Highest resolution 3D printing?

[SandiaPaul]

OK, so I have read and looked and read and looked at a lot of 3D printing stuff.

I have in mind to do some small(N scale) stuff that I have had percolating in my head for about 2 decades.
There has been a lot of work shown here that is very nice, but wont cut it for what I have in mind. The Fineline .008" is just too course. Their Microfine Green looks interesting though, has anyone actually used that?
And maybe what I have in mind just is not possible(yet)?

Who knows what is the best available?

In my travels I found this useful chart comparing a lot of printers:
http://www.additive3d.com/3dpr_cht.htm

From that chart I found this new interesting low cost printer with high resolution:
https://www.asiga.com/

Thanks,

Paul

[mabloodhound]

Paul,

Is your plan to buy your own printer?

I used Shapeways FUD material to get these printed.

The photo doesn't show it well, but the detail was very good.   2nd photo is the SketchUp drawing.

[SandiaPaul]

Gee, I thought you guys would be all over this...

I am not sure but I think the Shapeways FUD is not going to cut it for the quality I am looking for.

I am going to look into some of the jewelry forums and see what I find there

Paul

[Chuck Doan]

The Microfine green is the best I have seen so far, but it is very expensive and limited in size. Several of the Finelines materials are offered in .002 or .004 resolution. Paul Rayner may be able to add more informed info.

[Hauk]

Gee, I thought you guys would be all over this...

I am not sure but I think the Shapeways FUD is not going to cut it for the quality I am looking for.

I am going to look into some of the jewelry forums and see what I find there

Paul

The solidscape wax printers will give you a very good resolution with a minimum layer thickness of 0,0127 mm. But you have to make a metal master from the wax part, or use the metal part as a one-off part. Quite expensive if you only need one part. Jewellers use these machines quite a lot.

Regards,
Hauk

[W.P. Rayner]

Paul and I have discussed this via. PM but thought I'd weigh in on it publicly with my thoughts. 3D printing resolution is getting better and better. As Hauk mentions, there are Solidscape precision printers capable of printing layer thickness of .0127mm, Objet and 3D Systems have printers that can print layers at .016mm. Currently the finest resolutions are available for wax prints which obviously can't be used as final parts, but as patterns for investment casting. Finish quality is dependent upon the geometry of the piece being printed, alignment of the part on the print platform and the print material used. At current technology levels, these machines are capable of producing very fine masters for jewelers, product designers and modelers in larger scales. Even though print layers are decreasing, minimum wall thickness (for consistent reliable results) still hovers around .007", minimum detail rendition is around .004". At the present time, I don't believe it would be possible to achieve smooth finish, high quality, accurately detailed parts in N Scale at least at anything approaching an affordable price. The good news though, is 3D printing is ranked as one of today's fastest growing technologies. New materials and printing capabilities are announced on an almost daily basis. So, six months or a year from now, who knows what prototyping opportunities will be available to us.

Paul

[SandiaPaul]

Thanks for the replies gents...

I am almost feeling like I need to experiment with 3 or 4 different methods. And maybe wait till the resolution gets better!

I think I could maybe even get what I want with laser cutting, right now photo etch is looking like the best way.

Thanks,

Paul

[eTraxx]

Thought I would stick my nose into the thread. There's a lot of (good) discussion on layers, resolution and so on. Here's a .. I think .. a pretty good idea of the highest resolution available from Shapeways. These two 'bearing blocks' (?) .. were printed by Shapeways in their FUD (Frosted Ultra Detail). The red arrows are pointing to blobs that are bolt-heads. The minimal detail thickness for FUD is 0.1mm/0.0039"

[SandiaPaul]

take a look at this:

https://www.asiga.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=91

I have ordered a sample part, not my file, one they choose and send out.

Looks pretty good...

Paul

[Hauk]

take a look at this:

https://www.asiga.com/forums/viewtopic.php?id=91

I have ordered a sample part, not my file, one they choose and send out.

Looks pretty good...

Paul

Looks interesting. While we wait for the pictures of the samples, here are pictures of a Print-A-Part (RIP) and a FUD Shapeways part compared:





Regards, Hauk

[finescalerr]

I read in the news today that an updated 3D printer is available for about $2,100. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2416414,00.asp

Its maker claims to have sufficient resolution that post production work is unnecessary. If any of you guys with knowledge of this stuff has a comment, please elucidate.

Russ

[Ray Dunakin]

I also read that the MakerBot folks are working on a desktop 3D scanner that looks promising.

[marklayton]

0.004" corresponds to:
At 1:87 scale, .35" steps
At 1:64 scale, .26" steps
At 1:48 scale, .19" steps
At 1:32 scale, .13" steps
At 1:16 scale, .06" steps

Even at 1:16 scale, that's a significant texture.  Seems to me, we need some pretty fine resolution to achieve our goals...

Mark

[Chuck Doan]

I have also noted that some users are quite happy to leave layer lines showing on their parts. Even some mfgs. who use 3D printing for their patterns do not bother to clean up the lines, which is pure laziness (or poor eyesight?).

So what constitutes post production is a moving target just now, and I wouldn't trust the sales pitch of a printer company. Show me.

[Hauk]

0.004" corresponds to...

The Vipers have a layer thickness of 0.002", If you can afford it...