Spyderco Forums

Just received a 3D Printer recently (Voxelab Aquila, like a Creality Ender 3 V2 clone) and it's pretty much assembled. Should be about ready to level the bed and test print soon. Probably going to start a little smaller and see how it does with small simple prints.

What do you guys think about printing a sheath? Some thing similar to the Bolteron one using tension to hold it in and maybe a sliding tensioner?

I don't think the average filament is going to be strong enough for a sheath. However, I think you could make a sheath liner for leather sheaths using a 3D printer.

Those with higher end printers can use the stronger material and maybe someone with one will attempt a sheath?

It may need to be slightly thicker depending on filament material used. Maybe two thicknesses need to be coded. Maybe print a fire steel holder on to it as well.

JRinFL wrote: ↑

Wed Jul 28, 2021 12:06 pm

I don't think the average filament is going to be strong enough for a sheath. However, I think you could make a sheath liner for leather sheaths using a 3D printer.

Those with higher end printers can use the stronger material and maybe someone with one will attempt a sheath?

I finally printed a set of these yesterday. I am really pleased with the outcome. I replaced the captured nut with thru bolt/nut combo. the hex pattern in the bolts looks pretty good. thanks for the work of designing these and then letting me have them at no cost! they are worth a lot more than that! :)

uumikew wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:06 am

PXL_20210730_020919572.jpgI finally printed a set of these yesterday. I am really pleased with the outcome. I replaced the captured nut with thru bolt/nut combo. the hex pattern in the bolts looks pretty good. thanks for the work of designing these and then letting me have them at no cost! they are worth a lot more than that! :)

Looks good but wrong thread you want this one viewtopic.php?f=15&t=89676

uumikew wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 30, 2021 12:06 am

PXL_20210730_020919572.jpgI finally printed a set of these yesterday. I am really pleased with the outcome. I replaced the captured nut with thru bolt/nut combo. the hex pattern in the bolts looks pretty good. thanks for the work of designing these and then letting me have them at no cost! they are worth a lot more than that! :)

Glad they worked out well for you! I need to get some red filament, I like that color. If you get a chance, can you post a pic to show what the other side with the through hex bolts and exposed nuts looks like? Did you just extend the hex cut for the nut all the way to the surface?

They look the same. All I did was put the nut I was going to use on a longer bolt. Heat the nut with propane torch and press it into the scale following a hole the size of the bolt drilled from other side as guide. I will post pics oe how but I bet most can figure it out. Just don't push too deep or it will go right thru scale.

--mike--

p.s. lanyard hole works great too!

Man, seeing you guys making these has really got me thinking of getting a printer to play around with. I've done a bit of reading into it but thought I would ask too. What printer would you guys recommend that is fairly high quality and versatile that won't totally break the bank?

I would love to print my own scales as well as other parts around the same size for some of my other hobbies.

FullScaler wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 05, 2021 8:19 pm

Man, seeing you guys making these has really got me thinking of getting a printer to play around with. I've done a bit of reading into it but thought I would ask too. What printer would you guys recommend that is fairly high quality and versatile that won't totally break the bank?

I would love to print my own scales as well as other parts around the same size for some of my other hobbies.

The Creality Ender series are the popular standards at the lower end of the price scale. They may require some tweaking and tinkering, but now have a very large knowledge/user base to draw from.

I went with the Prusa i3 MK3s, which is more expensive, but comes with very complete factory support, excellent detailed procedures, and a bunch of fully optimized profiles and settings in PrusaSlicer. Very similar basic design though, I kind of decided that with a demanding job and small kids, I was willing to pay for more of a plug and play (relatively speaking) machine.

My friend's son got an Ender 3 Pro after I printed some models for him, and he's got it optimized and seems to be quite happy with how it's doing, actually uses it for lost PLA metal casting.

Two features I would for sure want are auto bed leveling and a heated bed. Direct drive is nice for flexible filaments, but folks seem to really like their bowden drive Prusa Minis, and they are quite a bit cheaper than the I3s.

Don't want to derail the thread too much from the knife theme, but you should definitely take the leap, printing is a really interesting hobby with tons of options for printing existing models (millions out there for free) or drawing up your own ideas/repairs/kids toys/whatever.

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:05 am

The Creality Ender series are the popular standards at the lower end of the price scale. They may require some tweaking and tinkering, but now have a very large knowledge/user base to draw from.

I went with the Prusa i3 MK3s, which is more expensive, but comes with very complete factory support, excellent detailed procedures, and a bunch of fully optimized profiles and settings in PrusaSlicer. Very similar basic design though, I kind of decided that with a demanding job and small kids, I was willing to pay for more of a plug and play (relatively speaking) machine.

My friend's son got an Ender 3 Pro after I printed some models for him, and he's got it optimized and seems to be quite happy with how it's doing, actually uses it for lost PLA metal casting.

Two features I would for sure want are auto bed leveling and a heated bed. Direct drive is nice for flexible filaments, but folks seem to really like their bowden drive Prusa Minis, and they are quite a bit cheaper than the I3s.

Don't want to derail the thread too much from the knife theme, but you should definitely take the leap, printing is a really interesting hobby with tons of options for printing existing models (millions out there for free) or drawing up your own ideas/repairs/kids toys/whatever.

Thanks man. Yea, I have seen those ender ones recommended a lot. I am pretty busy too though so a more "plug and play" version may be more what I am looking for.

Is there much difference with the types of filaments they can print with? Are there better materials for scales or is it all pretty much the same?

Now I just need to figure out how to convince my wife that I need another hobby, lol.

Ok. Game on!


First set came out pretty warped. Second set came loose on the bed about half way through and made a huge mess. :p Third try is a charm right? Lol. I think I'm getting her dialed in, this set is looking a lot nicer right off the hop.

Congrats, looks like you're in business!

The skirt looks like you're not getting good adhesion to the print bed (at least one run looks like it pulled up and didn't follow the curve).

Depending on your bed material, you can clean any oil or contaminates off with 99% Isopropyl alcohol or even acetone, although that's too harsh for some bed materials like powder coat.

I think the big thing is it looks like you probably need to adjust your z height down and get more first layer squish if you're using PLA. You have to be more careful with PETG, but with PLA it's better to err on the side of too much squish as opposed to too little. When you look at the bottom of your prints, you shouldn't see line gaps in the first layer, all the gaps should be filled in.

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 12, 2021 11:12 pm

Congrats, looks like you're in business!


I think the big thing is it looks like you probably need to adjust your z height down and get more first layer squish if you're using PLA. You have to be more careful with PETG, but with PLA it's better to err on the side of too much squish as opposed to too little. When you look at the bottom of your prints, you shouldn't see line gaps in the first layer, all the gaps should be filled in.

Thanks man. I think you are right about the Z height. I watched a couple videos today that said about the same thing. I

re-levelled tonight and set the gap a bit smaller and the first layer went down a lot smoother with more squish. It is at the 5th layer now and looks good so far.

Fingers crossed it stays stuck and I can start digging into the nuances of this a bit more. So far I am really liking this and have a long list of things I want to make. And some of them actually aren't knife related even.

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:05 am

That’s incredible, looks like a bought one!

I never would have guessed you could print hot sauce.

Bloke wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 13, 2021 1:24 am

Gtscotty wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 06, 2021 8:05 am

That’s incredible, looks like a bought one!

I never would have guessed you could print hot sauce.

Now you know, spread the word.

Newest design with raised bumps.

Joshcrutchley1 wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 25, 2021 8:50 pm

Newest design with raised bumps. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5172137

That looks awesome. I can't wait to try printing it; thanks for sharing.

Joshcrutchley1 wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 25, 2021 8:50 pm

Newest design with raised bumps. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5172137

Is there an advantage to the new "outie" design over the previous "innie" design? Is it grippier?

Bolster wrote: ↑

Wed Dec 29, 2021 8:54 pm

Joshcrutchley1 wrote: ↑

Sat Dec 25, 2021 8:50 pm

Newest design with raised bumps. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:5172137

Is there an advantage to the new "outie" design over the previous "innie" design? Is it grippier?

Not sure just made these for bbturbodad so he could have it both ways.
viewtopic.php?f=15&t=91308