My 3d printer Journey

Hey all. Never really entered one of these competitions before.

Here goes. I would like to spotlight a few machines all manufactured from the same company. The company is Anycubic. Two years ago i wanted to get into 3d design and 3d printing. I started by downloading the hugely popular software, Blender. The great thing about Blender is that its open source and completely free. I went from building small simple shapes to

large more complex models. I learnt so much from self teaching using blogs on the net and videos on youtube. I then wanted to output my models into 3d printing. I first considered using service like Shapeways. I soon dropped this idea and decided to save for my own printer. My first printer became the Anycubic I3 Mega. It seemed the perfect fit for my new hobby. First prints were the owl test files. On my first few prints i managed to not level the device properly and immediately scaratched my build plate. Getting the settings down to art was a time consuming process but once they were dialled in i was away. I have printed so many things on this printer over the 2 years i have had it. I still use it now and dont ever want to part with it. The only downside to it was the build volume. The more i printed the bigger i wanted to go. This was something i had to put up with for the time being. I came to a point where i had to decide if detail or size meant more. At the time i was designing a lot of detailed items for my sisters upcoming wedding. One item was a disney themed wedding ring box for the ceromony. I wasnt getting the results i wanted. The only way i could was with one option. A resin printer. Once again i did the research and being so happy with my other printer i decided to go with the Anycubic Photon. I immediately loved this printer. The difference in quality and less post cleanup was amazing. I love the tidyness of the machine and the fact that it fits nicely on my workbench. However not all is good with this printer. The z rail isnt as rigid as i would like. It sometimes causes issues with prints and lines. The other huge downside is that the fumes from the resin get pumped out into the environment around the printer. The fan inside the chamber serves no purpose and most users disconnect it. Other than that i get amazing results with the printer. I usally use egloo grey resin as it seems slightly cheaper and delivers better results that the anycubic variety. I have both these printers running none stop making prop replicas and other interesting items. What i love about 3d printing is that if you can design it you can bring it into the physical world. I just find it amazing. The only problem being is the more i was printing the bigger the models were getting.

I got fed up of splitting models and reassembling. So i thought its time to add another printer to the clan. I was so happy with my current printer, i went with its big brother. Enter the Chiron. This printer is huge. The tempatation is there to go big and go for a full iron man suit build. I havent had the printer long but im loving everything that i see. I love the auto level feature and it has all the same features from the i3 mega but just on a bigger scale. The biggest problem i had was finding a home for it. Anyway i have rambled on enough. I have uploaded a few photos of some projects i have made with my printers. Most things are finished in arcylic paint with an airbrush or precision paintbrushes.

If you guys feel like checking out any of the products i have mention then feel free to check them out for yourselves.

Blender.org

Anycubic.com