Hi all,
I have been a member of Zealot for a very long time; my designed paper models (TOS USS Enterprise and bridge are my most popular) are on this forum for download.
Work, health issues have kept me away from designing and testing so I sort of became a recluse even though I was honored to be on staff here. I have kept in touch with Zealot members Spaceagent-9 and Rhaven Blaack though and we talk every once in a while. I was invited to get back and become involved in the 3D printing section because of my past experience.
I used to be employed with Bell and Howell. From 2018 to 2020 I was chosen to participate in a special group of their technicians to work exclusively with HP industrial 3D printers. I was one of of the first 2 with Bell and Howell to be trained on this new technology (to Bell and Howell and to the manufacturing industry). This was my first introduction to 3D printing technology. I was away from home about 90% of this period installing, upgrading, servicing, and modifying the HP 4200 Jet Fusion 3D printer. I trained customers on printer and software usage and customer maintenance tasks. Loved every minute of this assignment; HP service engineers called me a few times for my opinion!. The HP 4200 3D printer uses powered PA-12 powdered nylon and the printing process is very different from the home FDM printers.
A coworker got an Ender 3 Pro about a year after we started this assignment and I was able to learn from him to be comfortable with purchasing an Ender 3 Pro of my own. I figured if I ran into any any issues I'd have experienced help to call upon. And call him I did. Very steep learning curve for me but he was able to get me out of most of my issues, YouTube handled the rest along with perseverance and stubbornness to keep at it. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle a lot but I am able to print decently and get through things a bit easier. Also, I just purchased my second Ender 3 Pro for $99 from Micro Center this past weekend! My other Ender 3 Pro printer has the aluminum extruder, yellow bed springs (will upgrade to silicon hopefully soon), Capricorn Bowden tube and improved fittings, PEI sheet, X axis adjustment knob (still need to get a Y axis one), and a micro SD card extender with cable. I've done a fair amount of disassembly and repair as well.
I have a strong drafting background (4 years in HS) and am very proficient in AutoCAD and CorelDraw (albeit older versions). I tried learning FreeCAD but didn't like it so now I'm learning Fusion 360 and can hack out simple things, a few are available on Thingiverse and Cults.
I have been asked to work with the 3D forum. I will try to share my frustrations and experiences that I hope will help someone else with theirs. Again, I am by no means the expert, but we can all learn from each other. I hope to help make this hobby avenue a little more fun and enjoyable as we celebrate our successes and learn new things.
Best Regards,
Ron Caudillo
I have been a member of Zealot for a very long time; my designed paper models (TOS USS Enterprise and bridge are my most popular) are on this forum for download.
Work, health issues have kept me away from designing and testing so I sort of became a recluse even though I was honored to be on staff here. I have kept in touch with Zealot members Spaceagent-9 and Rhaven Blaack though and we talk every once in a while. I was invited to get back and become involved in the 3D printing section because of my past experience.
I used to be employed with Bell and Howell. From 2018 to 2020 I was chosen to participate in a special group of their technicians to work exclusively with HP industrial 3D printers. I was one of of the first 2 with Bell and Howell to be trained on this new technology (to Bell and Howell and to the manufacturing industry). This was my first introduction to 3D printing technology. I was away from home about 90% of this period installing, upgrading, servicing, and modifying the HP 4200 Jet Fusion 3D printer. I trained customers on printer and software usage and customer maintenance tasks. Loved every minute of this assignment; HP service engineers called me a few times for my opinion!. The HP 4200 3D printer uses powered PA-12 powdered nylon and the printing process is very different from the home FDM printers.
A coworker got an Ender 3 Pro about a year after we started this assignment and I was able to learn from him to be comfortable with purchasing an Ender 3 Pro of my own. I figured if I ran into any any issues I'd have experienced help to call upon. And call him I did. Very steep learning curve for me but he was able to get me out of most of my issues, YouTube handled the rest along with perseverance and stubbornness to keep at it. Don't get me wrong, I still struggle a lot but I am able to print decently and get through things a bit easier. Also, I just purchased my second Ender 3 Pro for $99 from Micro Center this past weekend! My other Ender 3 Pro printer has the aluminum extruder, yellow bed springs (will upgrade to silicon hopefully soon), Capricorn Bowden tube and improved fittings, PEI sheet, X axis adjustment knob (still need to get a Y axis one), and a micro SD card extender with cable. I've done a fair amount of disassembly and repair as well.
I have a strong drafting background (4 years in HS) and am very proficient in AutoCAD and CorelDraw (albeit older versions). I tried learning FreeCAD but didn't like it so now I'm learning Fusion 360 and can hack out simple things, a few are available on Thingiverse and Cults.
I have been asked to work with the 3D forum. I will try to share my frustrations and experiences that I hope will help someone else with theirs. Again, I am by no means the expert, but we can all learn from each other. I hope to help make this hobby avenue a little more fun and enjoyable as we celebrate our successes and learn new things.
Best Regards,
Ron Caudillo
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