molding and 3d printing

[Silent]

got a few projects i want to make and would like to be able to make tens to hundreds of them. I'm considering getting a 3d printer and the tools to make a series of molds.

I could make the initial models in some sort of cad software.. print them, then make molds of the 3d printed project to remake them easily.

Anyone got experience with this? either 3d printing or molding?

any 3d printer recommendations? I am not looking for anything crazy. printed items will be no larger than 15cm cubed. Could do smaller and segment the model into smaller sections, but the precision required for this may not be ideal for hobbiest level molding. I would not have vacuum chambers or anything like this to help with airbubbles or whatnot.

So any recommendations for printers, printing equimpment, silicons for molding, etc. Quite interested in the topic and would be curious to hear from others who have experienced.

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I should mention, I am open to making my own 3d printer if it would be cheaper. Even if it's more expensive.

[[MPGH]Dave84311]

Buy a 3d printer

Don't build one yourself

There are tons of problems with 3d printers, they dont always print as expected if you DIY

[Silent]

Buy a 3d printer

Don't build one yourself

There are tons of problems with 3d printers, they dont always print as expected if you DIY

any suggestions?

I was recently looking at 3d resin printers. Considering buying one, they seem to have a way higher detail level than normal printers. you had any experience with them?

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for normal printers was looking at ender series... ender 5 looks not too bad. Ender 3 I've read here and there its a goodish entry level 3d printer

[[MPGH]Dave84311]

No real suggestions. I haven't looked at 3d printers in ages or used my own. If you're going to do production level stuff you need something reliable and quick enough for the quality you want. Some printing material is expensive so be careful about that.

[DennisDeBeer]

Recommended is the Ender 3D printers Low costs. Good upgradable ;D

If you want to spend some more, Ultimaker or Prusa i3

[Silent]

Recommended is the Ender 3D printers Low costs. Good upgradable ;D

If you want to spend some more, Ultimaker or Prusa i3

Yeah I was looking at Ender 3d printers. They seem cheap, and look like they would suffice for what I need. I've also used Ultimaker printers in the past, seem reliable and quality printers. But due to what I want to be making, I think I may have to prioritize low cost because I need to buy a chunk of other electronics and tools to design and develop the project.

[Zize55]

A 3D printer is a cool thing, it is quite expensive and you need to be able to work on it and understand all the subtleties, I ordered myself a 3D printer Revolution 3D Printers INFINITY 3D in China, but unfortunately it came without any instructions and I could not figure it out myself, I got acquainted with all the specifications and it became easier for me to deal with all this.

[Silent]

A 3D printer is a cool thing, it is quite expensive and you need to be able to work on it and understand all the subtleties, I ordered myself a 3D printer Revolution 3D Printers INFINITY 3D in China, but unfortunately it came without any instructions and I could not figure it out myself, I got acquainted with all the specifications https://revolution-3d-printers.manymanuals.com/3d-printers/infinity-3d/specifications-10080 and it became easier for me to deal with all this.

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broken site

[pinkcow6661]

Depending on the size of the city you live in, check your local auctions. I had two friends get high end 3d printers in great condition at local auctions. In regards to the actual use of the machine I am inexperienced as well.

[CzechOne]

I've had to do a few things using wood resin and plastic printers for various school projects, you can get a really cheap 3d printer if you're making things like boxes gears or just random components but if you want to make small models like for d&d or something like a photon resin 3d printer

They're both fairly cheap you can find fair 3d printers for around 150$ and resin printers for like 250$

[boy]

lmk if you find a good build, i need a relatively small one because i was working on a Raspberry Pi project but it came with MISSING parts and they don't sell the parts separately, and i refunded the order so i dont wanna try and activate warranty bc sketch,

also; if you ever want to find a cool project to work on with your 3D Printer i would suggest farm.bot it's an open source program, basically is a giant 3d printer for your plants, that you can build with a 3d printer

[Matthew]

If your a geek and like the idea of it, I recommend building one. I had a teacher who built several because he loved it. You can learn how each part connects and functions. I heard it can be kind of cheap to build it yourself as well if money is an issue

[Janitor]

I have a friend who is a dentist and I annoy him from time to time to 3D Print stuff for me. So I can make a Silicone mold for the shape and sell it to my customers or like yesterday he 3D printed my logo which has a lot of details. I'll ask him about the printer (he got a new one and said it's cheap and prints faster with more details).
Regarding silicone, I have tested a lot of products over the years and nothing worked miracles like Mold Max 30 from Smooth On, good prices and it gives you the most tiny details of any shape not only this, but you can literally use the same mold hundreds of times (epoxy resin) and if you are going for transparent glossy pours, mold max gives the best result.

Generally talking about MoldMax with resin, but you can definitely use other materials to pour in the mold.

Woodberg checks out.

[Aborted]

Ender has already been mentioned, but they have some solid stuff. For even cheaper you can go Monoprice, but their track record is a little more sketch, albeit solid.

[StephanieDola]

Another vouch for Ender, I use it for my own school projects