3D Scanner/ 3D Printer

Steve X2

So, I have a plan to get my hands on a 3D printer next year.
I've not decided what type to get yet as the prices are a bit mental.
You can get cheapish ones (about 1k so maybe not cheapish) but the objects that they print out are probably below the standard I'd want them to be.

So why am I posting here?

Well, I also plan to get a 3D scanner or make a 3D scanner before getting the printer(depends on what's the best option) .

All these scanners and printers are great for creating art and all sorts of every day items. But what might be of great benefit to people like me and other people on this forum is the ability to get hard to find parts for our retro consoles, arcade machines and other vintage stuff printed out.

They will be printed out in high quality strong plastic, so if metal is required then you'd need to look elsewhere (or send the 3D models off to be printed).

To print these items out you need to have a 3D model of them. You can get a lot of 3D objects online but you rarely see any scanned retro stuff.

So my plan is to get my 3D scanner and start scanning bits and pieces of consoles and arcade parts that would work as a printed plastic object.



So,
What do you think I should be scanning?
Would anyone have any rare items or parts for there cabinets or consoles that you just don't see for sale online?
Would you let me scan them?

None of this will be happening until the new year but I'm just doing the research now.


Video of one of the cheaper printers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8XJUqHXgls

Videos of the high end type printers:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u7h09dTVkdw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UtneiRf-Jrs

Home made 3D scanners:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lDsq26PYhdY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOfbFguO_EQ

I might end up going for the cheaper option at first and then move onto the professional kit at a later time.

But the 3D scans I take could be printed on both and if required sent off to a professional printers to be printed in any material you like(even gold)

All the scans would be made available for free to anyone who needs them.


So thats my next little project(or one of them at least)

.

o1s1n

I've always been facinated by 3D printers, but more from a creative/art point of view. Never thought of a use like this. That's really really interesting. You could literally make ANY component part which needs to be replaced/fabricated.

I'd be willing to contribute anything I have to be scanned anyway. Fancy fabricating Steel Battalion piece by piece?

Steve X2

o1s1n wrote: »

I've always been facinated by 3D printers, but more from a creative/art point of view. Never thought of a use like this. That's really really interesting. You could literally make ANY component part which needs to be replaced/fabricated.

I'd be willing to contribute anything I have to be scanned anyway. Fancy fabricating Steel Battalion piece by piece?

Sure, why not

.

Steve X2

Right, well I've decided on a domain name to share the scanned files on, www.thingsin3d.com

Nothing on it yet of course but I'll try and sort out this 3D scanner so I can start scanning bits and pieces.
Might have a look around the web for other scanned objects that might be of use as well.


.

o1s1n

This gives a total new meaning to 'backing up'. You'll be able to back up loads of your physical items and then reproduce them in your replicator..sorry I mean 3D printer

pdbhp

Just think of all the lovely Gameboy shells Steve can make me:D

Steve X2

pdbhp wrote: »

Just think of all the lovely Gameboy shells Steve can make me:D

Well it certainly opens a few possibilities for case and part mods.
If the outputted objects is of a high enough quality of course.

I think if i go for the cheaper printer the objects it prints will be fine for internal parts and stuff like that but for more detailed items that will be in view all the time it might not be up to that sort of inspection(like a Game Boy case).
Maybe I'm wrong but I guess more researched is needed.

Here's a part that would work well.

Gear for OutRun arcade cabinet wheel:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1J3ij4OyQQ

.

Steve X2

Just reading up on some of the 3D printers around.

Even the cheaper ones offer free software upgrades, but the cool thing is they also offer free hardware upgrades.
All you do is download and print the hardware, thats pretty cool if you ask me

And once you have a printer, you can print out about 50 percent of a new printer for someone else, and all they add is the electronics etc for a lot cheaper than buying a new printer. This could catch on in the years to come.


.

CiDeRmAn

I reckon this home fabrication tech is going to be the no 1 home appliance in years to come.
Want a new Kindle? Just download the plans and press go.
I'm not saying it'll in Argos next year but I would fully expect most houses to have one by 2020.

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

I reckon this home fabrication tech is going to be the no 1 home appliance in years to come.
Want a new Kindle? Just download the plans and press go.
I'm not saying it'll in Argos next year but I would fully expect most houses to have one by 2020.

Yeah, I can definitely see it happening.
It might take off even quicker if one or two of the big printer companies decide to release a mass market 3D printer.

I was talking to a female friend the other day on facebook and 3D printers came up.
She asked the usual "How can you print in 3D?" questions etc and thought it was a nerdy idea and not really that interesting. Then I gave her a few simple examples of how it might be useful to her and she decided it was a brilliant idea.
The example that sold her on the tech was simply that if a dial on her old cooker broke and she needed a new one but the cooker was so old you couldn't buy them any more she could simply download the model and print one off. Or even if you can still buy the part in a shop you might just print one off anyway to save you the hassle.

It's the simple uses for the tech that's going to sell it to you're average person.


Now I'm off to try test out the home made 3D scanner I build last night.

.

Andrew76

A mass market 3D printer would be cool. Are the printed objects meant to be functional or just ornamental? Or does that depend on the printer/materials? Just curious as to how strong they are. Fascinating technology though.

Steve X2

Andrew76 wrote: »

A mass market 3D printer would be cool. Are the printed objects meant to be functional or just ornamental? Just curious as to how strong they are. Fascinating technology though.

The parts a very functional and will work as well as any plastic part as long as its printed correctly.

You can print in different types of plastic like ABS or PLA or even a special type called PVA that's strong but will dissolve in water.

ABS is pretty much the standard plastic all decent plastic stuff is made out of as far as I know.

.

Myrddin

Steve SI wrote: »

The example that sold her on the tech was simply that if a dial on her old cooker broke and she needed a new one but the cooker was so old you couldn't buy them any more she could simply download the model and print one off. Or even if you can still buy the part in a shop you might just print one off anyway to save you the hassle

I'm sure there's a few other things that would have sold her too

Steve X2

EnterNow wrote: »

I'm sure there's a few other things that would have sold her too

It's hard to print in rubber :pac::pac:

.

Myrddin

Steve SI wrote: »

It's hard to print in rubber :pac::pac:

.

I wouldnt know

CiDeRmAn

I can see all sorts of things being done once the tech gets to mature, metal can only be a little while away.
It's all just engineering now, all there has to be is the consumer demand and, instead of buying retro consoles you'll be printing repro consoles!
No element of the device, bar the processors, will be unprintable in the medium term, and even there the electronics will be easily built.
I can see tanks of fab material being sold in your local Tescos!

What next?
Flying, time travelling Deloreans????


Actually Fab tech has featured for years in science fiction, particularly Alastair Reynolds stuff, although it's usually building weapons and engine elements!
That said even ten years ago this stuff was science fiction, and now it's here....
That's pretty cool.

The medical applications are boundless, imagine someone on the operating table requiring a new windpipe, they can remove the damaged one, scan it and print out a new one, from the correct materials, in precisely the right shape and pop it in.....
Nice!

Myrddin

Sega Neptune case tbh

Steve X2

Ok, so my first test with the home made 3D scanner was not a 100 percent success.
It wasn't bad at all for a first go but needs a lot of refinement.


I scanned this:



And ended up with a nearly complete and accurate scan. I think the solid colours put the scan off a bit.

Here's a couple of vids of the 3D object(think you need to go to YouTube to see them full screen, only happens on boards for some reason).

3D object with full textures(looks best in HiDef):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hx6CdMP_XtI

3D wireframe of object(looks best in HiDef):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Md42IMgbs2w

.

CiDeRmAn

Well done all the same.
I am sure that in the not too distant future our phones will do the same job in an app!
Just use some sort of lasing to establish distance to the scan points and off it'll go...

I love the future, can't wait to live there....

Of course I'll be the fattest, baldest guy on a hoverboard, but frak it!

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well done all the same.
I am sure that in the not too distant future our phones will do the same job in an app!
Just use some sort of lasing to establish distance to the scan points and off it'll go...

I love the future, can't wait to live there....

Of course I'll be the fattest, baldest guy on a hoverboard, but frak it!

It'll be the future, we can just print out a new body and some hair :pac:

.

Steve X2

My Astro Wars scan was a bit of a disaster to say the least.
It looks like it was recovered from a fire!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYN7pzDqAXU

.

liamo1991

Just read/ skimmed over the thread quickly 3d printing is an interest of mine too hoping to get a dektop reprap type printer soon, reguards your 3d scanning read this recently might be of interest of making 3d copies of larger objects hopefully it can create files for 3d printing etc.
http://www.core77.com/blog/technology/au_2011_123d_catch_lets_you_capture_3d_models_quickly_cheaply_21293.asp

purplec

I have something but can it be printed in translucent plastics?

Let me know

Doge

After making a complete balls of trying to remove 2 screws on a mega drive cart, (didn't actually realize they have weird screws until now),

I came up with a good idea for a 3d print.

Transparent carts for old consoles.

If they were doable you could sell them to practically anyone buying an everdrive PCB, maybe even get a store to order from you in bulk.

Off to order a game bit for now.

Steve X2

waveform wrote: »

After making a complete balls of trying to remove 2 screws on a mega drive cart, (didn't actually realize they have weird screws until now),

I came up with a good idea for a 3d print.

Transparent carts for old consoles.

If they were doable you could sell them to practically anyone buying an everdrive PCB, maybe even get a store to order from you in bulk.

Off to order a game bit for now.

Printing transparent stuff is possible but the way that 3d printers print layers of plastic on top of each other to get the final object doesn't really lend itself very well to transparency.

You'd probably need one of the 3D printers that cost around 25-50k to get really decent results and even then it would probably be a smokey transparency rather than a nice clear one.

.

Owyhee

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Well done all the same.
I am sure that in the not too distant future our phones will do the same job in an app!

Your future has already arrived http://www.trimensional.com/

Dr Bob

Hmm , bit mundane I know but as a sega collector first thing I'd be looking at doing is knocking out a ton of replacement clamshells . A small amount of gluing/heat sealing with transparent plastic sheets cut to size and a bit of cover printing and my collection would look a hell of a lot better overnight

Steve X2

I've decided to get the brand new MakerBot Replicator 3D printer with the dual extrusion 2 colour printing option. It's pre-built for you so is calibrated and ready to go when it arrives so no messing around.

I think its a good start and the price is right(for a 3d printer anyway).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY6VSu-oOws

I'll do a bit more research and put an order in at the end of the week if I'm still happy with it.


.

Pyongyang

http://store.makerbot.com/replicator-404.html

That looks like a seriously cool piece of kit. How great would it be for printing restrictor gates and custom pieces for arcade sticks!

Steve X2

Pyongyang wrote: »

http://store.makerbot.com/replicator-404.html

That looks like a seriously cool piece of kit. How great would it be for printing restrictor gates and custom pieces for arcade sticks!

Yeah, lots of potential for playing around or making some serious stuff.

From a purely design point of view it will be fun to print out some of the stuff I've made in 3D studio max and those sorts of apps.

Now I just need to sort out my 3D scanner. The system I've made myself just isnt accurate enough so I'll need to buy one.
Wonder if I can find one that you just put the item in the box and press scan and that's it. Seems like a lot of messing around on the 3d scanner front and the final scans can be rubbish in the end.

The search goes on.

.

Doge

Steve SI wrote: »

I've decided to get the brand new MakerBot Replicator 3D printer with the dual extrusion 2 colour printing option. It's pre-built for you so is calibrated and ready to go when it arrives so no messing around.

I think its a good start and the price is right(for a 3d printer anyway).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY6VSu-oOws

I'll do a bit more research and put an order in at the end of the week if I'm still happy with it.


.

yay!

Steve X2

To buy the scanner or put the money towards a new Nikon D4 DSLR?

I really want both

What to do, what to do????????
.

Myrddin

Steve SI wrote: »

To buy the scanner or put the money towards a new Nikon D4 DSLR?

I really want both

What to do, what to do????????
.

Buy more cabs?

Steve X2

EnterNow wrote: »

Buy more cabs?

Hmmm, Maybe in a couple of months :cool:

.

talbot93

Hi Steve,
I'm doing a major project in college on 3D scanning and I am finding it very hard to locate a scan of an object. Have you any scans of any objects and if so could I get one from you? It would be greatly appreciated. I'm just wondering what kind of file types that it can be sent around in and also the different types of software that I can be worked in.

Cheers
Rory

Steve X2

talbot93 wrote: »

Hi Steve,
I'm doing a major project in college on 3D scanning and I am finding it very hard to locate a scan of an object. Have you any scans of any objects and if so could I get one from you? It would be greatly appreciated. I'm just wondering what kind of file types that it can be sent around in and also the different types of software that I can be worked in.

Cheers
Rory

Hey,
This probably isn't the best area of boards to be talking about this stuff. Anyway, most of the 3d printable scans/files will be in .STL format as thats what the majority of 3D printers use(thats what I use on my MakerBot Replicator 2).

Here's a very simple stl of a Game Boy battery cover:
http://www.retrovia.ie/dls/GBoyBattCover-SMG.zip

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m7c41jQyfCQ

Most of the functional stuff i would be printing/scanning are small and simple parts that work well on home 3d printers(mostly replacement parts for retro consoles and computers, I did some Vectrex controller parts recently).
For 3d prints that require a very high end(as in high resolution and non standard plastics/materials) I send the file off to shapeways to be printed. They are stupid expensive so i don't use them much


.

CiDeRmAn

Anyone have and are willing to print a case for my turbo everdrive

Steve X2

CiDeRmAn wrote: »

Anyone have and are willing to print a case for my turbo everdrive

Got it printed at shapeways as it requires pretty high resolution printer.

https://www.shapeways.com/product/GWWERQCTJ/super-low-profile-ted-shell?key=abe08657023350fe894bd717ba60719a


.

safetyboy

Battery covers for Nintendo game and watches

CathalDublin

Star Lord

^ WANT!!!!!!!!

But can't get, so...

Steve X2

safetyboy wrote: »

Battery covers for Nintendo game and watches

Sure, that ones easy



It'd be cheaper to get a repro one on ebay and paint it to match than getting it 3d printed though.

http://www.ebay.ie/itm/NEW-REPLACEMENT-CLEAR-BATTERY-COVER-FOR-NINTENDO-GAME-AND-WATCH-FAST-POST-/231441341966?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item35e2fa9e0e

machiavellianme

How about replacement thumbsticks for the N64?
Whoever perfects that shall be my new hero.

Steve X2

machiavellianme wrote: »

How about replacement thumbsticks for the N64?
Whoever perfects that shall be my new hero.

Thumbstick part is easy(plenty of 3d models online), internal connectivity would be the hard bit.

CosmicSmash

machiavellianme wrote: »

How about replacement thumbsticks for the N64?
Whoever perfects that shall be my new hero.

A lot cheaper to buy, I think the best thing would be printing parts you can't buy. I don't want to be your hero but here you go in anyway.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Thumbstick-Joystick-Repair-Replacement-for-Nintendo-64-N64-Controller/1979590916.html

CathalDublin

on the subject of 3D printers did anyone else see this?
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1853707494/pancakebot-the-worlds-first-pancake-printer

machiavellianme

CosmicSmash wrote: »

A lot cheaper to buy, I think the best thing would be printing parts you can't buy. I don't want to be your hero but here you go in anyway.

http://www.aliexpress.com/item/Thumbstick-Joystick-Repair-Replacement-for-Nintendo-64-N64-Controller/197959091

Those in the link only fit the generic 3rd party controllers of the time. There are a handful of ones that fit the official versions around but cost more than the controllers are worth. Plus there are no decent oem replacements available that don't suffer from sensitivity issues - you can't spin attack in OoT or aim in Goldeneye.
I wouldn't have mentioned it if something workable was out there.

talbot93

Hi again,
I cant seem to open the file that u sent to me (Gameboy cover). which software package are you using to open your files?

Steve X2

talbot93 wrote: »

Hi again,
I cant seem to open the file that u sent to me (Gameboy cover). which software package are you using to open your files?

http://lmgtfy.com/?q=STL+Viewer&l=1

Steve X2

Slowly but surely adding useful retro related printable 3D models to my site.
Not much at the moment but will be adding more decent stuff in the next few days as time allows. Few bits of software there as well that might be helpful(nothing dodgy).


http://www.retrovia.ie/forumdisplay.php/34-3D-Models

eddhorse

Steve X2 wrote: »

Slowly but surely adding useful retro related printable 3D models to my site.
Not much at the moment but will be adding more decent stuff in the next few days as time allows. Few bits of software there as well that might be helpful(nothing dodgy).


http://www.retrovia.ie/forumdisplay.php/34-3D-Models

They look great, blank cartridges would also be handy for everdrives.