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The 'What have you just bought' Thread

Druid799 said:
From the point of view of someone wouldn’t know his arse from his elbow when it comes to 3D printers  is there that much of a difference in the quality of the print between the entry level ones and the lower mid range ones ? Reason I ask is I’ve bought a few different bits’n’bobs over the years and some the quality was absolutely shocking ! 2’ish yrs ago A friend bought a hexagon suppressor from a well known seller and when it arrived it had thick ridges on the layers and just nasty looking but then other stuff you could barely tell the difference in them from say a moulded piece .
Click to expand...


Different types of printers.

The smoother stuff you mention is likely SLS printed, which uses (frickin) lasers to fuse plastic powder together into a solid product. Not something many people can do at home, but there are plenty of SLS printing services available to small companies which allow them to outsource manufacturing for niche/short run products where injection moulding is not feasible. 

Here's an example, Badas designs makes drop stock adapter for various AEGs, they offer the same product in two guises, SLS print (outsourced I believe), and a 'normal' 3d print. The SLS has a fine grain texture to it, but generally looks more like a 'moulded ' product, whereas the normal 3D print has the layers (ridges) you refer to.

View attachment 75435

View attachment 75438

There's also SLA printing for resin which produces fine detail prints (think Warhammer figures etc) but i don't think the outputs are particularly strong compared to the other methods (but could be wrong on that) .

 
there isn't much difference in quality between cheap and expensive printers after you have dialed them in. Out the box the more expensive printers generally work better but a £200 printer can be tweaked to print just as well or better.

There are 2 main types of 3D printers for the average joe. FDM and Resin being those 2 main types. FDM is a bit like squeezing toothpaste out a tube in 1 continuous line to make a 3D object where resin is very fine slices of resin stuck to the bottom of the last very fine line of resin.

The main differences between the 2 is that resin has a much higher resolution so you don't generally see any print lines and it looks like it was moulded straight out the printer. FDM usually has print lines and you can print in finer detail so that these lines are less visible but that takes time so you have a choice to make between print quality and time to print.

FDM printers can have bigger build plates up to 500mmx500mmx500mm generally but resin printers only manage about 192(L)mmx120(W)mmx240(H)mm for affordable models.

both types can print in multiple materials so you have flexibility in making stuff. for instance you can print a rubber like butt pad in FDM or resin which will look and feel like rubber or you could print a silencer in ABS on a FDM printer if you are looking for strength.

there is 2 other sides to 3D printing worth mentioning. If you don't learn a 3D design program you are stuck with printing other peoples models. Most programs are scary to look at when you first use them but a couple of youtube videos later it all makes sense.

The other side is moulding from 3D printing. it's possible to design, print then cast in metal/2 part epoxy/gold/space dust a part. this is taking the 3D printing hobby a bit further but having a printer opens up that door. want a particular flash hider that doesn't exist or stupidly expensive? design it, print the prototype for testing then jam it in some plaster of paris and melt some old coke cans and pour. 

 
If anything SLS isn't gonna crack between layers :D

In le meantime, I've bought another Helikon 2 points sling for my 933 along with an M85 spring, because yes, short stroking by two teeth on a ported cylinder and an M90 still give me over 1J of muzzle energy -.-

Also my TTI triggers arrived :)

15Smj42.jpg


lil' close up of the triggers

V2NcDFe.jpg


 
I might have just bought a Dye mask to go with my Hi-Capa mag adaptors.

Definitely need one of the “Negative Airsoft thinks I’m a c£&@“ patches to finish the look

 
Druid799 said:
From the point of view of someone wouldn’t know his arse from his elbow when it comes to 3D printers  is there that much of a difference in the quality of the print between the entry level ones and the lower mid range ones ? Reason I ask is I’ve bought a few different bits’n’bobs over the years and some the quality was absolutely shocking ! 2’ish yrs ago A friend bought a hexagon suppressor from a well known seller and when it arrived it had thick ridges on the layers and just nasty looking but then other stuff you could barely tell the difference in them from say a moulded piece .
Click to expand...
You can get a cheap printer disks in to a really fine degree with some work. This is printed in abs on a modified ender 3

View attachment 75441

 
Set of surplus ESS V12 goggles for not a lot of beer tokens off a chap selling army kit on the mong  , considering they are surplus and well under the price of new ones there condition could easily be listed as super grade if not ‘as new’ if bought from a retailer .

View attachment 75442

 
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Alimcd said:
I might have just bought a Dye mask to go with my Hi-Capa mag adaptors.

Definitely need one of the “Negative Airsoft thinks I’m a c£&@“ patches to finish the look
Click to expand...
Like this one.. ;)   (Or the old stickers he has saying "Negative Airsoft thinks i'm a C$$T!"... ;)

View attachment 75443

 
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I think it’s the sticker I’ll need. I’ll stick it to the dye mask itself

 
Just took delivery of this, likely overpaid for what my plans are with it… but carry handle A2 uppers seem damn near impossible to find at the moment (and unless CYMA get involved any time soon I can’t see that changing) so when I saw one I scooped it up immediately.

In other news, I’m officially in the queue to have said upper grafted onto an MWS upper so I can finally satisfy that itch. Does the fact I bought this simply to butcher the carry handle off make me feel a little guilty? Yes. Will that stop me? No.

View attachment 75483

 
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A whole load of bio BB’s to satisfy the site I’m going to this weekend. Struggling to find any heavyweight ones for the L96 though :(

 
Nothing too spectacular , actually found some VN mags for sale in the UK ! So got a a 190 hi-cap and couple of 20rd ‘real’ caps to stick in when I’m re-loading the hi-cap to go with my N’am kit .

View attachment 75766

 
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