http://www.themagiccafe.com/forums/viewt......forum=26

This cup was designed to be gaffed and be sturdy enough to take some abuse. If printed with a more solid infill, it will also be heavy. I am going to install the gaff and then give it a vapor bath, that way the entire part will be fused as one piece and it will get a nice smooth finish to it as well

Maybe I will do a ball and vase next.

When I am done, I should put all of this together into a 3D print magic kit

If you don't mind my asking, Jessie, about how much in materials did the three cups cost? I noticed you said the shells in the other post were about fifty cents. Just trying to get a rough idea of what things cost to print.

That really depends on the infill used. The cups were about 3 dollars for the set with 100% infill.

Printing prices really depend on what material you use. On average a 1kg of filament will be somewhere between 20-30 dollars. Some of the more extravagant filaments can be an order of magnitude higher, but I don't generally mess with those as my printer was only designed to print in ABS, PLA, HIPS, PETG, CO-PET, and Nylon.

Depending on what you are printing, it can be from 1g and up. I generally stay away from the cheap ebay filament as they are not a consistent size and the motor slips while feeding it into the extruder. But if you have something that does not require super tight tolerances (20microns) then you could probably get away with cheaper filament.

A 3D printer is the best tool there is in making stuff for 'common' people, and now it's quite cheap and have very high resolution and you can print in plastic AND wood. I have a Flashforge Finder and is very happy with this machine..i have built several stuff for magic purpose, gimmicks, apparatus and of course my miniature illusions.
I have been built props for a long time, both small and big stuff like stage illusions, and had the pro that I always have used cad and 3d cad as a visual help, and made my blueprints with.
i almost do everything with my 3d printer, but there is better ways now with laser cutting steel, plastic, wood and so on...flat stuff is better lasercutted and printed, boxes and platforms as an example is easier, faster and better to cut and to print.
But still the printer is the best tool I have today..it's fast, easy to use and print's directly in the right colour..i timesaver.
Here are the laste built, not finnished yet but not much left.

Click here to view attached image.

Awesome And yes for 2 dimensional shapes a laser cutter is much nicer, however they do have a very large space requirement and a semi high cost of ownership. Sure you can pick up a cheap one from china on one of the large auction sites but then you end up putting almost as much money into it just to make it safe for use. I have considered building a small one from scratch, mostly for cutting thin material as I have experience working with lasers of different wavelengths as well as building laser tubes from scratch. What stops me from doing so are safety concerns (again) ... only have one set of eyes.

My son Jake Jr. just finished up CAD work for RNT 2's Orange, Rice and Checkers in miniature working size. What's nice was he could design his own finials etc. He has a project he's also working on is a Mad Jake Animatron doing the cups and balls. It will stand about 18" in height.
We were just saying we haven't seen so much Technology emerge in one year. It's amazing.

An interesting innovation for those that are printing objects:
http://newatlas.com/chemical-melting-fin......g/48426/

Hey, Jessie, I have enjoyed following your posts.

I didn't see anything about this, so let me ask, do you have a 3D scanner as well?

I make ornamentally turned pieces and wondered about the feasibility of scanning and reproducing some of these objects? The originals tend to be outside of the price range of most folks. For instance, I have a Ball & Vase that I turned in a Victorian style. It uses a 2" ball and stands about 8" tall, with fluting and ramparts.

For curiosity sake, do you, or anyone on the list know how to build such a scanner?

I was just looking into this for the last couple of days Malaki. I wasn't really up for the task of building one but I was looking into getting some objects scanned. There are some services here in town that will scan objects for a fee of course. If its just a couple of scans it might be easier to have it done. You might also want to check a local maker space or college if you have one around you. Finaly here is what I looked at before deciding I didn't have time to play with it:
http://www.instructables.com/id/David-3D-scanner/

Good Luck
Dan

3D printing is not quick, chaap or easy to do. You can get them cheap, but remember you get what you pay for. You can spend thousands of dollars on a production machine, I have 4 in my shop. Then on top of that if you don't know who makes the filament that best suits your machine and needs, you can spend thousands of dollars just trying out different materials. Then there are misfires, jams, clogs. You can send 12 hours working on just one print and with just 15 minutes left come back to find out for some reason the print failed. Not all filaments are the same. Filled filaments are PLA with say wood dust, copper pellets, bronze etc mixed in. you can really wear out a nozzle very quick with. as little as 6 prints. Once the print is done, there is still more work to do, clean up.

Do you know CAD? If you don't know how to do 3D CAD you will either need to learn or hire someone. Without the file, there is no 3D print. Not all CAD programs are created equal nor are they price equal. I have a Mac server that does nothing but cache files for me that sends the information to the printers.

3D scanners, unless you want to pay 50K or better, don't bother. A scanner is not something you build yourself, actually you can, but like the ones for sale to the public give you poor scans, and most can't even be cleaned up properly. If I need something scanned I send it to Virginia Tech and a friend has the lab do one for me.
when I get the file back it needs NO cleanup and the prints are amazing.. A professional 3D scanner has thousands of calculations to scan a perfect model to get a good print. The ones on the market today you are lucky if they do 1/100th of proper calculations.

I've been practicing CAD, my sister took it in college. I just finished up a Dragon's head for our Rice Orange and Checkers. The print itself is being cast and will be 925 silver and then gold plated with 24kt gold and used as finials for the set.

Jessie and I have been working on some cups together. She has a very neat set I'll be releasing for her that are Golf Ball Size cups and will be made in a wide array of materials, including my own ink called Alien Skin which has some very unique properties. All the design credits and funds go to Jessie. I just do the printing and testing since Jessie works a full time job and I'm in the shop anyways. I'm nearly complete making a viable product from her first design and Jessie will let you know or I will when they are ready. Jessie is a very talented young lady and I think her designs will be well accepted into the magic community.

All the best,
Mad Jake Jr.

Thank you for the kind words

As for the question if I own a scanner, no I do not. As both 3D printing and magic are both hobbies for me right now, I cannot justify the expense for the scanner. I do have a very nice 3D printer with a 20 micron resolution, but I will warn you that getting printers of that resolution or better are a serious investment. I have looked into converting an xbox kinect into a scanner, but it boils down to priorities of time. My day job, as a CPU designer has been taking a lot of my time and what little I have left over I am choosing to spend outside in the very short Alaskan summer doing archery. In fact I just got a new riser (pictured below), it is a win&win wiawis nano max 25 inch.



I seriously look forward to seeing some of the colors and materials that Mad Jake has been working with.

Cheers!