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Friday, I received a new 3D printer to play with. This is my 1st foray into 3D printing and design. I set the printer up Saturday morning and after a few YouTube videos and trial and error was able to do a test print of the included rabbit figurine.
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Hey! That's pretty cool!

So, next thing was to try to design something myself. There is a free site by AutoDesk called TinkerCAD for doing simple designs, so I created an account and went to work. it took several hours and a few versions, but I was able to design a storage box for my CMMG .22LR bolt conversion. 14 hours later............

TaaDaa! A box with a slide-lock lid to hold my bolt.

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And it holds the AR15 bolt while I am using the conversion.
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Before, I just used cardboard tubes, and they are probably cheaper and more durable, but I made this (my 2nd print and 1st self-designed item), so I am a little proud of it.
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Do any of you do 3D printing and have some interesting prints to share? Maybe we need a "What did you print today" thread.

Well, I am downloading Fusion3D to start teaching myself how to do some more advanced designs. Wish me luck!
 
Good Luck! I do not have one of those 3-D printers yet, but the bolt box is sweet!
I have put off getting one for a few years now, because of price and time. The prices have really come down and well, I still don't have much time, but I am interested in the CAD design so learning a new skill is always fun too. Better than sitting in front of the boobtube.
 
Any way we could design a cheek riser for the Thordson Customs cheek piece? (With the angled cheek rest installed?

Something that can clip in on the front and back and the cheek riser could conform and rest atop, the rest?

Ive got a beefy red dot atop the Ultimak gas rail and I use the thordson device as a storage tool for batteries. Now I just need to get a cheek device to get my line of sight to the same level as my optic.
 
I have put off getting one for a few years now, because of price and time. The prices have really come down and well, I still don't have much time, but I am interested in the CAD design so learning a new skill is always fun too. Better than sitting in front of the boobtube.
Is this the one you got? Creality Ender-3 S1 Direct Drive 3D Printer
 
Is this the one you got? Creality Ender-3 S1 Direct Drive 3D Printer
Yep. Got it from Amazon for $430. Seemed like a good deal with all the upgrades. I was looking at a Prusa i3 MKSs+, but it is 2x the price and 4-6 weeks out. This seemed like a great compromise price wise and I got it in 2 days. So far I am really impressed, but it is new so the aftermarket and support has not quite caught up yet.
 
Any way we could design a cheek riser for the Thordson Customs cheek piece? (With the angled cheek rest installed?

Something that can clip in on the front and back and the cheek riser could conform and rest atop, the rest?

Ive got a beefy red dot atop the Ultimak gas rail and I use the thordson device as a storage tool for batteries. Now I just need to get a cheek device to get my line of sight to the same level as my optic.
A bit optimistic on my design and print capabilities right now, but I hope to learn quick.

I am open to try to print something if someone wants to do the CAD work.
 
I feel like I always have to pull a gun out of the safe to reach what I want to shoot, and then I have to find somewhere to put it or more likely lean it precariously against something in the closet. Well I put my beginner design skills to to work and came up with a "Safe rest" (see what I did there?).

It is a rifle support that fits to the edge of my safe and has some neodymium magnets on the back to hold it in place.
There is so much to learn, not just in how to make the printer work well, but 10x that in how to use design tools and specifically design for thew 3D printer. I "only" had to print this one 3 times before I had it come out correctly.

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I always thought a cool project would be to print AR15 receiver covers. It would be used in transporting or storage. Basically, separate the lower from the upper then put cover lids for both receivers to prevent dust getting in the innards. Lower would be secured by the takedown and pivot pin and the top by corresponding holes. Then you could store the gun in a smaller footprint. For a pistol or SBR, it should fit in a backpack.
 
I feel like I always have to pull a gun out of the safe to reach what I want to shoot, and then I have to find somewhere to put it or more likely lean it precariously against something in the closet. Well I put my beginner design skills to to work and came up with a "Safe rest" (see what I did there?).

It is a rifle support that fits to the edge of my safe and has some neodymium magnets on the back to hold it in place.
There is so much to learn, not just in how to make the printer work well, but 10x that in how to use design tools and specifically design for thew 3D printer. I "only" had to print this one 3 times before I had it come out correctly.

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That's actually really clever and quite functional.
 
That's actually really clever and quite functional.
Thanks. Looking around the Internet at 3D printing forums, the 3D printing world seems to be split into two camps; decorative and functional. The decorative camp focuses on superior print quality and tends to make figurines and trinkets. Some of the stuff they make is just incredible. You see this a lot in the people making cosplay items. Truly artistic. The functional group tends to be more about strength and function in their prints. As with everything there is crossover and balance, but I find the most joy in making something useful which is good because I don't have an artistic bone in my body. I like it to look good, but not necessarily perfect. In the safe rest you can clearly see the layer lines in the end result, but they don't look too bad. The decorative camp would see that as unacceptable, but for me that is perfectly fine as it does not look awful and still works perfectly well.
 
I used tinker cad before. Moved into Blender as I needed better setup support for curves and threads. Even have stuff up on Thingiverse now.
The more I use TinkerCAD the more I am amazed at what it can do if you spend the time to learn it. With some thought, it is amazing what you can create by combining basic shapes. I just started to work in Fusion 3D. It has quite the learning curve, but YouTube is a great learning resource.
 
I always thought a cool project would be to print AR15 receiver covers. It would be used in transporting or storage. Basically, separate the lower from the upper then put cover lids for both receivers to prevent dust getting in the innards. Lower would be secured by the takedown and pivot pin and the top by corresponding holes. Then you could store the gun in a smaller footprint. For a pistol or SBR, it should fit in a backpack.
I may try something like this. Sounds like an interesting project.
 
I feel like I always have to pull a gun out of the safe to reach what I want to shoot, and then I have to find somewhere to put it or more likely lean it precariously against something in the closet. Well I put my beginner design skills to to work and came up with a "Safe rest" (see what I did there?).

It is a rifle support that fits to the edge of my safe and has some neodymium magnets on the back to hold it in place.
There is so much to learn, not just in how to make the printer work well, but 10x that in how to use design tools and specifically design for thew 3D printer. I "only" had to print this one 3 times before I had it come out correctly.

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View attachment 1204287
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Not for nothing, you might try selling those in the classifieds.
 
Found a well designed stage-saver with M-Lok mounting on Printables.com. printed it in PETG, and it works great. These things are $20 on-line. This is probably $2 of PETG plastic and an hour of print time in costs.

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