Hey guys
I’ve been debating with myself for a while now to get a 3d printer or not, way before I started with gel blasters, even with another use for it with gel blasters, I still don’t see me using it enough, so I’m curious if anyone else has gotten one for the purpose of 3d printing blaster stuff but have found other uses for it over time.
cheers =]
Sell your own hopups?
I use mine all the time… Making brackets for hanging speakers, things to hang my tools on, all sorts of stuff…
I have thought about that and I also already run a little easy store so it wouldn’t be something new but the market is already flooded with people doing it,
Never thought of doing stuff like that! Definitely an interesting!
Once you start printing stuff, you almost cant help yourself. Suddenly you are looking for projects that you can print something for
One thing I now design and print a lot of are jigs. Guides to drill holes mostly
How easy is the software for a potato like me?
I’ve been also considering getting into it…
Haven’t been able to test it,
But there are a lot of free files online etc,
I have two ender 3 pros… they rarely stop… Gargoyles everywhere! 
If I can work them out… anyone can (even a chimp) 
For shits and giggles and I wonder what’ll happens, this morning I got a piece of scrap copper pipe (will get inside diameter later) cut to fit the interchangeable muzzle of my m97 and scavved the 2 o rings off the other side of it which made it fit very nicely inside the muzzle. Already noticed some difference in distance and a decrease in curvature of the trajectory of my gels. Over 20m without, it’ll start to curve at probably 15m, where with the plain copper pipe it’s making the full 20m flat like a bloody laser. Gonna play around with it a bit, see what results I can get with different changes to the pipes, whether drilling holes, flaring ends or partial internal fluting makes any differences.
Yeah try that out 
let me know what happens
Will do, will see what gives the best results without having to fork out $30
Yeah ok lol
have a look here to give you ideas on what you can make
What is a decent print area size for stuff for Gel Blasters?
I have been looking at a few, and so far considering one of the following:
I have the Creator Pro I got it because I like an enclosed printer as I mostly print in ABS
Its big enough to hopups and grips, sone mounting brackets I designed
You wont be able to print a stock, or a full hand guard with it
Thanks for that…I liked the enclosed part of that, but my biggest concern was the small size…very restrictive for me.
I also added the Duplicator 9 MK2/500 which is massive, but can be gotten for a decent price, and you can get a shroud for it to help with ABS printing.
I want to be able to do larger things such as buttstocks, etc. in nylon…whether I do in the end I’m not sure!
Just remember the bigger the bed the more of a hassle it is to get level and the stronger the whole printer has to be. If you have any slop anyway it is amplified on a big printer. Even vibration transfers to the print as ripples or waves. My advice is to get a printer that is no bigger than 220mm 220mm bed and one that has auto bed leveling built in and auto nozzle height.
There is software that will slice a print into multiple parts so that you can glue it together later. I wouldnt suggest making but stocks as large parts as the prints normally peel at the layer lines if given enough force. If you print in ABS then you can use accetone vapour to melt the sides and give it a shiny finish. This also makes it a lot more resistant to the layers peeling. Dont think you can spend $200 on a printer and its gonna work straight out of the box. You will be upgrading stepper drivers, fuses, bent rods and warped bed plates for ever. Very frustrating, ask me how I know.
Spend a bit a get a good product and be very careful with the 240v side of wiring. I have swapped over to resin printing now and barely use my fdm printer anymore, 0.2mm layers with fdm compared to 0.025mm layers, heaps quicker, better finish, more detail with resin.
Nylon is a different beast as it requires extra hot temps so u will most likely need an upgraded hot end. Cheap ones say they will do nylon temps and they will for a couple hours but maintaining 240 or 250 deg c for 8 hours plus cost money. Also you will need to store nylon in a very dry chamber. It attracts moisture which then explodes into tiny bubbles as its extruded and creates tiny pores and holes leaving a very rough finish.
Check out Angus at makers muse on youtube. He has a heap of vids to help you make the right choice.
Thanks for that.
The D9 has a 300c hot end, which is why I considered it for nylon. Also has a hot bed that can hold up to 120c.
I’m not planning on getting a sub $1000 model, so it will be as decent as I can justify.
I don’t want to go resin as the price jumps substantially and the limited use I’ll really get it’s probably not worth it.
I did read about the hygroscopic nature of most of the filaments and was going to get a dry feeder to sort that out.
From reviews I’ve read it’s a pretty sturdy printer even as the piece gets tall.
But there are so many options out there.
I just don’t want to outlay a good chunk of money and then after wish I had gone bigger or whatever…i don’t often have spare to spend on something like this… usually goes to my bikes or my blasters.
For a grand you will get something good and you should also get a good amount of after sales support.
Sometimes the cheapest way out is the most expensive way in.
Good luck with it all.
