I forgot to say this in the video, but check the description for links! I have links to all the filaments I mentioned and more in a spreadsheet, as well as my printers, the other videos I showed, and much more!
That is something I would love to do. It will be incredibly hard to do it in a manner that actually controlled all the variables well though. The RPM of weapon and engagement speed and randomness of the rotational position all affect how much of an impact is seen on a hit. I'll keep it in the back of my mind though for sure
Chiming in as a mechanical engineer who studied various aspects of 3DP in graduate school: I second that polycarbonate is a dream material from a use standpoint but is basically impossible to print at the hobbyist 3D printer level. A colleague of mine a few years back was trying to make parts from a PC filament in a heated enclosure on a $3k printer, and nailing the bed adhesion actually doomed their machine. The PC contracted so strongly while cooling that it fractured the glass build bed and tore a huge chunk out of it, knocked it out of commission for at least a month. Personal recommendation is that, should you genuinely need PC printed parts, pay a service to print them for you. Had some great results from Stratasys a few years ago, especially if you live in the Midwest. Fantastic video, thanks for all the great content!
RIP shapeways but at least you can get printed PC from few other places these days. I agree trying to print it at home often isn't worth it. I have had decent results from Prusament PC Blend but it's nothing like pure PC mechanically
Might as well mention this modifications for some materials that can up the durability or reduce the weight such as esun PLA-ST which I have been using on my beetle weight grabbers which took direct hits from multiple verts and have taken minor damage compared to normal pla.
There are way too many modified PLAs out there for me to even attempt to try them all. I have used a few PLA+ variants and never saw them perform as well as PETG. I think at the end of the day though Nylon is still king as long as you are equipped to print it.
@@JustCuzRobotics that is very true honestly though pla+ and PLA-ST are probably the best for ants and plastic ants and for people who have printers not compatible for nylon. This does make me wonder out of the materials out there that pcb way or other commission services out there do what would be the most durable material you can get
There are some special nylons meant to be printed on cheaper printers too like Nylon 230. Some tradeoffs, but might be a lot better than PLA. amzn.to/3x82rFU
Great video with useful tips and recommendations. I print PETG on glass...love it. Just got a hardened steel nozzle and hoping to try PETG with carbon filament..and down the road NylonX.
The problem with printing petg on Glass isn't that it won't stick its that it sticks too well. If you clean your bed with isopropyl alcohol and then print on it right away you might find that chunks of the glass get ripped up with the part. I've experienced this firsthand back in University when I was using a CR 10 with a glass mirror as the bed. I also would not recommend using a petg with carbon fiber as any sort of armor because it's just going to be extra stiff and extra brittle.
@@JustCuzRobotics Thanks for the PETG/carbon fiber usage tips. It will be used for internal support where stiffness is needed. I make my own proprietary build plate spray(retired bio-chemist) and the PETG sticks very well, but the print can be removed from the glass.
Maybe I should switch to PETG considering how little overhangs I use. About the brittleness of PLA, the same Zack guy recommended Polymaker Polyterra PLA and it's GREAT. SUPER flexible considering that it's PLA.
Just a couple warnings. Depending on the blend, Polycarbonate is just as bad for toxic fumes as ABS if not worse. Also printing CF Nylon can throw off some pretty nasty microparticles that your lungs will not enjoy
@@JustCuzRobotics If you’ve already got an enclosure, all you need is a fan strapped to a charcoal filter to start printing whatever filament you want! Ik PC had other issues, but still. Thanks for all your great videos! It’s so awesome to see such in-depth information on your design and testing process
super useful video! would definitely like to see one about your purchasing decision process, even though this video is a year old. I have an X2 and am going to upgrade the heatbreak to all metal. also considering getting an SVO6 or creality k1
5:45 all the ender 3 simps i know always look for direct drive extrusion as one of the first upgrades to do, i dont think there is someone that will defend Ender 3's bowden setup
Great video! I am going with Alloy 910 for my first beetleweight and currently have a stock Ender 3 V2. really want to get a printer that auto levels because I tend to have significant problems with my first layers. What is the next step that would have auto bed leveling and allow me to print with nylon?
Thank you! To print with nylon like I said in the video all you really need is an all-metal heat break. This video will help with ABL from Teaching Tech. That's gonna require messing with firmware which isn't the most straightforward thing ever but I have done it on my Tevo. ruclips.net/video/eF060dBEnfs/видео.html
YUP, everything shown! I have one person interested in the bent weapon tho. If you want to make an offer for anything please email me at team@justcuzrobotics.com
hey there, try printing poly propelene, you can also do abs rather easily if you let your printer heat up for 40min or so before starting and don't forget to put a big box or make a foam insulator to print in. You can see my voron 2.4 in action printing asa on my channel. willing to share my advice if you need it. also i realize this video was almost a year ago
ABS and ASA are both way too brittle for combat robots so I have strayed from them both. That said I did actually just start experimenting with PP filament and while it is also a huge bitch to print without warping, it definitely seems durable enough for the job.
I upgraded it with a bimetal heat brake ($15) and a micro Swiss hardened steel 0.6mm nozzle ($30ish) to print CF Nylon or whatever else I want with it up to 275C
@@JustCuzRobotics Thanks! I read on a reddit thread that the x2 automatically shuts off if it runs over 240. I was hoping that was wrong since I already ordered the printer. FYI your videos are great!
You're welcome and thank you! It most definitely does not shut itself off, it just refuses to go above 260 and if you try making it go to 280 the temp target will just become 260. I changed the firmware to make the max 315 but for some reason it now will just max out at 275 instead.
Yes, but nothing that's actually necessary for printing CF Nylon and the like. I reprinted the previously melted stock ABS fan duct with Alloy 910, and replaced the stock stainless steel heat brake with titanium and the stock aluminum heat block with a nickel plated copper block. Was just kinda hoping to compensate for the worse thermal conductivity of the steel nozzle vs stock brass, honestly no idea if those other changes made any difference. It does seem to heat up a little faster tho.
@@JustCuzRobotics Do you have a suggestion of a company or place to purchase these other metal parts? Since I'm getting the Prusa it makes more sense to me to put them in initially instead of building it then building it then tearing it down and then putting them in later. Thank you again for your help and making this video!
Heatbrake: amzn.to/3CF6YAZ NozzleX: amzn.to/3nJZU1J Copper heatblock: amzn.to/3nGBupM I also have a custom enclosure on my Prusa since I have access to a laser cutter. Gonna see if I can work with Send Cut Send to make a more badass one for the Sidewinder as well. www.prusaprinters.org/social/31323-team-just-cuz-robotics/prints
@@JustCuzRoboticsDo you print all your parts in your enclose? I've watched your video three times now, but I don't remember if you said that or not. Do you have a picture of your enclosure? Is it in transparent acrylic so you can see through it? If so and you are in NE (I think you mentioned you moved from CT to NH or VT) and might be interested in discussing a price to make one for me we should talk off yt by email or something. Again thanks for your help!
I shared a link to my enclosure design in the above comment. I don't know for sure if I'll be able to make one for less than you could buy one commercially now, but we can discuss over email.
bit of a noob In the land of printing but I'm currently looking at a printer for my first beetle weight. I just wondered if you can actually print hdpe or hmdw? I was looking at getting sheets for the armour and base plate but if there are printers (relatively cheap ones) that can print this, I don't see why I don't just get a printer for Christmas and spend the time on cutting out the hdpe on learning the softwear better.
Soooo yes but also no. There is almost no chance a cheap printer can print it, and its a pretty unusual filament, but it is technically 'a thing' to print HDPE. UHMW on the other hand I think it would not be possible since the difference between HDPE and UHMW is the length of the molecular chains of the polymer. (Very High Density vs Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene) The exact process for making UHMW is beyond my expertise as again I am not a materials scientist, certainly no polymer specialty. There may be a filament on the market that claims to be UHMW but I don;t think it would really have any of the benefits of UHMW, for the same reason as I would recommend cutting the parts out from sheets anyway: Layer adhesion kinda sucks. It is essentially a guarantee that a 3D printed PLA sheet and a store bought molded PLA sheet will behave extremely differently and the molded part will be as strong or stronger 100% of the time. There is simply no way around the fact that layer lines have gaps and those gape make it easier to peel apart. Injection molded Nylon parts are used in cars and power tools, but a 3D printed replica would not have nearly the same durability. Quick google search brought me to this: all3dp.com/2/hdpe-3d-printing-material-all-you-need-to-know/ Also relevant: ruclips.net/video/Bl2ESvtBiLo/видео.html
@@JustCuzRobotics Oh shoot, that does seam like a LOT of work just for the ability to custom make hpde parts more complex. I think you're right, I'll probably go with the hdpe sheet and then go with nylon joiners/brackets to attach panels together, that seams like a good compromise. One of the reasons I asked about printing the hdpe is that, usually especially here in the UK its hard to find coloured HDPE sheet that isn't white or black and I know from spraying water butt's at airsoft that HDPE doesn't take to paint what so ever. I saw a video from Ben at team panic where he dyed his HDPE green, but it looked like quite a very lenghty, expensive and inconsistent process.
Yeah I saw the same thing when I looked into coloring my clear Nylon parts. Matterhackers has pro series Nylon and NylonG in lots of colors, and I think Kodak has some colors of it that are of questionable quality. But practically all other nylons everyone else sells are black or clear.
@@JustCuzRobotics Yeah, really is a shame! But oh well, I guess it doesn't have to be perfect the first time. If you can get a really opaque nylon or hpde then I guess there's always the option of sticking coloured foil on the inside and have it shine through... But I guess I'll just go for sticking the "abative foil armour" shatter uses on the outside of my bot and hope that when it starts to fly off the judges don't see that as actual damage 😂.
@@JustCuzRobotics Also thanks for the links/help, it'll give me plenty more to research in the time off around near Christmas to finalise some details.
I forgot to say this in the video, but check the description for links! I have links to all the filaments I mentioned and more in a spreadsheet, as well as my printers, the other videos I showed, and much more!
i would love to see more durability tests of different filaments getting hit with different weapon types
That is something I would love to do. It will be incredibly hard to do it in a manner that actually controlled all the variables well though. The RPM of weapon and engagement speed and randomness of the rotational position all affect how much of an impact is seen on a hit. I'll keep it in the back of my mind though for sure
Chiming in as a mechanical engineer who studied various aspects of 3DP in graduate school: I second that polycarbonate is a dream material from a use standpoint but is basically impossible to print at the hobbyist 3D printer level. A colleague of mine a few years back was trying to make parts from a PC filament in a heated enclosure on a $3k printer, and nailing the bed adhesion actually doomed their machine. The PC contracted so strongly while cooling that it fractured the glass build bed and tore a huge chunk out of it, knocked it out of commission for at least a month. Personal recommendation is that, should you genuinely need PC printed parts, pay a service to print them for you. Had some great results from Stratasys a few years ago, especially if you live in the Midwest.
Fantastic video, thanks for all the great content!
RIP shapeways but at least you can get printed PC from few other places these days. I agree trying to print it at home often isn't worth it. I have had decent results from Prusament PC Blend but it's nothing like pure PC mechanically
Very helpful Seth! Thanks! Waiting to see Mini-mulcher in action!
Might as well mention this modifications for some materials that can up the durability or reduce the weight such as esun PLA-ST which I have been using on my beetle weight grabbers which took direct hits from multiple verts and have taken minor damage compared to normal pla.
There are way too many modified PLAs out there for me to even attempt to try them all. I have used a few PLA+ variants and never saw them perform as well as PETG. I think at the end of the day though Nylon is still king as long as you are equipped to print it.
@@JustCuzRobotics that is very true honestly though pla+ and PLA-ST are probably the best for ants and plastic ants and for people who have printers not compatible for nylon. This does make me wonder out of the materials out there that pcb way or other commission services out there do what would be the most durable material you can get
There are some special nylons meant to be printed on cheaper printers too like Nylon 230. Some tradeoffs, but might be a lot better than PLA. amzn.to/3x82rFU
Great video with useful tips and recommendations. I print PETG on glass...love it. Just got a hardened steel nozzle and hoping to try PETG with carbon filament..and down the road NylonX.
The problem with printing petg on Glass isn't that it won't stick its that it sticks too well. If you clean your bed with isopropyl alcohol and then print on it right away you might find that chunks of the glass get ripped up with the part. I've experienced this firsthand back in University when I was using a CR 10 with a glass mirror as the bed.
I also would not recommend using a petg with carbon fiber as any sort of armor because it's just going to be extra stiff and extra brittle.
@@JustCuzRobotics Thanks for the PETG/carbon fiber usage tips. It will be used for internal support where stiffness is needed. I make my own proprietary build plate spray(retired bio-chemist) and the PETG sticks very well, but the print can be removed from the glass.
Maybe I should switch to PETG considering how little overhangs I use.
About the brittleness of PLA, the same Zack guy recommended Polymaker Polyterra PLA and it's GREAT. SUPER flexible considering that it's PLA.
Just a couple warnings. Depending on the blend, Polycarbonate is just as bad for toxic fumes as ABS if not worse. Also printing CF Nylon can throw off some pretty nasty microparticles that your lungs will not enjoy
Good to know! I won't be coming back to PC anytime soon.
@@JustCuzRobotics If you’ve already got an enclosure, all you need is a fan strapped to a charcoal filter to start printing whatever filament you want! Ik PC had other issues, but still. Thanks for all your great videos! It’s so awesome to see such in-depth information on your design and testing process
Would you look at that. The exact video I was looking for :)
Glad I could help!
thanks so much! this is just the video I was looking for
super useful video! would definitely like to see one about your purchasing decision process, even though this video is a year old. I have an X2 and am going to upgrade the heatbreak to all metal. also considering getting an SVO6 or creality k1
5:45 all the ender 3 simps i know always look for direct drive extrusion as one of the first upgrades to do, i dont think there is someone that will defend Ender 3's bowden setup
Great video! I am going with Alloy 910 for my first beetleweight and currently have a stock Ender 3 V2. really want to get a printer that auto levels because I tend to have significant problems with my first layers. What is the next step that would have auto bed leveling and allow me to print with nylon?
Thank you! To print with nylon like I said in the video all you really need is an all-metal heat break. This video will help with ABL from Teaching Tech. That's gonna require messing with firmware which isn't the most straightforward thing ever but I have done it on my Tevo. ruclips.net/video/eF060dBEnfs/видео.html
Finally was able to sit down and watch this, are there parts still available to buy?
YUP, everything shown! I have one person interested in the bent weapon tho. If you want to make an offer for anything please email me at team@justcuzrobotics.com
@@JustCuzRobotics Awesome, thank you very much!
Do highscools allow that to happen
allow what to happen?
hey there, try printing poly propelene, you can also do abs rather easily if you let your printer heat up for 40min or so before starting and don't forget to put a big box or make a foam insulator to print in. You can see my voron 2.4 in action printing asa on my channel. willing to share my advice if you need it. also i realize this video was almost a year ago
ABS and ASA are both way too brittle for combat robots so I have strayed from them both. That said I did actually just start experimenting with PP filament and while it is also a huge bitch to print without warping, it definitely seems durable enough for the job.
Are you able to print nylon on the Sidewinder? The specs on the X2 say a max temp of 240 C
I upgraded it with a bimetal heat brake ($15) and a micro Swiss hardened steel 0.6mm nozzle ($30ish) to print CF Nylon or whatever else I want with it up to 275C
@@JustCuzRobotics Thanks! I read on a reddit thread that the x2 automatically shuts off if it runs over 240. I was hoping that was wrong since I already ordered the printer. FYI your videos are great!
You're welcome and thank you! It most definitely does not shut itself off, it just refuses to go above 260 and if you try making it go to 280 the temp target will just become 260. I changed the firmware to make the max 315 but for some reason it now will just max out at 275 instead.
I didn't see it in the comments or video, did you add/modify anything else on your Prusa printer besides the e3d nozzle x hardened nozzle?
Yes, but nothing that's actually necessary for printing CF Nylon and the like. I reprinted the previously melted stock ABS fan duct with Alloy 910, and replaced the stock stainless steel heat brake with titanium and the stock aluminum heat block with a nickel plated copper block. Was just kinda hoping to compensate for the worse thermal conductivity of the steel nozzle vs stock brass, honestly no idea if those other changes made any difference. It does seem to heat up a little faster tho.
@@JustCuzRobotics Do you have a suggestion of a company or place to purchase these other metal parts? Since I'm getting the Prusa it makes more sense to me to put them in initially instead of building it then building it then tearing it down and then putting them in later. Thank you again for your help and making this video!
Heatbrake: amzn.to/3CF6YAZ
NozzleX: amzn.to/3nJZU1J
Copper heatblock: amzn.to/3nGBupM
I also have a custom enclosure on my Prusa since I have access to a laser cutter. Gonna see if I can work with Send Cut Send to make a more badass one for the Sidewinder as well. www.prusaprinters.org/social/31323-team-just-cuz-robotics/prints
@@JustCuzRoboticsDo you print all your parts in your enclose? I've watched your video three times now, but I don't remember if you said that or not. Do you have a picture of your enclosure? Is it in transparent acrylic so you can see through it? If so and you are in NE (I think you mentioned you moved from CT to NH or VT) and might be interested in discussing a price to make one for me we should talk off yt by email or something. Again thanks for your help!
I shared a link to my enclosure design in the above comment. I don't know for sure if I'll be able to make one for less than you could buy one commercially now, but we can discuss over email.
bit of a noob In the land of printing but I'm currently looking at a printer for my first beetle weight.
I just wondered if you can actually print hdpe or hmdw? I was looking at getting sheets for the armour and base plate but if there are printers (relatively cheap ones) that can print this, I don't see why I don't just get a printer for Christmas and spend the time on cutting out the hdpe on learning the softwear better.
Soooo yes but also no. There is almost no chance a cheap printer can print it, and its a pretty unusual filament, but it is technically 'a thing' to print HDPE. UHMW on the other hand I think it would not be possible since the difference between HDPE and UHMW is the length of the molecular chains of the polymer. (Very High Density vs Ultra High Molecular Weight polyethylene) The exact process for making UHMW is beyond my expertise as again I am not a materials scientist, certainly no polymer specialty. There may be a filament on the market that claims to be UHMW but I don;t think it would really have any of the benefits of UHMW, for the same reason as I would recommend cutting the parts out from sheets anyway:
Layer adhesion kinda sucks. It is essentially a guarantee that a 3D printed PLA sheet and a store bought molded PLA sheet will behave extremely differently and the molded part will be as strong or stronger 100% of the time. There is simply no way around the fact that layer lines have gaps and those gape make it easier to peel apart. Injection molded Nylon parts are used in cars and power tools, but a 3D printed replica would not have nearly the same durability.
Quick google search brought me to this:
all3dp.com/2/hdpe-3d-printing-material-all-you-need-to-know/
Also relevant: ruclips.net/video/Bl2ESvtBiLo/видео.html
@@JustCuzRobotics Oh shoot, that does seam like a LOT of work just for the ability to custom make hpde parts more complex.
I think you're right, I'll probably go with the hdpe sheet and then go with nylon joiners/brackets to attach panels together, that seams like a good compromise.
One of the reasons I asked about printing the hdpe is that, usually especially here in the UK its hard to find coloured HDPE sheet that isn't white or black and I know from spraying water butt's at airsoft that HDPE doesn't take to paint what so ever.
I saw a video from Ben at team panic where he dyed his HDPE green, but it looked like quite a very lenghty, expensive and inconsistent process.
Yeah I saw the same thing when I looked into coloring my clear Nylon parts. Matterhackers has pro series Nylon and NylonG in lots of colors, and I think Kodak has some colors of it that are of questionable quality. But practically all other nylons everyone else sells are black or clear.
@@JustCuzRobotics
Yeah, really is a shame!
But oh well, I guess it doesn't have to be perfect the first time.
If you can get a really opaque nylon or hpde then I guess there's always the option of sticking coloured foil on the inside and have it shine through...
But I guess I'll just go for sticking the "abative foil armour" shatter uses on the outside of my bot and hope that when it starts to fly off the judges don't see that as actual damage 😂.
@@JustCuzRobotics Also thanks for the links/help, it'll give me plenty more to research in the time off around near Christmas to finalise some details.
Like.