1st stall was all about high precision toys. Like I can't explain how smooth the toys were. Talking to him he was all about making them as dialed in as possible with these tiny super delicate gears and moving wings on toys, or puzzles that glide like they are oiled off each other. I'm too lazy to go find the thing I bought as I was walking around the house playing with it.

2nd stall was all about large cartoony ones using a printer that can do up to 5 colors! I ended up getting a little dino!

Then the last one was a guy who only printed things he personally designed! With all his pieces being toys that are giant version of lego things like his giant lego light sabers that are straight out of lego star wars

(off his website as I didn't buy anything from him)

It's just so cool that these people can build their own little toy factories and make a variety of toys either in special ways, or make their own unique toys. I know it's not star treck replicators, but it's still just exciting to me.

I actually owned 3d printers in the past, but the effort to dial them in just wasn't super worth it to me, since it felt like an all day activity to get my cheap printer to print my little $2 toy. Would much rather spend $5 to get a much better version off of someone else who spends all day working to make the print quality ace and put their own spin on the toys.

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[–] norimee@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

My niece wrote a paper for her biology class about certain plants and 3D printed the flowers 1:1 true to nature. She won a regional prize for it and her school is going to use the models in future biology classes.

I thought that was so freaking cool!

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 6 points 3 months ago (1 children)

That is so freaking cool!

Like I'm trying to fathom how I would make an "accurate" one without a 3d printer as a teen and I just don't see it. Paper machete was the popular choice, but those wouldn't be accurate, they would be considered decoration. If your parents were master wood workers maybe they could do it that way? But those sound out rageously expensive and if one breaks you're SOOO sol. Whereas with this once she got all the files she can get a new one made for a trip to the library or $20 order.

And now instead of a picture with notes or dried flowers they have such wonderful props! Very much the type of thing I'm loving 3d printers for.

[–] Seleni@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Generally for really lifelike models it was glass. Sad that those techniques have largely been lost, but it is cool that now anyone with a printer can make a flower!

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Oh dang! Yeah something tells me a teenager was not going to be able to get those.

[–] dsco@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 3 months ago (1 children)

How long ago did you have a printer? I ask because the newer ones don't require much dialing-in outside of setting initial Z-offset.

If you're building a Voron, then yeah it's going to need some tinkering. If you're getting something like a QIDI X-Smart 3, you just unpack it, auto calibrate, and start printing.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (2 children)

Oh it was just the... oh crap it was like 8 years ago. I had a wanhao I3. Time doesn't feel real.

Boo are you guys gonna convince me to get a new 3d printer? Then again I know for a fact I won't be able to make stuff as cool as these guys, and I can get these for a few bucks.

[–] wdx 1 points 3 months ago

I just got a Bambu A1 this Tuesday and have been printing non-stop during the workday.

Made some Planters, Box for the Hotends, Poop Chute... No issues so far.

And setup was pretty easy. No need to tinker around. It just works. WiFi Setup was a bit finicky (it wants 2.4GHz and the length of the SSID seems to be restricted?)

But yeah... friend of mine summarised it perfects:

if your hobby is printing, get a Bambu A1; if it's printers, get something like an Ender

[–] dsco@lemmy.dbzer0.com 1 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) (1 children)

Check out thingiverse or printables for free stuff to print. There's so much to make!!!

Also, I've messed with Wanhao printers, and the slicer profiles were not great and did require a lot of fine-tuning. New printers either come with their own slicers or a Cura profile.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

Oh yeah I used to look at thingiverse all the time! Looking at it now it's obvious that the skill of both designers making stuff for 3d printers and the quality of 3d printers has jumped a lot since I joined. Since most of the top stuff for last year have integrated hinges/joints, which are so satisfying.

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 months ago (1 children)

they are so cool, and I can't believe at the rate at which the technology is advancing.

I feel like every time I watch a new 3D printer video, they're talking about glass or wood or metal or composite materials, I didn't even know they were as smooth as those items in the pictures you just showed us, I know they're making 3D printed food now in Australia.

do you know how much those printers are or witch printer made that stegosaurus?

thats seriously insane.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

I don't for the dino! They mentioned it was a multi color printer, and he's a bigger print, so probably one of the more expensive ones. And the funny thing is these aren't even as smooth as they can be, as these are large prints so have larger layer sizes (smaller layers = smoother). I need to go back to the one that does tiny parts and buy the articulated wasp that had moving wings and every limb moves, despite being printed as one piece.

But yeah it's crazy that you can just go buy a toy factory for a few hundred dollars and make custom toys, with high end ones being only like 2k. It's so cool not only for custom toy makers, but the boon they are for proto typing any product is crazy. Like the guy making the light sabers can try a new design for a few dollars, whereas previously he probably would have had to order a custom piece from a factory for who knows how much.

[–] Varyk@sh.itjust.works 1 points 3 months ago

Yes get the wasp!

Haha, wow that really is amazing.

I was looking into them brcause I always like building things and making pieces out of wood for repairs around the house, but if the printers at this level now, it might be time for me to just take the dive already.

I should hurry up and live in the future.

Thanks for sharing, those pictures are stunning.

[–] ramenshaman@lemmy.world 2 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Printers have progressed quite a bit. I have a Bambu X1 carbon and I have never done any dialing in, just some automated calibrations. It just works. I have two AMS's so I can theoretically print up to 8 colors, but I rarely do multicolor prints, I just keep it loaded with my most commonly used filaments so I don't have to bother with manually unloading/loading. If you need more structural parts, it can print polycarbonate or carbon-fiber nylon no problem. Mine has paid for itself a few times over.

[–] ericbomb@lemmy.world 1 points 3 months ago

I guess it has been 8 years since I had a printer XD I had an i3.