a polymer powder, applied with an electrostatic charge and heat fused to a solid coating, right? Shouldn't be hard to print this in layers using an engraving laser. And the powder is already available globally for next to nothing in a huge array of both materials and colors.

[Fulmen]

I see your points, FFT does have some benefits. I hadn't considered soluble filaments, that could increase versatility quite a bit. And as you say, with the proper orientation you should be able to remove most overhang. Still, SLA-made for the amateur marked seems like a very nice development.

A friend of mine have mentioned buying a laser engraver, if he does it should be possible to do some proof-of-concept testing with SLS.

[propeine]

Were it not for the damn $200 per try, I'd have you a monocore printed by the end of the day that you could shoot on 22LR without casting. This is on a 500 dollar printer. Once you understand where the good and the bad surfaces are going to be, printing is easy. The roughness might even add to the suppression due to the surface area.

If my local gov't weren't asshats, I'd have a SOT and be casting all kinds of crazy stuff.

Monoprice maker select is easy to get into, rigid and has a decent build volume. Its also cheap and available on amazon. We use it for work as it is intended, for rapid prototyping.

[crazyelece]

Were it not for the damn $200 per try, I'd have you a monocore printed by the end of the day that you could shoot on 22LR without casting. This is on a 500 dollar printer. Once you understand where the good and the bad surfaces are going to be, printing is easy. The roughness might even add to the suppression due to the surface area.

If my local gov't weren't asshats, I'd have a SOT and be casting all kinds of crazy stuff.

Monoprice maker select is easy to get into, rigid and has a decent build volume. Its also cheap and available on amazon. We use it for work as it is intended, for rapid prototyping.

+1 Except I'd have you a complete can in either k baffle or omega baffle, lol!

drawings are done ready for slicing, printing will begin the second HPA gets passed. Until then it's metal on lathe as the approved forms come back