For sure. I've used 3D pen and friction welding to add weld lines and other marks to commercially available stuff I've wanted to "make orky" for props. Also simulating damage is a lot of fun with a soldering iron.
In metal friction welding (at least in all the friction welding processes I’ve seen), the material that turns and creates the friction isn’t sacrificial. It’s usually made of Tungsten Carbide, and is plunged into the two metals to be welded. So you end up with two pieces of metal essentially being stirred together by the carbide bit. As such, this looks more like friction gluing than friction welding to me, as it doesn’t appear that the two base pieces are actually melting and fusing together. You might see better results by taking some inspiration from metal friction welding, and taking a steel rod or something which you use to melt the plastic and create the actual friction weld.
Came here to say this. I've got 2.85mm filament and it works beautifully cut into about 5cm bits. Very nearly zero waste, definitely a whole lot less than this method.
Man, all I do is take a mini torch and melt a bit of pla, wipe it around about where I want it, and smooth it with a small card sized but of metal. It comes out looking injection molded. I cut little ridges into the other sides to give it texture too. It's awesome.
Back when I started printing (over 7 years ago now 😳), I would just break or cut off a small bit of 1.75mm filament and insert it directly into the rotary collet you normally would stick tool posts into. The main issue with that, of course, is if there is that it doesn't take much of a bend in the filament to have it flounder on the end. It took some practice, but I got some decent welds.
Lol can immediately see you do mostly cosplay scale stuff because those "almost empty" spools are my "weeks left" doing fine precision parts, miniatures, etc. 😂 Awesome idea in this video. I need to try it.
this almost seems like a perfect mixture of the 3d pen and ironing technique in one, it adds filament while melting it together at the same time. gonna have to try this!
I am 60 years old and I remember a toy that I had MANY years ago as a child and it had a small tool that spun little plastic tips like this to "weld" together parts. It was so much fun creating with it. Nice to see someone used the idea. It looks like this is best used on solid parts, but it's one more tool and technique! :-)
I used this technique about a decade ago using short lengths of filament. I stopped using it because only short lengths of filament worked (long pieces wobbled) and so they ran out too quickly. This printed peg-based approach looks like a nice improvement. I have also used the 3D printing pen (I backed the 2nd 3Doodler Kickstarter campaign just for that) and the special soldering iron tips that are part of the Modifi3d soldering iron-based tool. However, these days, I just tend to use 3DGloop, as it gives a cleaner finish without the risk of digging in to the print.
Awesome idea! I also have a ton of almost-empty filament spools. I took advantage of the Bambu Lab A1 Mini price drop and bought one (no AMS) just as a dedicated “last few meters” machine. I stack up the near-empty beside it, and any time I have a print where color doesn’t matter, I’ll feed it these last bits of filament so they don’t go to waste. Once one runs out, it simply pauses until I pass back by and load the next one.
Back in the late 70’s early 80’s (or thereabouts) there was a series of commercial model kits that were intended to be “welded” together with plastic rods that basically were the same as what you’re doing instead of glueing. I really liked those, and the look of the seams they made for some kits
I'm 59 and when I was a kid (like 10) I had a friction welder for models, it was a small battery drill with these little nibs that would do just this. So it's a very old idea. Just looked it up, was called Spin Welder by Mattel.
I'm sad uncle Jessy. I wanted to watch this video in particular to see how you attach these to the Dremel. But I don't know what you mean by "bare bones bit" and the video was blurry. Are you talking about the drum sander attachment without the sanding drum?
I used to have this vehicle combo toy called the Power Spark, it was literally these plastic cones and a cheapo drill, you could weld it to whatever kinda car or truck you wanted. It was pretty cool!
I export my Nomad sculpts into Blender, which I have set to metric. - I actually love reusing my old rafts with a spatula headed soldering iron to repair cracks or build on structural material, but i like this friction welding idea too!
I've got a F1 helmet I'm working on for a costume but the model is too thick to get a head into. Could I use this technique to sort of sculpt the inside and thin it out while being able to also keep the parts together? I've got several spools of left over filament I can use
You’re correct! There are other methods to fix 3D printed models. I use a 3D printer pen to fix cracks and breaks on my 3D printed models. I either use left over filament in the pen or heat it up the pen to make the fix. Thanks for the video!
Maybe try two chamfers at the edge of the plate (like you would prep metal parts for welding) and then try it again. Have in mind that greater radius means higher velocity and therefor more heat. Maybe that works better for you? Would love to see a test with this setup.
if you use large powered metal wire and weld a piece together by heating the two piece and basically gluing them together, even if you didn’t go deep it’d still leave a scar which is why i like to use the 3D pen to fill up the remaining gaps
I put all my scrap coils of filament in a couple baggies and use them with my 3D pen. Uncle Jessy, have you tried welding filament together like you can do with devices you can print or buy? Then recoiling it and printing with it? I haven't tried it yet but it is something on my to-do list. I'm concerned about the different temperatures for some of the filaments though.
Looks like you would need to work on just how much pressure and angles work best. I wonder if you used a 3D pen with PLA and ran it at ABS temps so the PLA is more fluid like and fill the gaps. Maybe an adapted piece of flat metal net to the tip to smooth the PLA out as you move across the seam.
Honestly if youve already got the dremel out this is great, since you just switch to sanding after it and you're set. I also feel like with soldering you can end up melting out more than you want and actually expanding the gap. Still - proper tools and techniques for the correct job!
It will be great to see your full-size Giant Magneto print. Maybe somehow it could be posed standing by the life-size Jabba the Hutt 3D-printed by the Mighty Jabba's Collection channel some years ago. Supposedly that print still exists.
Many of those spools dont seem near empty, a lot of them look like they at least have a quarter of the filament still left. But other than that, this is an interesting concept.
With the added time to print the tips, the leftover material at the base, and the frequency of tip changes, this seems much less practical than using a 3D printing pen. Am I missing something? This is maybe a stronger weld? But a dremel tool is much more expensive than a printer pen as well.
Or design a mold that you can melt PLA into and finally have a great use for all that Bambu poop. No need to extrude it back into a form a 3d printer can use, just melt the plastic into plugs. Someone please make that high temp cast mold and sell it to the Bambu community for the sole purpose of becoming a friction welding tip. I will buy one.
Arguably, these welding tips could be better. With a 3D printing pen, you're extruding hot plastic onto cold plastic which isn't great for adhesion, ruining the strength. These tips are heating up your work piece as it's adding hot plastic to it. I'd say that could provide more strength. Whenever I use my 3D printing pen on work pieces, with a bit of prying with a fingernail or a tool, sometimes the plastic pops right off leaving the piece seemingly untouched. However, if I bumped the temp, the plastic would adhere better
@@UncleJessy hold the flame near the part DON'T let the flame touch the part it will blacken. And don't hold for too long the part will warp. When it's kinda soft push 2 parts together. Works on small parts no excess material
Love your videos! But, please wear eye protection, those custom tips could break and get launched into your eye. Yeah it's probably fine, but why risk it?
And eventually you will go to the hospital for a plastic bit embedded in you, a finger cut off or a plastic bit in your eyes .... do you realize how fast that thing spins and how fast a broken bit flies off the dremel??? Close to the dumbest thing I have seen posted on the net in a long time!!!!
That's also a nice way to simulate a weld line on props that get painted to look like metal.
For sure. I've used 3D pen and friction welding to add weld lines and other marks to commercially available stuff I've wanted to "make orky" for props. Also simulating damage is a lot of fun with a soldering iron.
Chamfer both edges so it creates a valley for you to fill, you will get a better hold with a flatter finish
Was just about to type this lol! Aspects of actual welding and use a couple passes
In metal friction welding (at least in all the friction welding processes I’ve seen), the material that turns and creates the friction isn’t sacrificial. It’s usually made of Tungsten Carbide, and is plunged into the two metals to be welded. So you end up with two pieces of metal essentially being stirred together by the carbide bit. As such, this looks more like friction gluing than friction welding to me, as it doesn’t appear that the two base pieces are actually melting and fusing together.
You might see better results by taking some inspiration from metal friction welding, and taking a steel rod or something which you use to melt the plastic and create the actual friction weld.
Why not just shove a bit of filament in the tip of the Dremel instead of wasting more filament on brims
Came here to say this. I've got 2.85mm filament and it works beautifully cut into about 5cm bits. Very nearly zero waste, definitely a whole lot less than this method.
my 1.75mm filament was too curled / and very thin for that. A little thicker like 2.8 filament some have mentioned works well for that
@@leanja6926L comment to give to someone who is always helping the community.
Man, all I do is take a mini torch and melt a bit of pla, wipe it around about where I want it, and smooth it with a small card sized but of metal. It comes out looking injection molded. I cut little ridges into the other sides to give it texture too. It's awesome.
I might try that. I added a mini drill chuck to my Dremel, so clipping my 1.75 scraps into friction nibs should be an easy fit.
Back when I started printing (over 7 years ago now 😳), I would just break or cut off a small bit of 1.75mm filament and insert it directly into the rotary collet you normally would stick tool posts into. The main issue with that, of course, is if there is that it doesn't take much of a bend in the filament to have it flounder on the end. It took some practice, but I got some decent welds.
Lol can immediately see you do mostly cosplay scale stuff because those "almost empty" spools are my "weeks left" doing fine precision parts, miniatures, etc. 😂 Awesome idea in this video. I need to try it.
this almost seems like a perfect mixture of the 3d pen and ironing technique in one, it adds filament while melting it together at the same time. gonna have to try this!
There was a toy that did exactly this when I was a kid in the 90s!
LOL I was literally about to comment about the 3D pen thing when you said "I see you in the comments"
hahaha yeah for sure works great as well!
3:30 you can just create a simple profile sketch and revolve around a centerline in most 3d modeling programs.
I don't think Nomad works that way, at least not with precise measurements with that tool.
I am 60 years old and I remember a toy that I had MANY years ago as a child and it had a small tool that spun little plastic tips like this to "weld" together parts. It was so much fun creating with it. Nice to see someone used the idea. It looks like this is best used on solid parts, but it's one more tool and technique! :-)
I used this technique about a decade ago using short lengths of filament. I stopped using it because only short lengths of filament worked (long pieces wobbled) and so they ran out too quickly. This printed peg-based approach looks like a nice improvement.
I have also used the 3D printing pen (I backed the 2nd 3Doodler Kickstarter campaign just for that) and the special soldering iron tips that are part of the Modifi3d soldering iron-based tool. However, these days, I just tend to use 3DGloop, as it gives a cleaner finish without the risk of digging in to the print.
Awesome idea! I also have a ton of almost-empty filament spools. I took advantage of the Bambu Lab A1 Mini price drop and bought one (no AMS) just as a dedicated “last few meters” machine. I stack up the near-empty beside it, and any time I have a print where color doesn’t matter, I’ll feed it these last bits of filament so they don’t go to waste. Once one runs out, it simply pauses until I pass back by and load the next one.
Back in the late 70’s early 80’s (or thereabouts) there was a series of commercial model kits that were intended to be “welded” together with plastic rods that basically were the same as what you’re doing instead of glueing. I really liked those, and the look of the seams they made for some kits
Friction welding with the rods, or using heat? Harbor Freight carries plastic filler rods for fixing things like lawn mower hoods.
@@arthurmoore9488 The rods spun on a dedicated tool, much like what he was doing with the dremmel, so friction welding
I do friction welding as my job. Slower speed and more pressure to get deeper penetration. Ideally you want the material to mix across the seam.
I like my plastic welding kit because it melts metal staples into the model. Great for helmets and body armour.
This is the best tip I've seen in years! Great hack.
I'm 59 and when I was a kid (like 10) I had a friction welder for models, it was a small battery drill with these little nibs that would do just this. So it's a very old idea. Just looked it up, was called Spin Welder by Mattel.
this might be a stupid question but would it "weld" better if yah preheat the 3d prints with a heat gun?
I'm sad uncle Jessy. I wanted to watch this video in particular to see how you attach these to the Dremel. But I don't know what you mean by "bare bones bit" and the video was blurry. Are you talking about the drum sander attachment without the sanding drum?
I used to have this vehicle combo toy called the Power Spark, it was literally these plastic cones and a cheapo drill, you could weld it to whatever kinda car or truck you wanted. It was pretty cool!
i really want to see that magneto statue complete! still waiting
🫠
I've seen the files for it, I used this technique with leftover Filament strips years back. Definitely great!
nice way to do connections
is the neptune 4 plus profile tuned for orca on your pateron
Yup neptune 4 plus profile for orca is on there
@@UncleJessy thanks for letting me know
I export my Nomad sculpts into Blender, which I have set to metric. - I actually love reusing my old rafts with a spatula headed soldering iron to repair cracks or build on structural material, but i like this friction welding idea too!
I've got a F1 helmet I'm working on for a costume but the model is too thick to get a head into. Could I use this technique to sort of sculpt the inside and thin it out while being able to also keep the parts together? I've got several spools of left over filament I can use
really interesting welding method !
Ha! Just got a dremel for a christmas present. was thinking of this and you post this! what a timing
Pretty slick.
You’re correct! There are other methods to fix 3D printed models. I use a 3D printer pen to fix cracks and breaks on my 3D printed models. I either use left over filament in the pen or heat it up the pen to make the fix. Thanks for the video!
What in tarnation would one use this for?
Do you a good setting for a elegoo saturn S for high detail and ok speed
Happy New Year
Hey, this is just like an old toy called "Power Spark plastic welding set"! It has a friction-weld plastic car and attachments.
Maybe try two chamfers at the edge of the plate (like you would prep metal parts for welding) and then try it again. Have in mind that greater radius means higher velocity and therefor more heat. Maybe that works better for you?
Would love to see a test with this setup.
if you use large powered metal wire and weld a piece together by heating the two piece and basically gluing them together, even if you didn’t go deep it’d still leave a scar which is why i like to use the 3D pen to fill up the remaining gaps
Mattel originally did this with the Spinwelder lineup. Learned of this from Fran Blanche.
if you so happen to have an at home iv pole at home works great for hanging dremal tool on
I put all my scrap coils of filament in a couple baggies and use them with my 3D pen. Uncle Jessy, have you tried welding filament together like you can do with devices you can print or buy? Then recoiling it and printing with it? I haven't tried it yet but it is something on my to-do list. I'm concerned about the different temperatures for some of the filaments though.
Couldnt u just get the filament sensor thing that stops it when it runs out and continue with another filament
Looks like you would need to work on just how much pressure and angles work best. I wonder if you used a 3D pen with PLA and ran it at ABS temps so the PLA is more fluid like and fill the gaps. Maybe an adapted piece of flat metal net to the tip to smooth the PLA out as you move across the seam.
yeah the pressure/angle for sure plays into it. I like that idea with the pen at a higher more liquid temp
Reminds me of the 90's toy "Power Spark" - plastic welding toy.
Yes! I just commented on this. Wanna know what is funny? I found parts of it in a box I threw out last night. Talk about timing.
It was called "Spin Welder" back in the early '70's when I had my toy.
There was a toy in the 90s I had that did this. Very cool
It was called powerspark
remond me of my childhood with the Power Spark plastic welding kit
Honestly if youve already got the dremel out this is great, since you just switch to sanding after it and you're set.
I also feel like with soldering you can end up melting out more than you want and actually expanding the gap.
Still - proper tools and techniques for the correct job!
this seams amazing!
Did u dye your eye lash white
It will be great to see your full-size Giant Magneto print. Maybe somehow it could be posed standing by the life-size Jabba the Hutt 3D-printed by the Mighty Jabba's Collection channel some years ago. Supposedly that print still exists.
I actually use a 3d pen to weld pieces together. It works great
Hey @Uncle Jessy
Here is my Nomad scale workaround, take two cylinders in the slicer to roughly sketch the dimensions and import this STL into Nomad
I light a piece like a candle. The angle changes the rate of flow. Then drip it in the seam
Many of those spools dont seem near empty, a lot of them look like they at least have a quarter of the filament still left. But other than that, this is an interesting concept.
It would be nice if Prusa Slicer made this a support type.
near empty? those were half full lol.
🤣😂
soften the larger part with a heat gun before using the dremel
I made a video about these as well! Nice video
Niiice! I will check it out
If there is one thing you could personally change about 3d printing, what would it be, and why?!?! ❤️❤️
For the two bits that have been welded together. I would have put a chamfered edge on each. Then fill the gaps in.
in Australia this 3D Printers are a little expensive
Could you try to slap one of your Neptune 4 tool heads on your Neptune 3 and see if it works 😁
Uncle J, what are the secrets for the 4max! A lot of them appear to be a problem, I know you got the answers!
It's like under temp welding. Not a good bond.
It's actually a great bond! Try it out!
What about a 3D pen?
Never was sold on the welding thing. Get the right glue or solvent for the plastic and do it right
With the added time to print the tips, the leftover material at the base, and the frequency of tip changes, this seems much less practical than using a 3D printing pen. Am I missing something? This is maybe a stronger weld? But a dremel tool is much more expensive than a printer pen as well.
this might be the worst "i have to make a filler episode for the algorithm" video that i ever saw, but it was funny i guess.
chamferring those edges as if you were welding metal would add tremendously more strength to your weld.
No printing necessary, you can get different sized collets for dremels or just get a chuck for it and then put filament in the tool.
When I was a kid I had a toy that did this.
Maybe using CA glue?
Or design a mold that you can melt PLA into and finally have a great use for all that Bambu poop. No need to extrude it back into a form a 3d printer can use, just melt the plastic into plugs.
Someone please make that high temp cast mold and sell it to the Bambu community for the sole purpose of becoming a friction welding tip. I will buy one.
have you guys ever heard of ca glue?
Wouldn't a 3d printing pen actually be worth for this?
Yes
yup that works as well!
Arguably, these welding tips could be better. With a 3D printing pen, you're extruding hot plastic onto cold plastic which isn't great for adhesion, ruining the strength. These tips are heating up your work piece as it's adding hot plastic to it. I'd say that could provide more strength.
Whenever I use my 3D printing pen on work pieces, with a bit of prying with a fingernail or a tool, sometimes the plastic pops right off leaving the piece seemingly untouched. However, if I bumped the temp, the plastic would adhere better
@@pcdc1337see these are the answers i love.
Nice
This comes out the day after i assembled my first helmet hmmm
ohhhh love a good helmet print
Why not try those 3d pens they have now, basically a hot glue gun but has a filament feed roller inside, just weld a seam shut like MIG welding
i still prefer a low power solder iron, and just use the filament as a welding rod 🤷♂
I just use lighter and weld it that way.
oh thats a cool way I havent seen before
@@UncleJessy hold the flame near the part DON'T let the flame touch the part it will blacken. And don't hold for too long the part will warp. When it's kinda soft push 2 parts together. Works on small parts no excess material
sometimes I even print jig fixtures for it
Looks like a brick wall effect half of the time.
Love your videos! But, please wear eye protection, those custom tips could break and get launched into your eye. Yeah it's probably fine, but why risk it?
It's a trap
The camera focus 😠😠
crap solution man. wtf.
And eventually you will go to the hospital for a plastic bit embedded in you, a finger cut off or a plastic bit in your eyes .... do you realize how fast that thing spins and how fast a broken bit flies off the dremel??? Close to the dumbest thing I have seen posted on the net in a long time!!!!
No different than a dremel bit breaking.....