3D print for patterns

[chrisash]

Just wondered if anyone had considered making patterns using 3D printers instead of acrilic patterns

My thinking is that they could be made as a base with a thin raised edge for the actual pattern and being used to press onto a damp leather to leave the design with a cutting line just like craftaid, this would enable more detailed patterns and save the tracing errors that may occure with acrilic patterns

[immiketoo]

The problem is time, expense and refinement.  Most printers leave subtle lines on the surface of the finished item and those would transfer to the leather.  Acrylic is cheaper.

[RockyAussie]

On 07/10/2018 at 3:51 AM, chrisash said:

Just wondered if anyone had considered making patterns using 3D printers instead of acrilic patterns

My thinking is that they could be made as a base with a thin raised edge for the actual pattern and being used to press onto a damp leather to leave the design with a cutting line just like craftaid, this would enable more detailed patterns and save the tracing errors that may occure with acrilic patterns

What @immiketoo said is true but on the other hand many tools and machines I use every day I have been told would or could not work. That is what I love to hear caus it often means if I can make it work I am one step ahead of the rest, until I share it here of course.

 

On 07/10/2018 at 5:40 AM, immiketoo said:

The problem is time, expense and refinement

That is the question of course. I would start by making the lines higher than normal and allow that the lines may need to be smoothed out. You can smooth pla with a warm iron and it can be painted to smooth as well. Also consider the raised shapes possible that can be done in the moulding as well from the back side. Do you have a 3D printer yet? 

[chrisash]

Hi

Thanks, no printer at present but considering getting a basic one to learn, but trying to think of practical things to make and possibly sell

[dikman]

38 minutes ago, chrisash said:

Hi

 trying to think of practical things to make and possibly sell

That thought never entered my head, I just decided I wanted one and felt that it was about time I learned something about them.  I actually had no idea whether it would be useful when I bought it.

[RockyAussie]

2 hours ago, chrisash said:

Hi

Thanks, no printer at present but considering getting a basic one to learn, but trying to think of practical things to make and possibly sell

The possibilities are endless. I make ring boxes from pla which I cover in leather and printed the tools to help me assemble them as well. There is room for a lot of different shape boxes and such, bangles to cover, pouch covers to mould and endless tool improvements.Just need imagination........ My latest tool improvement is to give one of my edging machines a way of adjusting the edging thickness in a more incremental way.

1st pic shows how the thickness adjustment was done previously.This is done by pulling in and out from the knurled roller by hand. Note that the silly brush wiper it came with is now an aluminium piece now. That was an earlier improvement.

This second pic shows what I printed to allow me to adjust the thickness now by even a mm fraction.

After drawing the parts(about 20 minutes after some measurements) I decided to print it in 2 parts but so that it could all be done at the same time.

Nut gets inserted into the part with the help of a little heat.

A bit of super glue ...it works great on pla.

Presto she is now as one

Bolt fitted

I can only say that I wish I had one of these 20 years ago as the amount of molds and jigs and so on would have saved me a fortune in time. Where I once spent hours making moulds out of wood on my bandsaw and sander for say my lipstick cases I can now print as many as I want whenever I need more and still keep working. That is the same now for many of my products as shown in a couple below

.

This week if time allows a local MC club want a stack of belts with 1" letters stamped in a long string of words so.... A block will need to be printed to saddle a 1+1/2" belt with spacings for the letter set and I will bet a few here would like something like that. I repeat..." The possibilities are endless"

 

[Rockoboy]

@RockyAussie is also an ideas man. That's why I call him the ideas man. He has lots of ideas. "Adapted from Dale Kerrigan 'The Castle' a classic Australian Movie"

[sbrownn]

I have been printing 2D and 3D guides and molds for my leather work for 4 years now.  I rarely make something anymore without making cutting and stitching templates and male and female mold patterns first.  

[chrisash]

I have literally just been brought a Ender 3 and yet to put it together, hopefully next week as its my birthday present (72)

Hoping to make some stamps and maybe some molds but have no experience of using them yet, just played with Tinkercad and Freecad did look at Sketup but even the basic free version looked like a very large learning curve

Understand they do take a few hours to make 

Any advice or simple files for leather items i can use to get started would be apreciated

Let you know how i get on next week

[billybopp]

Happy Birthday, @chrisash!  No doubt you'll do some amazing stuff with that new printer!!

- Bill

[bermudahwin]

Hey Chris...

maybe we can talk about printing me some moulds when you become super proficient.

Seriously, I am keen to see how it goes, as I am looking at getting a local laser cutter in Dereham to cut me some metal jigs, and I think 3d printing may be better for me to learn. I may well emulate you.

Harry

[chrisash]

That would be no problem Harry, also your always welcome down to see and observe once i have it up and running

The machines are quite cheap now, I just paid £163 for the latest version of the Ender 3 model which seems highly rated in the lower cost section

[bermudahwin]

Cool, thanks, Chris

[dikman]

Have a look at Thingiverse, there are all sorts of things to print that people post the .STL files for. There are even a few things for sewing (just search for sewing). Pretty good way to get started.

[sbrownn]

Most of the models you might 3D print for leather working really don't require a very in depth knowledge of CAD.  Start off by making yourself some cutting templates.  These are really just 2D models with the only 3D aspect being thickness.  To make a cutting template you begin with a sketch of what you want and then make it 3D using whatever the extrude feature in your program is called.  My favorite program is SolidWorks but there are a bunch out there and they all basically do the same thing.  Once your model is complete save it as a .stl file.  The .stl file is the file type the printer reads.  You can either use the software that came with your printer or an after market program to prepare the .stl file for printing.  I use a program called Simplify 3D.  It is easy to use and is fast.  

If anyone would like some basic instruction on how the process works, send me a sketch of what you want to make and I will lead you through it.  

[dikman]

Umm, the printer needs a Gcode file to print. You need a slicer programme to convert the .STL to Gcode, it also sets the print parameters. I use Slic3r but many use Cura.