My 3D Printing Farm

An inside look at my grassroots 3D Printing business, what I print and how I have it setup.

Cabinet used is "Pax wardrobe" from IKEA

0:00 How this started
1:14 Current Issues and Fixes
2:20 Reducer Setup (6 printers)
6:58 Reducer Workflow
9:11 Adapter Setup (4 printers)
10:46 Part Packaging
12:22 My Biggest Challenge
13:30 Extension Setup (4 printers)
14:29 Extension Workflow
16:00 Etsy / Amazon
16:32 Recommendations / Final Thoughts

[JdiJoey]

“Package all the shi—“ that part had me 😂😂

[RedoD]

I love seeing this! I also started with just 4 printers, and have since expanded to 20 ender 3v2s with the product I designed. I can relate to what you're doing here. Much success in your future designs and business!

[dvince]

Don't switch to ABS!!! The whole ABS is stronger than PETG thing is a big old myth that as been busted by Stephan from the Youtube channel CNC Kitchen. ABS requires much higher print temperatures wich is going to cause many problems on your stock Enders (trust me I ran 5 enders on ABS for a while and it was a nightmare). What Stephan showed is that not only PETG is similar to ABS (strenght and temp resistance) PETG ended up having stronger layer adhesion than ABS. ABS was one of the first filament to be resistant and that's why it's got this reputation but it's just a myth now.

[SaltGrains_Fready]

HINT: Number the printers with the date they show up and go into service plus any letters or product id's.. That keeps it all in order by when they went into use as well as age etc.

[bradleyhovan]

Good change with dropping PLA. I believe the magic formula here was your designs—these exhausts are super simple for a slicer, which lowers your risk at all stages! Good job

[dpchiron]

Good info - to improve profit margins, or reduce cost you could try:

No stringing (sanding) + faster print -> use larger nozzle (eg 0.8mm) and print in vase mode with thicker layers. If you want a double walled part, make the model two nozzles thick, then remove a 0.03mm vertical slice (so it's like a chain link). Tune the flow, jerk & accel settings to get a strong yet minimal seam up the side. Thicker vase parts with internal structures are also possible depending how you make cuts. Harder to describe, but think of it like scoring the surface with a knife: you do 0.03mm cuts (smallest gap i've found is still recognised by Cura) in to one surface that stop 2 nozzle widths from the opposite skin, a bit like this ├│. You can imagine the slicer printing the outline, with every gap a double wall.

Visual differences (gloss/matte) -> suggests slight temp difference between the hotends as Petg shine increases with extruder temps. Could measure and tune print temp for each of them.

Old stock PLA parts -> perhaps a semi-insulated bag inside the package to save wasting them.

Power/layer issues -> maybe on some machines the stepper drivers vRef is set a bit higher, causing them to run hotter.

Cheaper Filament -> usually the manufacturer lowers costs by not drying (properly). Could use the warm printer cabinets to dry new spools. With a larger nozzle size, slight variation in filament thickness isn't noticeable.

[petermarkk]

The Extruder Mount is one of the best ideas i‘ve ever seen. So easy and really good!

[PatHaskell]

Good for you! I’m really impressed with your attention to detail and recognition of what customers see when they receive your products.

[santopino]

I used to have false power loss issues on a cheap CNC milling machine, I resolved the problem by powering the drill with a separate power unit and leaving the electronics on the original power unit.
The stepper motors generate quite a lot of EMF disturbance that could be an issue for the microcontroller and the communication with the PC, try shielding and grounding.

[oneheadlight]

PETG is plenty.. We print gun parts and they hold up just fine. We also use ASA but you need to be more concerned about VOC's with that material. ABS is pretty much obsolete unless you need a bunch of pretty colors. ASA prints more easier, has the same or better mechanical properties, and has a nice matte finish. We use 3DXTech for most of our filaments.

Edit: We also print with ASA on scotch brand blue tape. 85C bed.

[KLP]

Please consider keeping your printers with the same numbers they have but in each group change them to A, B, and C and do 1A, 1B, & 1C, etc. That way you'll be able to keep them separate.
Just a thought.
I'm not sure it's a good idea, but my printers are colored in other words I printed fan shrouds in blue, red, orange, and green. So my printers are called blue, red, orange, and green in Octoprint themes for each printer. That way I know which one I'm attached to when I'm sending a job.

[elHippieSupremo]

I love the simple fix for the extruder to prevent filament scraping/breaking.

[feedbck]

thank you for this started a print farm myself as well this year and is already taking off like crazy, really great to see some of the innovative ways you are creating a better work flow! gave me some ideas as well!

[joybidwell]

Congratulations! It’s fun to see hard work paying off!

[viewatyourownrisk]

This is a great video, very thoughtfully thought out and the explanations are easy to understand and follow.

Thank You

[erronousactions]

To deal with your powerloss issues I'd look into running all machines on a UPS, because it filters all the incoming power from sudden spikes or drops, since it's constantly fed through the battery in them, so that way you're protected from 'dirty' spikes, which can cause these powerlosses.

[dorjanhajdari]

1. It could be spikes in peak demand dropping voltage for a split second just enough to trigger the warning.
2. The probability of getting an error increases with frequency and quantity. The more you use the printer(s) and the more you have, the more likely you are to experience an issue.

[mechadroit]

This is giving me ideas... I see another side hustle in my future.

[DPrintingForMoney]

"blue tape aged 3 months"...perfect! 😂btw, 100% on spot man, especially on the choice of quality filament

[michaeltyborski]

My Snapmaker Original printer just arrived today. It's a trainer for printing, engraving, and carving. Thank you for showing where effort can lead. And more important, thank you for being a company that believes in quality.