Forums

Hi All

Great news. 6mmbrx has developed 3D printing files for SG-1000 cartridge cases and has put a version for the Megacart on there too. I haven't tried it myself, but the finish looks pretty good.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4014935

He said:
"Depending on the quality, prints of top and bottom shells can take from 6 to 10 hours. I usually print at 0.16mm layer height with a 0.04mm nozzle and prints for this take around 8 hours. The slicer says these use about 60g of filament, you can get 1kg of PLA for $15-20, so each cart will use less than two bucks of filament. No worries using PLA for this. "

So they are slow to print if you are making a lot of them, but the materials cost is fairly low.

I wonder what it would cost to get these printed by a third party service. I seem to recall some of the sites would let you upload a stl file and get an estimate. Has anyone tried that recently?

Update - I think the license used is cc-nc-sa - Creative Commons Non Commercial Sharealike

https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/

In particular - NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes.

So you should probably contact 6mmbrx if you ever get grand plans about producing a lot of these :)

https://www.thingiverse.com/6mmbrx/about

Cheers

Hi All

I bought myself a 3D printer for Xmas - a Creality Ender 3 pro. That thing is very cool. Cheap, fun to assemble (give yourself a couple of hours), and it has a good build area with a removable magnetic base.

The Megacart cases work pretty well. The finish is a bit rough compared to an original case, but they are very functional.

See attached photos of the Megacart version of the case. 6mmbrx kindly said I could make some to go with the few Megacarts I make, but please check with him first if you want to make commercial quantities.

Some things to look out for if you are printing these yourself.

1. You need to experiment to find a screw which is exactly the right size. I found 4G x 16mm timber screws work well.

Update 26 Sept 2021 - I'm now using 4G x 20mm timber screws. You need them to go deeper into the bottom half of the case. See below.

2. Be careful with the mount pins on the bottom half of the case - it is easy to crack them if you use the wrong size screws or if you twist too hard.

Update 26 Sept 2021 - I've had a lot of problems with the mounting pins on the bottom half of the case cracking off. That is understandable - the screw is are putting lots of pressure on a single glue layer 0.2mm thick and about 4-5mm wide.

My solution now is to pre-drill the holes in the bottom of the case with a 2mm drill bit. I drill right through the back of the case and use longer screws because the plastic below the mounting pins is just strong enough to take a screw. But you have to pre-drill the holes because the screws don't self tap through the PLA very well.

So the longer 4g x 20mm screws I'm using now go right to the edge of the bottom of the case when the case is assembled.

If you do crack off one of the mount points, then you don't have to throw the bottom half of the case away. Put the little circle of plastic that cracked off into a vice, then drill out the hole with a 3mm drill bit. This will allow your screw to go through it easily.

Then when you put your PCB in the case, put the broken plastic mount pin in the PCB mounting hole where it is supposed to be, and screw your 4g x 20mm screw right through it. The screw will go through that easily and anchor itself in the more solid portion of the bottom half of the case, and because the broken bit now fits snugly like a bush around the screw, it will still hold the PCB in place like it is supposed to.

3. You need to use an old soldering iron to clean up the 'stringing' in the holes on the top half of the case so you can get the screw heads sitting flat. Do that BEFORE you try to screw the case shut so you don't crack the mount points on the bottom half of the case.

Update 26 Sept 2021 - my new screws have a smaller head which is not quite as wide. So now I can just hold a 4mm drill bit in my hand to carefully clean the stringing out of the top of the screw holes and they will sit down pretty flat into the recess. I had to use the soldering iron trick before because the screw heads were too big for the holes.

4. The 'bottom' of the print is the outside of the case (you print the halves upside down so the outside is sitting flat on the print bed). Unfortunately that means any imperfections on your print bed will show up on the outside of the case.

5. I print at 0.2mm layer height with no raft. The prints take about 4.5 hours and use about 60 to 65g of filament.

6. If you want a better quality finish, then use 0.15mm layer height and print a raft underneath the case. That gives you a smoother finish on the outside of the case because the raft sits underneath and gives you a flat surface for the outside of the case. I assume it will give you a slightly stronger mount point on the bottom half of the case too. But that takes 8-9 hours and uses about 85g of filament.

7. You might need to use a craft knife to trim a couple of bits of plastic stringing / over-extrusion to get the cases closing perfectly flat at the end.

I haven't tried the SG-1000 version of the case without the hole for the Megacart reset switch, but the experience should be similar.

Cheers

20200326_MegacartCasePhoto.jpg (604.43 KB)

20200326_MegacartCasePhoto02.jpg (953.9 KB)

They actually look quite nice! congrats!

Author	Message
honestbob Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 188 Location: New Zealand	SG-1000 / SC-3000 / Megacart 3D printed cases - Thingiverse Posted: Sun Dec 15, 2019 8:10 pm
	Hi All Great news. 6mmbrx has developed 3D printing files for SG-1000 cartridge cases and has put a version for the Megacart on there too. I haven't tried it myself, but the finish looks pretty good. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4014935 He said: "Depending on the quality, prints of top and bottom shells can take from 6 to 10 hours. I usually print at 0.16mm layer height with a 0.04mm nozzle and prints for this take around 8 hours. The slicer says these use about 60g of filament, you can get 1kg of PLA for $15-20, so each cart will use less than two bucks of filament. No worries using PLA for this. " So they are slow to print if you are making a lot of them, but the materials cost is fairly low. I wonder what it would cost to get these printed by a third party service. I seem to recall some of the sites would let you upload a stl file and get an estimate. Has anyone tried that recently? Update - I think the license used is cc-nc-sa - Creative Commons Non Commercial Sharealike https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/2.0/ In particular - NonCommercial — You may not use the material for commercial purposes. So you should probably contact 6mmbrx if you ever get grand plans about producing a lot of these :) https://www.thingiverse.com/6mmbrx/about Cheers

honestbob Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 188 Location: New Zealand	Posted: Wed Mar 25, 2020 6:00 pm Last edited by honestbob on Sun Sep 26, 2021 2:11 am; edited 2 times in total
	Hi All I bought myself a 3D printer for Xmas - a Creality Ender 3 pro. That thing is very cool. Cheap, fun to assemble (give yourself a couple of hours), and it has a good build area with a removable magnetic base. The Megacart cases work pretty well. The finish is a bit rough compared to an original case, but they are very functional. See attached photos of the Megacart version of the case. 6mmbrx kindly said I could make some to go with the few Megacarts I make, but please check with him first if you want to make commercial quantities. Some things to look out for if you are printing these yourself. 1. You need to experiment to find a screw which is exactly the right size. I found 4G x 16mm timber screws work well. Update 26 Sept 2021 - I'm now using 4G x 20mm timber screws. You need them to go deeper into the bottom half of the case. See below. 2. Be careful with the mount pins on the bottom half of the case - it is easy to crack them if you use the wrong size screws or if you twist too hard. Update 26 Sept 2021 - I've had a lot of problems with the mounting pins on the bottom half of the case cracking off. That is understandable - the screw is are putting lots of pressure on a single glue layer 0.2mm thick and about 4-5mm wide. My solution now is to pre-drill the holes in the bottom of the case with a 2mm drill bit. I drill right through the back of the case and use longer screws because the plastic below the mounting pins is just strong enough to take a screw. But you have to pre-drill the holes because the screws don't self tap through the PLA very well. So the longer 4g x 20mm screws I'm using now go right to the edge of the bottom of the case when the case is assembled. If you do crack off one of the mount points, then you don't have to throw the bottom half of the case away. Put the little circle of plastic that cracked off into a vice, then drill out the hole with a 3mm drill bit. This will allow your screw to go through it easily. Then when you put your PCB in the case, put the broken plastic mount pin in the PCB mounting hole where it is supposed to be, and screw your 4g x 20mm screw right through it. The screw will go through that easily and anchor itself in the more solid portion of the bottom half of the case, and because the broken bit now fits snugly like a bush around the screw, it will still hold the PCB in place like it is supposed to. 3. You need to use an old soldering iron to clean up the 'stringing' in the holes on the top half of the case so you can get the screw heads sitting flat. Do that BEFORE you try to screw the case shut so you don't crack the mount points on the bottom half of the case. Update 26 Sept 2021 - my new screws have a smaller head which is not quite as wide. So now I can just hold a 4mm drill bit in my hand to carefully clean the stringing out of the top of the screw holes and they will sit down pretty flat into the recess. I had to use the soldering iron trick before because the screw heads were too big for the holes. 4. The 'bottom' of the print is the outside of the case (you print the halves upside down so the outside is sitting flat on the print bed). Unfortunately that means any imperfections on your print bed will show up on the outside of the case. 5. I print at 0.2mm layer height with no raft. The prints take about 4.5 hours and use about 60 to 65g of filament. 6. If you want a better quality finish, then use 0.15mm layer height and print a raft underneath the case. That gives you a smoother finish on the outside of the case because the raft sits underneath and gives you a flat surface for the outside of the case. I assume it will give you a slightly stronger mount point on the bottom half of the case too. But that takes 8-9 hours and uses about 85g of filament. 7. You might need to use a craft knife to trim a couple of bits of plastic stringing / over-extrusion to get the cases closing perfectly flat at the end. I haven't tried the SG-1000 version of the case without the hole for the Megacart reset switch, but the experience should be similar. Cheers 20200326_MegacartCasePhoto.jpg (604.43 KB) 20200326_MegacartCasePhoto02.jpg (953.9 KB)

kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	Posted: Thu Mar 26, 2020 9:06 am
kusfo Joined: 29 Mar 2012 Posts: 886 Location: Spain	They actually look quite nice! congrats!

Forums

View topic - SG-1000 / SC-3000 / Megacart 3D printed cases - Thingiverse