Figure I would start a new thread on 3D stuff rather than hijack the other thread. I have had a good time learning about 3d Printers and dinking around with them over the past 2 years. It wasn't until I started taking a few pics for the other thread until I realized how much I actually use the printer to make everyday practical stuff. Thought I would share with the group. First off, find that I make a lot of hanger brackets and mounts:

In the garden:






This is a dedicated sprinkler for watering a single specific plant / bush at the base.


Once you have a basic 3D design for a part, it is very easy to modify it, stretch it, shrink it to accommodate a new use.

I wanted a firm mount for my rain gauge in the garden.



As most are aware, T-posts have an "orientation". Once in the ground they cannot be rotated vertically. So I made the mount in 2 pieces...



.. with a splined coupling that allows me to rotate the rain gauge on 30 degree increments to allow for best viewing angle from the house.

And garden signs as well.





We are on our 3rd year of locally grown beef. I hate "patting out" hamburgers. So, a couple hamburger presses:



Small one = 1/3 lb patty. Large one = 1/2 lb patty.



Removable bottoms pop out to make it easier to get the burger out. Printed with ABS filament to make them food safe and dishwasher safe.

Do you have one of the 3d scanners as well?
I always though the combination would be great for small "out of production" parts in classic vehicle repair/restoration/maintenance...

A few more hanger brackets:

For long stuff. I got tired of having my trekking poles propped in a corner behind a door.



Now, to utilize the space that that I freed up behind the door:



For secure stowage to keep small things from rolling around on the bench / desk:



Double scalloped to securely hold 1" and 30mm main tubes:

Since this is technically a hunting and firearms related site...

Easy, peasy, light mount:





And with a light more effort, work in progress:



The cheek riser will actually sit significantly lower on the stock when I swap out the thick double sided tape for the thin 3m adhesive that God-A-Grip uses on their products. However, it is not a bad sight picture as is...

Finally, a project I have been working on for a year. Still work in progress. Most folks here know that I am left handed. Many know that I am VERY picky with regard to rifle ergonomics and fit. So, figured I would find a way to 3D print a stock that fit "me"... Significant undertaking. "How do you eat an elephant? One bite at a time..."

Step1:









Concept is to develop a modular design:
1) Center section tailored to specific make/brand/model/length/orientation of action. (Right hand, Pre-64 M70, .300H&H pictured)
2) Fore end options to suit the shooter. eg: feather weight, standard, Forbes/NULA rounded square, Biesen "wide oval", Rem Varmint, 3" flat BR.
3) Likewise, butt stock with low/med/high comb, LOP, wrist open/med/vertical, cast on/off...

Pick one from Column A, one from Column B, one from Column C. Use the magic of 3D design to merge/meld the three components. Feed it to the printer. And in a few days later, a truly custom stock. No need for a $25K-$50K custom mold for a one off design. Or, print the three pieces independently, and find an appropriate means to bond/fuse them together... Printing three separate pieces would allow the option to use different filaments and infill values for each sub assembly. eg: center section at 50% infill with carbon fiber filament. Fore end and butt stock from less exotic filaments at 20-30% infill.

For reference, the center section above weighs right at 4 oz at 20% infill, and is STIFF. I can not force any flex in the part.

As stated above, I have been a year, part time, getting this far. Long ways to go. But will update at significant mile stones...

Yes, I finally invested in a scanner for my latest project. There are some excellent videos of the scanner on the internet and vendor websites. HOWEVER, this is the one item I fear I may not get a reasonable return for investment. I have 6-8 hours into scanning various small objects. I have yet to get a clean scan that I would bother 3D printing.... It could totally be me.

Part of my rationale for the scanner was an eye toward repairing non-load bearing ag equipment parts that crack/break, etc.

Very interesting. Thanks for sharing.

I have a nephew with a PhD in glass engineering. He's a materials scientist for a large lab and some of his work is running around on Mars on the last rover. He said he's recently been switched to a new division developing ways to use 3D printers for making lots of new stuff in their work. He's getting paid big money for playing with company owned toys.

That barrel holder is a damn good idea.

What 3D printer are you using?

Company I recently hired on with is using 3D printers to create production tooling. I would be amenable to being paid "big bucks" to play with a 3D printer.



Thank you. Creality CR10 "Smart Pro" ... direct drive metal extruder and fully heated bed.

Orion,

Thank you for posting.

What CAD program are you using?

I really like you T-post mount. Cleaver yet simple, and looks stout.

Good post.
I've wanted a printer for a few years now. I built a CNC plasma table for my shop a few years ago so I already have a handle on the technical aspects and CAD. I think it would really add to what we can put out the door for product.

Using Tinker-CAD at the moment. Pretty basic, but easy to use. Have used Sketch-up in the past. However, cannot seem to get clean STL files out of Sketch-up that slice well with CURA. I will need to bone up on a more robust CAD tool for the fore end and butt stock assemblies.

"Stout" ... Rear storm door faces prevailing wind. Printed a drip guard to prevent rain from blowing in around the door. Used PLA resin which is the most "bio-degradable" of the 3D resins. Shown below after 1 year in service. Zero damage to the drip guard after two recent 70-80 mph straight line wind events that caused significant damage to roof and took down several nearby trees. The "sag" in the drip guard is due to deformation of the substrate it is fastened to...



Printed in sections. Joined with CA glue.

If you are already in the designer / builder / tinker mindset, you will have no issues ramping up 3D printing. Additive manufacturing: Instead of taking a block of steel and machining away what you do NOT want, you start with a spool of filament and add what you DO want...

You've made some pretty cool and useful gadgets. Reminds me of the saying about necessity being the mother of invention.

I've never gotten into it, but my 16 year old son is into 3D printing. He designs and builds a lot of things including an ashtray delete panel for his car that accepts accessory switches. This past Christmas he used the school's scanner to scan a Milwaukee drill, brought the file home and printed this motorized miniature "Lil'waukee" drill, battery and case for my gift.

We started 3D stacking steel in the past few years.

Think of a high quality MiG welder with a XYZ axis

Of course it isn't as clean nor is it acceptable as a finished part so there is still a lot of machining performed on these parts.

We've used 3D since the 90''s to create prototypes

Yep. Somewhere on the internet is picture of 3D printed (wire welded) crane hook that was stress tested to 80,000 lb load.

cool stuff. Always wondered if you could print a stock center piece that would take a wood forend and butt stock . Kinda a like an Omega rifle made by Homer Koon. It had a rotary magazine.

I shot some .177 pellets in my .22 cal Diana Bandit PCP pistol. Took out the first two aluminum wipes. Printed a monocore insert and tried it out today indoors at the club. Works fine, quiet.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5985238

this one? LINK

My son started doing this back when he was on down time in the Navy.

He has made a few things for folks like prototypes and such and has been having a ball with doing figures from sci-fi books/shows.

He tried to teach me some of the cad drawing stuff but i just did not have the time that day for it to take.

It's amazing what can be done with these machines/computers.

RC, that is the one. Intended use is I think slinging containers.

Richj, butt stock would be fairly easy. Use a long stock screw like a shotgun. Fore end might be bit more challenging for fitment and bonding.

Szumi, not familiar with air rifles. Are you referring to a component in the moderator?

I've been using Fusion360 for the past 4 or so years. It's similar to AutoCAD but much cheaper. I sometimes use Inkscape to clean up or edit files. Sheetcam creates the G-code and away I go. Most of my drawings are 2D components but I wanted to get familiar with a good 3D CAD so the transition would be easy if the need ever arose.
Just what I need, another toy.

Rockchuck - I had no idea the material was THAT strong.

You guys are amazing!

There are lots of different materials used. You wouldn't want to use plastic for that job.

I was poking around on AutoDesk website. According to one comparison chart, "looks like" Fusion360 does not do 3D (STL or OBJ) output files? What file type are you passing from Fusion360 to slice in Sheetcam to generate your G-code files? Or, maybe that was just the Free version I was looking at?

DXF is what I normally use. SGV also works. The free version doesn't generate DXF anymore but it's under $500/yr or less if you catch it on sale. Inkscape is good for "snipping" files off the interweb and turning them into a bitmap. SheetCam produces a TAP file and I believe it's mach4 that runs everything else. Proma builds the controller that runs the steppers etc. on my machine.

One of you guys needs to reproduce the discontinued BogPod shooting rest that screws onto a tripod. Guys that have them swear by them and never let them go.

This is way above my pay grade but I find it very interesting. Hope you guys keep posting things you have done and made.

I don't mean to hijack this thread but I use my CNC table daily. I wish pics were easier to post here. I can produce very impressive parts but can't post pics. lol.

The paid version of Fusion360 does OBJ and STL as well as others.

That's what I figured. As a hobbyist, I prefer a "buy once, cry once" payment arrangement...

I thought I posted this above. Mea culpa if this is a repeat. I scanned the BOG website. If you already have a bi-pod, I did not notice anything on their website that could not be functionally reproduced with a 3D printer. 3d print the cradle. Then CA glue in either (a) low cost, a piece of mouse pad with the no-skid bottom facing the rifle stock, or (b) more up scale, a piece of sorbothane cut to fit.

For $300 you could be in business !

Yes

This is to help out, I know 'it really is easy' is not so easy when you haven't succeeded before. Just try it.

1. go to www.postimages.org
2. click 'choose images'
3. choose the image on your device to upload
4. to the right of 'hotlink for forums' (the 7th row from the top), single click the blue/white button to copy the link (or alternatively, highlight and copy the actual link)
5. paste that string of the link into your 24hourcampfire response

It literally is 5 steps that I can upload and post a picture in 10 seconds??? Can do the exact same thing from my phone using exact same steps. Try it. If it doesn't work, leave up the link and somebody will be able to tell you where you went wrong.

Neat stuff for sure...

Boat up in Maine... Bridge in Amsterdam... Concrete printed homes...

Fascinating to watch as folks sort out the bugs.



https://interestingengineering.com/...inted-steel-bridge-unveiled-in-amsterdam

https://www.sq4d.com/

Bought this from a guy in Maine. $110 and works great. Spent all of 5 min setting it up and most of that was spent getting out of the packaging.

The tube system works like a Lee but with 7 tubes.

LNL case feeder

OP, thanks for the pics and info! When I had a job I installed connected and serviced production printers and other aggravating office equipment. Retired now and can't stand the thought of another "printer"

Cool print. Thanks for posting. Wonder what post-processing looks like on a print that large? That is not something you flip over and trim off the brim with an Exacto knife. Also curious if they used any type of vapor bath to strengthen the bonding between layers?

That’s pretty cool. It’s fascinating to see the evolution of the printers and the dreaming associated with the potential.

Fun seeing some practical ideas. I bought my son an ender dragon for Christmas and then I had to but it together and learn to work it. I don't really like that kind of stuff but I got it assembled correctly and a neighbor showed us how to level it and get it going. So far we've just made toys, boats, whistles, and little men and props for grandpas train set.

One of these days I'll try to print a new shotgun slug wad idea I've had for a while. I just don't know how to program the files we've just been finding ones already coded online.

Bb

3D printers are excellent for prototyping new designs. The Ender Dragon should have no problem printing a shot wad design. Only question is what resin you want to use? IF you stick to PLA, ABS or PETG, should be GTG. I use "TinkerCAD" for the 3D design process. Pretty simple. And it is free.