This content comes from @What's worth buying APP, and the views only represent the author's own |Author: Tomato stewed tomatoes
Why buy a 3D printer?
Many of my friends have been playing with 3D printers since very early on, and have repeatedly persuaded me to join in. But I always felt that as a "high-tech", the entry threshold must be very high, and I rejected it on the grounds of "lack of energy".
A while ago, a friend came to ask me again, and it happened that my son was by my side, so I asked the child casually.
When the children heard this, their eyes straightened.
Such a high-level thing is indeed too attractive for a little boy who has nowhere to vent his energy. As soon as I thought about it, I just cultivated the children's exploration ability and hands-on ability, so I bought one.
So for me, this 3D printer is purely "playing" - but "playing" also has a purpose, that is, I want children to have more exposure to cutting-edge technology, hoping to cultivate children's desire for exploration and curiosity, as well as hands-on ability, and "open their eyes" by the way.
The machine is based on the FDM principle, which is simple to operate and maintain, which is more suitable for novices to get started, and can print some large items. After picking a circle, I finally chose Anycubic/Vertical Dimension Cube Kobra 2 Max, and got more than 2,000 pieces.
Is it hard to get started?
I refused to touch 3D printers at first because I was afraid that the entry threshold would be relatively high, and it would consume too much energy. Although the machine is for children to play with, if there is a problem, I still need to solve it.
However, after the machine arrived, it was found that the assembly could be completed soon after operating according to the instructions. My 8-year-old son even started bragging about it, saying it wasn't much like he was building Lego.
This braggadocio may be with me
After the assembly is completed, turn on the machine and then connect to the Internet, download the APP, all of which can be carried out step by step, and there is no difficulty at all.
After all are completed, you can select "All to Zero" in "Settings" - "Moving Axis", which is considered to be a test of the X, Y, and Z three moving axes (that is, X/Y/Z in mathematical three-dimensional coordinates), and if there is a problem during the installation process, you can also troubleshoot ▲ in time
It is important to emphasize here that there are cables on the left and right sides of the Z-axis that need to be connected. If there is one less connection, the machine will work normally, but there will be problems with the printing accuracy. Don't ask me how I know, you have to pay attention
After everything is confirmed, you can plug in the random USB flash drive, under the "Print" option, enter the test model, and select the small things you want to print to practice first. This one is very friendly to newbies ▲
I also recommend that you don't print large items at first, so that even if there is a small problem, you won't waste too much material.
How do 3D printers work?
For the FDM principle of 3D printers, it is actually a process of reshaping the PLA material after melting it at high temperature.
As shown in the figure above, the X-axis and Y-axis are printed first, which is equivalent to drawing a floor plan first, and then layering on the Z-axis to form a 3D three-dimensional model
To put it more bluntly, the three-dimensional model printed by the FDM principle 3D printer is actually composed of layers of sheet structure. This structure is very similar to that of natural graphite – which is why graphite is often used as a lubricating material (sheets of structure that slide easily between each other).
This printing principle means that it is easy for entire layers to break in the narrow part of the model. But there is a solution: just keep the narrow position and the lamellar at a vertical angle.
Therefore, the FDM principle of 3D printer slicing and modeling is very important.
For example, in the model above, there are a large number of narrow structures. If it is printed according to the upright shape of the model, its strength must not meet the needs ▲
So what to do?
Of course, it is printed horizontally. In fact, the machine is indeed operated in this way ▲
But there are also problems with printing horizontally: without a flat base, the model cannot stand stably, and many parts of the model are dangling.
The solution to this problem is also very simple: imitate the principle of human building a house, and provide a dendritic support like the one shown in the above picture around the target model
The function of the support is twofold: one is to provide a "foundation" for the model to start printing, so that the suspended part of the model has a "root", and the other is to act as a "scaffolding" function to support the whole model.
So we can see that when many models start printing, the first thing they type out is actually such a hollow cylinder ▲
Once the print is complete, these "brackets" need to be removed. I suggest that you can buy a small needle-nose pliers, which is more labor-saving to disassemble.
After dismantling, there will inevitably be some "solder joints" left at the junction between the bracket and the model, and if you pursue the quality of the model, you can also buy a little sandpaper for sanding. Of course, if you play casually, it's perfectly fine if you don't polish it.
Where do printed models come from?
When it comes to 3D printing, many people open and close their mouths to make up for the damaged play molds and even tools at home, but for most people, this is not very feasible. This requires very strong modeling skills, belonging to professional players, and even practitioners.
For ordinary people like me, a 3D printer is a high-tech toy.
He said that 3D printers have no consumers, only enthusiasts. I think it's one-sided.
In fact, as long as the threshold for 3D printing is lowered and the model adaptation is rich enough, a large number of consumers will naturally appear.
For example, for the Anycubic/Vertical Cube, the official app called "Vertical Cube" is provided.
The design of the APP is very simple, it is divided into three modules: "Workbench", "Search Model" and "My", and the navigation logic is extremely clear. Among them, under the "Search Model" column, it is subdivided into categories such as "Popular", "Pre-slicing", "Natural", "Beginner Zone", etc., which is quite convenient to find ▲
And it's great that users can adjust the scale and scale the size of the model by a percentage based on the existing model.
In addition, the printing speed and printing accuracy can also be adjusted.
The machine defaults to "standard mode", I tried it, and the accuracy and speed are completely sufficient, so I didn't adjust ▲
If you are professional enough, you can also upload the model work yourself and let everyone download and print ▲
What fun things can I print?
In the past few days, I have printed a lot of large and small models, and I will pick a few interesting ones to share:
For example, this puppy, it can be printed in 100 minutes, and the magic is that the head and hand joints can be moved, which is quite exquisite, and the details are well handled - yes, it is printed in one piece, not printed and assembled separately ▲
And it's not just an ornament, it's quite stable as a mobile phone holder after lying down, and it's excellent on the desk
Another example is this balance bird, I played with rotten toys when I was a child, but I printed it out and found that my son is 8 years old this year, and he has never seen such a simple little toy ▲
Today, when there are abundant goods, many small toys with simple designs but exquisite designs are not visible. So when I took out this thing for the children to play, my son was very happy, and I also popularized a wave of principles by the way, properly entertaining.
Another example is this little spinning top, which turns really smoothly. Although it is a very basic small toy, because it is made by himself, my son also likes it very much
The practicality is a little stronger, such as this pen holder, which is really good-looking and easy to use ▲
The small detail is that there is an inverted triangular cone in the middle of the pen holder, which can make the pen obediently only stay around the pen holder, which is much easier to use than the pen holder bought on the market ▲
As for these strange things, they belong to the boy's "romance" ▲
I really envy the children nowadays who have so many fun and magical things since they were young. I recalled that when I was a child, I was really short of toys...
More interesting things are still being explored, and I look forward to the bigwigs uploading more models to enrich the database. The only regret is that there is no son's favorite Ultraman in the model library.
How to change the coil?
This time, there are also three rolls of material in yellow, black and blue.
The recoiling is not complicated, as long as you select "Wire Change" and then "Pullback" under the "Tools" menu, the nozzle will start to heat. When heated to a certain extent, the original coil can be extracted and replaced with a new ▲
Before each official printing, the machine will draw a line on the edge of the tray, and this step is actually to clean up the residual variegated material roll in the nozzle
However, after several attempts, I found that this step did not completely clean up the remaining rolls. If you want to ensure that the first print after the color of the refill roll is pure enough, it is best to clean it manually yourself.
The cleaning method is relatively primitive, just let the machine officially start printing, and then immediately end the task at the beginning, and then manually clean the print table.
What do you think about 3D printers?
It's been more than a week since I got my hands on the machine, so let's talk about my thoughts on the Anycubic Kobra 2 Max.
First of all, it is undeniable that this thing is still a bit large - of course, it is limited to 3D printers based on the FDM principle, and the light-curing machine will be much smaller. And this thing has a strong industrial appearance, and at this stage it is more like a tool than a toy.
Whether it is acceptable to its volume and its shape are all factors that users should consider before starting.
But the operation of the machine is really much easier than I expected, and it is basically easy to get started with zero threshold - the most difficult part of this process is assembly. But when it comes to assembly, in my son's words, "it's about the same as building Lego with me."
I think that an 8-year-old child can say this, which shows how easy it is to assemble.
In order to sell 3D printers as commodities to ordinary consumers as toys, I think there is only one thing that manufacturers need to do: enrich the model library - this is extremely important, and it is also the part that really affects the user experience.
In the case of the Anycubic/Vertical Cube, the interactive experience of the APP itself has been done well and concisely, but the data of the model library can continue to be enriched. For example, there is no such thing as Ultraman, which is a child's favorite.
As an ordinary user, if you want to start a 3D printer like me, you can actually rush boldly. In my own experience, there really isn't much of a barrier to entry. The so-called threshold is all about scaring oneself.
We do evaluations with attitudes and produce content with temperature. I'm Tomato, we'll see you next time~