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Old 06-09-2018, 05:18 PM
Bluegrass Rocket Bluegrass Rocket is offline
Pickin' and launching.
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Indianapolis, Indiana
Posts: 267
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I’m trying to learn more about 3D printing by reading and watching videos, lots of videos. So, I’ll mention this since I haven’t seen anyone else post it. When printing your parts, keep in mind that PLA will not stand up to the outdoor sunlight or to being locked in a hot car. It will melt. ABS is the way to go for rocket parts. And you will need an enclosure for your printer to keep the ambient air warm so the ABS can cool down slowly helping to prevent warping. You will also need to turn the cooling fan off for ABS.

Regarding laser cutters, for cutting lite ply and even balsa you would need a 30 watt laser minimum. The lasers you see on eBay are all water cooled made in China lasers and you get what you pay for. Full Spectrum Laser makes a decent one with parts from overseas but, assembled in Las Vegas and water cooled, still around $3500. And if you do a lot of cutting with a water cooled laser you will probably need a chiller to cool the water down. Air cooled lasers like the Universal Versa 12” x 24” laser “desktop “ model is $15,000.

Like with most things, higher cost means higher quality. There are certainly hobby minded tools out there but, a lot of the cheap ones are quirky and require lots of fiddling. Maybe look for local maker spaces that have higher end equipment.
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NewWay Space Models-We Cornered Model Rocketry
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