Hello everyone.
I was wondering if anyone could tell me what 3d printer I should buy to print PMMA/Acrylic. Obviously
I would like to print other materials as well. I just joined this site and would like to start learning about 3d printing. I have been a cad designer / CNC programmer operator for over 20 years. I love the trade and love learning new things. Price Range would like to be under $5.000 CAD. If you have a minute to explain what printer you would buy and why. I would greatly appreciate it. As For tolerance to be held. I’m a machinist, so it would be nice to know what i would be expecting out of the machine. Parts I plan on making would not be high volume. Any help on what to buy and any extras that I need to look at buying ( Software , Parts kits) would be appreciated.
If i have left out anything i might need to research, feel free to advise. Other than that, Have a Great day everyone.
Hi @Hobby1
That’s actually a really good question. Being the fact that PMMA is a thermoPlastic I am not sure if its Thermoset or ThermoForm Plastic.
From what I gather most of the PMMA I can find are Thermoform so it should be pretty printable on most printers that would be able to print Low Temp Nylon. I would suspect the warpage on it would be very high.
The side problem that you would run into mostly is if you could get it in a format that could be accepted by any 3D printer. Most of the hobby-grade printers will accept 1.75mm or 2.85mm Filament designed to be on spools. Depending on the printer you may be able to find one with a pellet extruder although currently, they are very rare out of the box.
If you are looking for some general characteristics I would suggest Med Temp, (300 deg) All metal hot end, Direct drive and an enclosure.
I do want to mention though that due to the mechanics of extruding filament it will more than likely not be able to be “clear” as you may expect in a flat sheet of PMMA. Because it extrudes in tiny solid lines you will get a certain “translucent” to the end result and will not be glass clear if that’s what you may be expecting.
This is kind of my initial thoughts but if you have any further questions I can delve into the question a little further if you like.