Vice Metal Casting from 3D Printed Patterns

[marksbug]

my bad, not diapers, ...disappears...my spellen is as bad as my seeing&typing. but using diapers for casting would be some hot **** for sure..... Ive seen the metal 3d printer, where they built a jet engine, they can varry the alloy withen the peice there printing.pertty sweet.and pretty expensive,I think it was boing that did it. might be on utube. Ive been planing on doing some casting for long time, but things always seem to get in the way...including life. one day I will build it and do it...I hope.many things befor it.

[C-Bag]

MetalDesigner I believe you're the only one on here who's got experience with 3D printers. Like the SW until you get your feet wet it's hard to know which way to jump. I googled "best 3D printer" and some review shoot out that gave the top 5 along with Amazon links. Reviews didn't seem to reflect their opinions. I don't go totally by reviews but they can help. And if most of them are positive I look close at the negative and see if I figure out if its just a ringer or what. You mentioned cryptically wait till next year. Do you expect some kind of quantum leap and what co's are you watching? Do they already have the grinder recycler filament maker? It makes sense.

[Frank S]

Metal Designer I hear ya,
I've been using solidworks since version 98 I had bought and learned how to turn on my first computer just a couple days before a friend said hey I have something you really need a couple months later he came over and removed it then installed 2001 from then on I bought a subscription, version 2004 Sp4 was the last of the first, 2005 was a wasted year 6/7 8 9 10 just more repeats of the previous started to get bloated 11/12 showed promise, last version I was able to afford since retiring is 2013 . does what I need for it to do never got too involved in a lot of the salad dressings in the program One thing I have always disliked about solidworks is no reverse save files When I had Autocad 2014 I could save back a few years so others who were running older versions could read my files

[MetalDesigner]

MetalDesigner I believe you're the only one on here who's got experience with 3D printers. Like the SW until you get your feet wet it's hard to know which way to jump. I googled "best 3D printer" and some review shoot out that gave the top 5 along with Amazon links. Reviews didn't seem to reflect their opinions. I don't go totally by reviews but they can help. And if most of them are positive I look close at the negative and see if I figure out if its just a ringer or what. You mentioned cryptically wait till next year. Do you expect some kind od quantum leap and what co's are you watching? Do they already have the grinder recycler filament maker? It makes sense.

Well ~ Since You Asked, I Will Ramble on a Bit ...

The first 3D-Printer I made designs for was a very expensive Stratasys unit and it was freaky cool what it could print and the detail of the small parts.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...ng-solidworks/





However, when it came to my home 3D-Printer my budget had to be less than $2000.
( Turns out the printer I chose sells for $800 now )

For me, it is all about the 3D-Printing software and I got to try out a lot of different brands a few years ago by taking test .STL files with me on a USB drive to Las Vegas trade-shows and having them print the item for comparison so I could see their software features.

To be clear, when I say 3D-Printing Software, I am talking about what the 3D-Printer does AFTER you have a finished CAD model ready to 3D-Print. The software uses code logic to figure out where to put the support material, what type of hollow fill you wish to put inside, etc.





When looking for a 3D-Printer under $2000 I chose AFINIA 3D because their software (my opinion) is amazing!


I have yet to design a metal casting pattern for something on SolidWorks that this little H480 3D Printer can't print ... if it fits in the printing area, then it prints it ... and it is only $799.
Afinia H480 3D Printer - Afinia 3D Printer

Of course, my inexpensive 3D-Printer can't print the fine detail, and very small parts, like the expensive 3D-printers... but it certainly works for my projects .... and AFINIA's software deals with overhangs completely in it's logic-software and puts the support material where it needs to be; yet, the support material just pulls off when done.

Basically, you open the part' .STL file in the AFINIA software, place it on the virtual printing bed in a good printing position and then press START and the software does everything else and you come back a few hours later and you have your 3D-Printed parts.


The only issue I have with my 3D-Printer is Large parts printed with ABS filament will warp a bit off the printing platform, but then I tested out their PLA filament and it prints flat as can be, so I don't have any issues with my patterns if I use PLA.

They came out with a Larger 3D-Printer last year for $1900, but I have not had the chance to test it yet.
Afinia H800 3D Printer - Afinia 3D Printer

I like the AFINIA 3D brand so much I did some Filament Spool Renderings for their boxes as a Thank You and also made some 3D-Printed designs for them to print at Trade-Shows.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...-filament-box/

So I am a fan of AFINIA 3D-Printers... but have used different brands, and still feel AFINIA has the best software ... and easiest to setup & start using out of all the inexpensive printers I have tried.

The only reason I mention to wait is 3D-Printing technology is advancing so fast that it is like the internet was in the mid 1990s whereby every year things just get better and faster.

The models that have not been released yet will be faster and you'll get more material options for the money spent.

I suggest to people find someone that has a printer and ask them to test print some of your designs ... or a place that you can use one like FedEx Stores ... and draw up some items and get the feel for it.

Then draw up some items and order 1 or 2 High-Resolution 3D-Prints from Shapeways.com to see what a very quality print can look like.

Then spend a few months drawing up all the items you want and by the time you have the items ready the new 3D-printer designs might be out.

As an example, when I bought my 3D-Printer it was $1600 but now you can get it for $800 and do the same prints I can do... but in 6 months you could spend that $1600 and get one that prints metal, carbon-fiber, and/or ABS & PLA.

I use Shapeways.com all the time to make very cool fine-resolution prints for Chocolate Molds and Jewelry.

Hope that helps and has answered some of your questions!!

... and yes I think there are a few ABS grinders out there for old filament but have seen nothing that looks better than what I feel most of the people on HomeMadeTools could make ... Very impressive Machinists & Designers of Cool Stuff on this website.


... CHEERS!!

[DIYer]

Thanks MetalDesigner! We've added your Vise Casting Molds to our 3D Printing category,
as well as to your builder page: MetalDesigner's Homemade Tools. Your receipt:

Vise Casting Molds by MetalDesigner

tags: casting, 3D printing, molds

[C-Bag]

Well ~ Since You Asked, I Will Ramble on a Bit ...

The first 3D-Printer I made designs for was a very expensive Stratasys unit and it was freaky cool what it could print and the detail of the small parts.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...ng-solidworks/





However, when it came to my home 3D-Printer my budget had to be less than $2000.
( Turns out the printer I chose sells for $800 now )

For me, it is all about the 3D-Printing software and I got to try out a lot of different brands a few years ago by taking test .STL files with me on a USB drive to Las Vegas trade-shows and having them print the item for comparison so I could see their software features.

To be clear, when I say 3D-Printing Software, I am talking about what the 3D-Printer does AFTER you have a finished CAD model ready to 3D-Print. The software uses code logic to figure out where to put the support material, what type of hollow fill you wish to put inside, etc.





When looking for a 3D-Printer under $2000 I chose AFINIA 3D because their software (my opinion) is amazing!


I have yet to design a metal casting pattern for something on SolidWorks that this little H480 3D Printer can't print ... if it fits in the printing area, then it prints it ... and it is only $799.
Afinia H480 3D Printer - Afinia 3D Printer

Of course, my inexpensive 3D-Printer can't print the fine detail, and very small parts, like the expensive 3D-printers... but it certainly works for my projects .... and AFINIA's software deals with overhangs completely in it's logic-software and puts the support material where it needs to be; yet, the support material just pulls off when done.

Basically, you open the part' .STL file in the AFINIA software, place it on the virtual printing bed in a good printing position and then press START and the software does everything else and you come back a few hours later and you have your 3D-Printed parts.


The only issue I have with my 3D-Printer is Large parts printed with ABS filament will warp a bit off the printing platform, but then I tested out their PLA filament and it prints flat as can be, so I don't have any issues with my patterns if I use PLA.

They came out with a Larger 3D-Printer last year for $1900, but I have not had the chance to test it yet.
Afinia H800 3D Printer - Afinia 3D Printer

I like the AFINIA 3D brand so much I did some Filament Spool Renderings for their boxes as a Thank You and also made some 3D-Printed designs for them to print at Trade-Shows.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...-filament-box/

So I am a fan of AFINIA 3D-Printers... but have used different brands, and still feel AFINIA has the best software ... and easiest to setup & start using out of all the inexpensive printers I have tried.

The only reason I mention to wait is 3D-Printing technology is advancing so fast that it is like the internet was in the mid 1990s whereby every year things just get better and faster.

The models that have not been released yet will be faster and you'll get more material options for the money spent.

I suggest to people find someone that has a printer and ask them to test print some of your designs ... or a place that you can use one like FedEx Stores ... and draw up some items and get the feel for it.

Then draw up some items and order 1 or 2 High-Resolution 3D-Prints from Shapeways.com to see what a very quality print can look like.

Then spend a few months drawing up all the items you want and by the time you have the items ready the new 3D-printer designs might be out.

As an example, when I bought my 3D-Printer it was $1600 but now you can get it for $800 and do the same prints I can do... but in 6 months you could spend that $1600 and get one that prints metal, carbon-fiber, and/or ABS & PLA.

I use Shapeways.com all the time to make very cool fine-resolution prints for Chocolate Molds and Jewelry.

Hope that helps and has answered some of your questions!!

... and yes I think there are a few ABS grinders out there for old filament but have seen nothing that looks better than what I feel most of the people on HomeMadeTools could make ... Very impressive Machinists & Designers of Cool Stuff on this website.


... CHEERS!!

THATS^ what I'm talking about! I know this is a complicated process but when you have no reference it's truly a shot in the dark.

I know this is going to seem oblique but this hopefully explains why I'm asking for some help here.

I recently went through this tech jump when I decided I needed to quit mucking about with the analog sound mixers I've always used for our 4pc acoustic band and go to one of the new digital mixers. There has been this explosion of this stuff coming down from the pro companies touring rigs that have been digital for a decade and using what they learned, have come up with consumer versions. And the array of approaches makes an already daunting task almost insurmountable. Where to even begin?

Luckily there are some pros on my other main haunt, MandolinCafe.com. One seems to be a reviewer as several companies sent him their new mixers to try. He is a pro musician, sound man and recording tech in the EU so has the knowledge to understand a unit from all the different ways it would be approached and has an excellent ear. Add to this he's very fair in his reviews and has been a presence on the Cafe for years.

I followed this thread over 5 or 6 mo seeing the new stuff as it came out and tried to understand the new paradigm and ask questions. I got to where I was ready to jump and needed to get on with it. I had decided I didn't want to buy the usual bare minimum so I went with the next bigger/expensive unit. I ordered it from a good dealer with good customer support and announced to the forum I had incoming. The reviewer said cryptically "I hope you get a good one". He also added what to look for whether you got a good one or not. Turns out this major well known UK company whom I decided to buy this unit from had actually acquired the design from another company in Australia and then had it manufactured in China. And somehow nobody was doing quality control because the channels were very hissy/noisy and the first channel with no signal into it if you turned it up all the way made this sound that sounded like a little kids squeaky tricycle, a warbling sqeaka sqeaka! The reviewer was talking to the company about this problem and it was not clear there was aknowledgement there was even a problem. I contacted the dealer and said I was not a happy camper and was able to return the unit after some communication with the tech dept. When I went back to the forum and said now what do I do the reviewer mentioned a unit he'd reviewed before these and said that was till his fav.

Like your printer MetalDesigner, this mixer was $2700 when it came out and I ended up getting it for $1300. And like what you like about your printer, it's the interface that makes all the difference. This has a unique feature that I wish and hope everything will have is like noob/dummy mode called tweak, then pro/ultimate nerd mode called deep tweak. This way these deep machines can be accessed by beginners and as you learn more and can do more then you move on to full functionality. And it's not stupid bells and whistles useless stuff. The tweak does the heavy lifting for the noob in a simple scratch pad interface, and the deep tweak is what a pro FOH(front of house) sound tech would expect to see on his interface at an arena gig. Built in dual level, gotta love it. Obviously somebody did their homework and made nerds and plain folks work together to make a unit that just plain 'ol works.

I love you were able to take some designs and go down and print them and see the whole thing in action. Is this some kind of trade show just for printers or a more tech oriented thing?

[PJs]

Really glad you "rambled on a bit", MetalDesigner! Great info, links and note worthy opinions.

I think you and Frank S put the nail on it with Software being one of the major keys to putting a system together. I'm an Old ACAD guy (back to V1 thru V2014) and found throughout my tenure that some versions really rocked, others were nothing more than bloatware for special interests or buggy as heck. One thing that I enjoyed over the years was writing LISP routines to make life easier with it. It was also the reason I got involved years ago with SW and getting a developer copy...but had/have difficulty with the interface. It just wasn't intuitive to me but the whole parametric design process was a boon to industry in the long run and followed the higher end software in big industry, bringing it to a more common ground.

To me the key is a good GUI that you don't have to drill down for days to get to the details. Also the portability to other platforms like Frank mentioned. If you can't communicate it to others upstream or downstream or have to "buy" an IGES module to port it (like ACAD did at one point) it becomes a burden to the design process. The First thing I looked at about your "Onshape" recommendation was just that, and seemed to have covered all the bases. Lastly that it can be learned relatively quickly, allowing one to be productive in a short period, creating those "future successes" and making it fun.

Your points about the software for the printer are much appreciated from your vast background in use. I saw way too many CAD/Cam programs iterate into oblivion for some of the reasons you point out, plus the seat costs on top of it. The one thing that concerns me in delving into this is the standardized file types. It appears the defacto standard is STL but am seeing some of the others, depending on the machine and it's interface. I would be very interested in your thoughts on this. What you described with the support material is a great feature instead of having to figure it out on the design end.

One other thing I would greatly value your opinion on is the machine maintenance. How much cleaning after a print or prints, or nozzle cleaning, tables, belts, heads, re-calibrating speeds & feeds or Origins, etc. When and if you have time.

The new trend in Additive manufacturing seems to be a big boon to production and a change in approach from the engineering side. But, are we just making throw away things faster? 3D sintering turbine blades (Roll Royce) is one thing compared to a 50-100T forge press but worry about printing car frames/body parts and the waste stream to resolve them. For me the bigger value is in Rapid Proto work and being able to flush out a design quickly and relatively inexpensively to satisfy the Marketing mindset. IMHO this has brought a Bain to our world in the next new i-product every 15 minutes leaving the previous to flush into the ground or hopefully recycled...and at what costs to produce at that rate. Don't get me wrong, I love my Old Nexus 7 tablet and one day will relegate it to a DRO interface when your buddy dials it in for production but still use it in the shop for various things as well as checking on the Basketball scores or reading an e-book...but as with most bloatware (android/apple) and "Free Apps" they take over and turn it into a slug until you have to upgrade...a sad testimony to Marketing your/our personal information. OOP's, Apologies for the soap box and too many "...'s"!

Once again in our lifetimes we get to witness and be apart of an Amazing transformation through technology. My son and I have considered investing for a while now, in a medium level machine to do some proto work and take on some work in rapid proto. I am really grateful you have shared all this with us. I learned a bunch of the nuts and bolts I look for in learning something new. Mostly I appreciate your forward looking approach to design and re-purposing materials in thoughtful ways. Looking forward to future posts and projects you share with us!

Thanks Again!! ~PJ

[Paul Jones]

MetalDesigner,

You have a great discussion going here and I have learned a lot. The use of the 'Centroid' Scale-Up for adjusting the patterns to account for cooling shrinkage of the casting metal is nice feature and can be fine tuned from QC of your production runs. Combining the pattern CAD and 3-D printing makes the casting process more repeatable when dealing with limited production runs. Thanks for the information.

Regards,

Paul Jones

[MetalDesigner]

Really glad you "rambled on a bit", MetalDesigner! Great info, links and note worthy opinions.

I think you and Frank S put the nail on it with Software being one of the major keys to putting a system together. I'm an Old ACAD guy (back to V1 thru V2014) and found throughout my tenure that some versions really rocked, others were nothing more than bloatware for special interests or buggy as heck. One thing that I enjoyed over the years was writing LISP routines to make life easier with it. It was also the reason I got involved years ago with SW and getting a developer copy...but had/have difficulty with the interface. It just wasn't intuitive to me but the whole parametric design process was a boon to industry in the long run and followed the higher end software in big industry, bringing it to a more common ground.

To me the key is a good GUI that you don't have to drill down for days to get to the details. Also the portability to other platforms like Frank mentioned. If you can't communicate it to others upstream or downstream or have to "buy" an IGES module to port it (like ACAD did at one point) it becomes a burden to the design process. The First thing I looked at about your "Onshape" recommendation was just that, and seemed to have covered all the bases. Lastly that it can be learned relatively quickly, allowing one to be productive in a short period, creating those "future successes" and making it fun.

Your points about the software for the printer are much appreciated from your vast background in use. I saw way too many CAD/Cam programs iterate into oblivion for some of the reasons you point out, plus the seat costs on top of it. The one thing that concerns me in delving into this is the standardized file types. It appears the defacto standard is STL but am seeing some of the others, depending on the machine and it's interface. I would be very interested in your thoughts on this. What you described with the support material is a great feature instead of having to figure it out on the design end.

One other thing I would greatly value your opinion on is the machine maintenance. How much cleaning after a print or prints, or nozzle cleaning, tables, belts, heads, re-calibrating speeds & feeds or Origins, etc. When and if you have time.

The new trend in Additive manufacturing seems to be a big boon to production and a change in approach from the engineering side. But, are we just making throw away things faster? 3D sintering turbine blades (Roll Royce) is one thing compared to a 50-100T forge press but worry about printing car frames/body parts and the waste stream to resolve them. For me the bigger value is in Rapid Proto work and being able to flush out a design quickly and relatively inexpensively to satisfy the Marketing mindset. IMHO this has brought a Bain to our world in the next new i-product every 15 minutes leaving the previous to flush into the ground or hopefully recycled...and at what costs to produce at that rate. Don't get me wrong, I love my Old Nexus 7 tablet and one day will relegate it to a DRO interface when your buddy dials it in for production but still use it in the shop for various things as well as checking on the Basketball scores or reading an e-book...but as with most bloatware (android/apple) and "Free Apps" they take over and turn it into a slug until you have to upgrade...a sad testimony to Marketing your/our personal information. OOP's, Apologies for the soap box and too many "...'s"!

Once again in our lifetimes we get to witness and be apart of an Amazing transformation through technology. My son and I have considered investing for a while now, in a medium level machine to do some proto work and take on some work in rapid proto. I am really grateful you have shared all this with us. I learned a bunch of the nuts and bolts I look for in learning something new. Mostly I appreciate your forward looking approach to design and re-purposing materials in thoughtful ways. Looking forward to future posts and projects you share with us!

Thanks Again!! ~PJ

Thank You for Your Thoughts

What I like about HomemadeTool.com is the individuals on here seem to enjoy the 'Experiment' process and for me it is all about trying something new and experimenting.

I was lucky to be able to use SolidWorks at a job until was able to purchase my own copy ...
It's expensive no doubt ... but for me is just like any other tool because it gives the ability to test out ideas.
Nice thing about SolidWorks is one can build a $50K virtual widget in an evening for free and then delete it in the morning if the idea didn't work out ... then testing the idea (and having fun doing it) didn't cost a dime.

So, for me at least, the price of SolidWorks over the years has saved me more money in experimenting material costs and time than its initial price ... plus I can use the Software when I have to travel.
Yay!!

On the 'Over-the-Jeep' table I sat in an airport on my laptop computer figuring out the best way to cut the metal I needed for as little waste as possible. Plane was late, so had the time, and it was fun when done just having a few cut-offs of metal left-over.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...op-lift-table/



Mostly SolidWorks allows me to work on stuff when traveling so I feel like I am still working on work projects and/or 'Just-for-Fun' projects... then when get home have some idea of what I need to use out of the scrap metal have in the shop to build something.

So SolidWorks is great, but so is AutoCAD, so it TurboCAD ... I'll take whatever I can afford ... I used the drawing part of MS Power Point for years and it worked great!!

You wouldn't know it from all the SolidWorks drawings posted on here... but my FAVORITE thing to do is walk out in the shop with no drawings and dig through the scrap bin and find items to make something I need...
'Scrap Metal Engineering'

2nd favorite thing to do is walk around Scrap Metal Yards and scrounge for metal, Nuts and bolts, etc.
Hint ~ Bring doughnuts to the Metal Yard workers for better access
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...scrounge-2014/

So that is why that Silly little Website of mine exists ... For sharing with Friends & Family the 'Just-for-Fun' Successes that I thought people might want to see, just as I like viewing other's experiments online.

The Website is also 'written' for people that are NOT metalworkers or machinists or welders ... Instead I try to go over items for people that are just curious and/or might want to learn more to try it themselves.

Have 10x more failures trying out items but when I do find something that 'sort of' works then I try to share it because I like reading or viewing a view of how others have done items.

On a Funny Side Note ~ I had to watch a YouTube Video to see how to get a Shift Knob off a 1999 Jeep today
... and the 'price' of watching the Knob removal info in the video was I had to watch a lengthy Death Metal Music Video intro ... Which actually gave me a good morning chuckle.
... But now I know the secret to taking off a 1999 Jeep knob

Guess my 'Old Welder' motto might be: 'If ya don't try some of this stuff and fail then ya won't have any small successes if life'

The Website/Blog is there so I can quickly 'LINK' to a Posting when someone asks a question and/or discussing items with others and they can read them if they wish to learn what I found out. Many/most are not new ideas, just the experience I had experimenting and some of the results of my version.

For example, you can see on the website that I call the 'Radius Turner for Lathe' ~ Lathe Radius Cutting Experiment ~ because I had no idea if it would work ... and then it worked way better than ever expected ... and now use it all the time.



Knew I could get the 1-Bolt Quick-Connect idea to work, but didn't realize how helpful it would be to switch back-and-forth between my normal tool post and the Radius turner... So I put the 'device' on the website & YouTube thinking other people might want to use it as a starting point to make their own Lathe Radius Turner.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...ng-experiment/

Certainly not a new idea at all... Just a version for my Metal Lathe that can be removed and/or put on the Lathe in 45 seconds
... Which to me on my Lathe is Quick, but to others might not.

So Anyway ... ( I'm Rambling a lot today ~ I'm old give me a break ) ... Thank you on your thoughts ...
It helps me understand that others are considering experimenting with 3D-Printing for their projects, and makes me feel better about telling people to wait at least another year because I think the quality and abilities of 3D-Printing units will be better and more advanced.

There are so many 3D-Printing test options available to try prior to buying one like, a friend, or the FexEx Stores, or ordering a print off Shapeways.com that I wanted to mention those items to give people and place to learn more about what THEY expect from a 3D-Printer so they are not let down when they purchase one.

There are a lot of MAKER FAIRS out there with people that will be running 3D-Printers at the MAKE DIY shows ... I would suggest going to one of the shows in your area and see what people have to say ... if you think I ramble on... just wait till you get them talking about their 3D-Printing ideas!! It's fun to see what people come up with!

Hopefully some of the 3D-Printed items I show on here and my website will help other understand if a 3D-Printer would be able to do the items they expect ... or if they feel they may wish to wait for better technology, better part detail and smoothness, and faster printing speeds of more materials... because all those advancements are on the way!!!

I expected mine to be a TOY ... Which it is... but have tried to make it a tool in conjunction with my metalworking and then document some of the other uses I have tried to find for it to mix with metalworking.
https://ctmprojectsblog.wordpress.co...3-abs-inserts/



CHEERS!!

[MetalDesigner]

THATS^ what I'm talking about! I know this is a complicated process but when you have no reference it's truly a shot in the dark.

I know this is going to seem oblique but this hopefully explains why I'm asking for some help here.

I recently went through this tech jump when I decided I needed to quit mucking about with the analog sound mixers I've always used for our 4pc acoustic band and go to one of the new digital mixers. There has been this explosion of this stuff coming down from the pro companies touring rigs that have been digital for a decade and using what they learned, have come up with consumer versions. And the array of approaches makes an already daunting task almost insurmountable. Where to even begin?

Luckily there are some pros on my other main haunt, MandolinCafe.com. One seems to be a reviewer as several companies sent him their new mixers to try. He is a pro musician, sound man and recording tech in the EU so has the knowledge to understand a unit from all the different ways it would be approached and has an excellent ear. Add to this he's very fair in his reviews and has been a presence on the Cafe for years.

I followed this thread over 5 or 6 mo seeing the new stuff as it came out and tried to understand the new paradigm and ask questions. I got to where I was ready to jump and needed to get on with it. I had decided I didn't want to buy the usual bare minimum so I went with the next bigger/expensive unit. I ordered it from a good dealer with good customer support and announced to the forum I had incoming. The reviewer said cryptically "I hope you get a good one". He also added what to look for whether you got a good one or not. Turns out this major well known UK company whom I decided to buy this unit from had actually acquired the design from another company in Australia and then had it manufactured in China. And somehow nobody was doing quality control because the channels were very hissy/noisy and the first channel with no signal into it if you turned it up all the way made this sound that sounded like a little kids squeaky tricycle, a warbling sqeaka sqeaka! The reviewer was talking to the company about this problem and it was not clear there was aknowledgement there was even a problem. I contacted the dealer and said I was not a happy camper and was able to return the unit after some communication with the tech dept. When I went back to the forum and said now what do I do the reviewer mentioned a unit he'd reviewed before these and said that was till his fav.

Like your printer MetalDesigner, this mixer was $2700 when it came out and I ended up getting it for $1300. And like what you like about your printer, it's the interface that makes all the difference. This has a unique feature that I wish and hope everything will have is like noob/dummy mode called tweak, then pro/ultimate nerd mode called deep tweak. This way these deep machines can be accessed by beginners and as you learn more and can do more then you move on to full functionality. And it's not stupid bells and whistles useless stuff. The tweak does the heavy lifting for the noob in a simple scratch pad interface, and the deep tweak is what a pro FOH(front of house) sound tech would expect to see on his interface at an arena gig. Built in dual level, gotta love it. Obviously somebody did their homework and made nerds and plain folks work together to make a unit that just plain 'ol works.

I love you were able to take some designs and go down and print them and see the whole thing in action. Is this some kind of trade show just for printers or a more tech oriented thing?

Enjoy hearing about your Equipment ... and perils of research and purchasing!! Fascinating, because I think we all know that situation of worry, "Am I buying the correct unit for what I need?"

My music room has sort of become my 'Inside Office' now but the mixing board is racked deep under the corner area of my sit-down desk but still allows me to connect to the laptop and SONAR software, etc.
I will make a website posting when get the complete set-up finished with the guitar EXF setup.
( My little Mixer is nothing fancy just a 8CH Digital Behringer ... but works great )



I try to tell people when developing a new product it is ALL about providing your customers 'CONFIDENCE' ... Confidence that the item will do what they need ... Confidence that they will be able to set-up and use the product ... and Confidence that the product will last for the time period they need it for.

Confidence is given & gained through INFORMATION ... Gotta love the ablity to provide information through VIDEOS!!

ANYWAY ~ Thanks for the Note, I real like hearing about what others had to go through to research and figure out something they wished to buy/set-up.

You might be interested in the 3D-Printing 'Just-for-Fun' project doing for Greg Worth for a new type of Clip for 441MIC ... You should check out his Website Channel!!
He works with Steve Via and such
https://www.youtube.com/user/gregwurth/videos

CHEERS!!