3-D Printing

[BeeMaster2]

GWW,
Sounds good, give him my number.
Jim Altmiller

[gww]

Jim
Thanks
gww

[BeeMaster2]

Here?s an update.
I finished making the slide cap and the arm mechanism for the Honey Gate Valve.
I may make some adjustments if I decide to print them again.

Here is the slide cap:


Here is the the arm, it has a heavy spring and a large set screw for adjusting the tension on the cap.
It is sitting next to the original.


Here is the completed valve.


I had to hand sand the two mating services to make them seal. Not sure if they are smooth enough to fully seal yet. They are pretty lose.
Jim Altmiller

[yes2matt]

Jim
I don't think he got anything but the printer.  He may have got a builder program other then what came with the machine.  He has gotten different hardness type printing material but to be honest, over two days we just learned how to get it to work from his lap top, transferred a few free pre-designs from the internet and built a couple easy things with the program and once he got those moves down, I was out. 

I think he has messed with it quite a bit since my involvement.  I think he bought a cheap caliper to help with his designs.  He has made stuff for other family members but I only really helped or watched while figuring the transferring of info between different programs and his printer. 

He wanted one for years but I did not have enough imagination to figure out how to make it useful for me to want one.  Some day I am going to see if it will print some arrow nochs strong enough to use.  I tried while trying to make it work but did not figure it out on them but some other toy but can go back now that we know how.  Course I may never get off my butt and fire the cross bow any more to need them.  Time will tell.  I have talked so little about it with him lately that he may have bought cameras and other things that help him do stuff that I don't even know about.
Cheers
gww

Ps  Pretty sure it is this printer or at least this brand.    QIDI X-MAX, LARGE SIZE 3D PRINTER

Man be careful about anything critical like arrow nocks. I print with ABS and it is nowhere anything even close to strong enough for that. Only you might be able to print the nock, use something like the 2-part silicone to make a mold and then cast them in epoxy.  But you could just buy/unglue an existing nock and make a mold from that would be faster.   but the silicone for the mold probably will cost as much as the nocks (not counting the printer! ha!) or the resin!

[gww]

yesmat
My brother made me enough to get by with casting and epoxy.  Still have not tried printing and it was only on my mind to try it cause I had seen a design while setting up the printer.
Cheers
gww

[Acebird]

I had to hand sand the two mating services to make them seal. Not sure if they are smooth enough to fully seal yet. They are pretty lose.
Jim Altmiller

I would use a smooth file between the arm and the blue part until the blue part was even.  Then you can mount sand paper to the blue part and get the red cap to match the blue part.  It is a lapping process to get two surfaces to match.  You can use a door shim to adjust the space  between the blue part and the arm.  It is going to be a pain to keep the teeth of the file clean.  May have to start with a coarse file.

[BeeMaster2]

Here is a 1 inch hose to bucket connector I just designed this evening. It is for filling frame feeders quickly with a one inch hose and a five gallon bucket of sugar water.



Here is the nut that I?m printing right now.



Jim Altmiller

[BeeMaster2]

Here are pictures of my latest design. It is designed to work with the previous 1 inch hose connection. It is for being able to control the flow of sugar water from a large container.



This picture was taken from the computer screen. I designed it on Fusion 360.



Here is a cut away view of it. Sugar water comes from the left side.



I?m using an old garden hose handle to open and close the valve.
Jim Altmiller

[Ben Framed]

Amazingly good job Jim!! Very impressive.

Phillip

[BeeMaster2]

Here a a photo of the final product.



It took 4 prints to get it to work.



The first, red one was too short for the spring assembly, the second one, beige one, I changed the filament type and the temperature was too low and the lever arm separated. The third one, black and probably beige also, when I adjusted the height, it changed the thickness of the center port and it failed. Every time you adjust something you have to check what else changed.
Jim Altmiller