Duplicator i3 mini

[mattd10]

So yesterday I bit the bullet and ordered a 3D printer. After a bit of research and shopping around I went for a wanhao duplicator i3 mini. There are several other printers that all look suspiciously similar (that’s the Chinese market for you!) so there is reasonably good support available.

This was slightly more expensive than other models I was looking at, but I liked that it was a small size and wouldn’t look too bad sat on my desk (compared to some other examples!)
Within an hour of it being delivered I’m up and running and it’s currently printing a test print from the sd card, although I have no idea what it is yet!

It’s not got the best specs, but I wanted something that I can have a play around with and print some test prints and that sort of thing. I also paid slightly more and ordered it from amazon so I can always send it back if it breaks!

Hopefully this will spur me on to get back into modelling T! That and the class 67 I’ve pre-ordered!

I will post some pictures and any more info anyone wants when I’m not on my phone and can re-scale images!

Matt

[mattd10]

Well first results are promising! The printer was very easy to set up and get level, I then went ahead and printed the test print. Now I appreciate these are tweaked to print as best as possible with the material provided but I’m very happy with the results! I’ve included a few pictures below.

As a real test I printed my class 450 body shell I’d designed after. It’s only a basic bodyshell but has come out surprisingly well. It’s missing a bit of surface relief which shapeways can produce, but as a test it’s perfect!

A few images to follow.

[mattd10]

Overview of the printer set up in the kitchen!


Test print of a hand as it came off the printer...


Class 450 bodyshell. Originally designed with shapeways FUD in mind, I'm pleasantly surprised with the results!