April Puzzler Solution Revealed!

Below is the solution to the Monthly Puzzler Chief Hacker presented in our April Newsletter. Want to play? You can sign up to receive our monthly publication by submitting your email address in the sign up at the bottom of re:3D.org. Proposed answers are presented on our forum at: https://re3d.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/community/posts/206262336-April-Puzzler

The Question

The April puzzler is another print quality mystery. Take a look at the below pictures of an oversized auger screw originally designed for an automated pet feeder. On one side of the auger there is a blemish in the print yet from another view the print shows an excellent surface finish. What is causing the poor print quality on one spot only?

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aprilpuzzler

The Solution

The winning answer was presented by whosawhatsis who stated both reasons for the problem.

  1. Uneven cooling
  2. Steep overhang with no support

Great job to everyone and keep an eye out for an improved 360 degree cooling feature for the GB3 hot end to give even better printing capabilities!

Happy Printing!

Matthew Fiedler

Blog Post Author

Additive Value for Your Subtractive Manufacturing

Below is Gigamachinist's Steve Johnson's first blog on 3D printing for re:3D's Gigabot fabrication shop.

 Additive Value for Your Subtractive Manufacturing

by Steve Johnson

You may be thinking: “Why would a machine shop need a 3d printer?”

Turns out there are a lot of uses! In my case, we needed to make new fixtures to take advantage of the capabilities of our new 4th axis and the full travel of our machine.  When making fixtures, cost is always a main concern, and making a bad fixture can be expensive in terms of both material and man hours.

By using re:3D’s Gigabot 3D printer, we were able to design our fixture in Solidworks, export the model, and print a full size model of the fixture overnight on Gigabot (no time wasted).

This morning, we tapped the holes for our cam clamps, put the printed fixture into the machine, and checked for clearance and travel issues. In the process we found two issues that we corrected in the solid model, and we are now printing the revised test fixture.

Without the benefit of Gigabot, we may have wasted a 4in diameter by 20in long piece of material, as well as hours of labor. Right now, our only cost has been a few dollars worth of plastic.

This experience has been a great opportunity for me to learn Solidworks and I’m looking forward to using Gigabot again to cut costs, create efficiencies, and to have fun in the shop!

~Happy Printing!

Steve Johnson

Blog Post Author

Drones & Open Source: Partnering with Local Motors

Below is a re-post of content MicheleAbbate hosted on the Local Motors Blog at: https://localmotors.com/MicheleAbbate/lmdrones-re3d-gigabot/

LMDRONES: re:3D Gigabot 

As part of the LMDRONES projects that you can find on Local Motors, we want to welcome re:3D and their Gigabot 3D printer as they join our LM Drone efforts!

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May 7th was International Drone Day and the Local Motors Teams, from both Vegas and Chandler, paired up with Matthew Fiedler, Co-Founder and Chief Engineer at re:3D, to bring their Gigabot 3D printer to the world’s first drone port, the Eldorado Droneport, in Boulder City, NV.

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The all day event included open tuning, demonstrations, races, and freestyle flying.  Matt Jackson, Alaric Egli, and Alex Palmer of Local Motors brought a variety of different drones to take part  in the event.  Matthew began printing with the re:3D Gigabot as soon as it arrived, showing it’s potential and usability for creating parts, wings, and even a full size Wing FPV.

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Stayed tuned for what’s next with the re:3D Gigabot which just made its successful journey from Nevada to Chandler, AZ at the Local Motors Headquarters!

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Gigabot arrives at Local Motors Phoenix facility after participating in the International Drone day festivities at Aerodrome near Las Vegas, Nevada. Engineers at Local Motors are excited to train on the Gigabot and start running their first prints!

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re:3D Gigabot can now be found at the Local Motors’ headquarters in Chandler AZ!