# Other > Off Topic >  Trade stuff

## systemslave

I have a CNC mill and lathe.  I am looking for a friend with a good 3D printer to trade work with.  I would rather find a friend to share skills with than buy a 3D printer right now.  Who needs 3D stuff made of metal?  Let me know.

----------


## RobH2

Hmmm, I think I might be interested in that. I don't have a milling machine but wish I did. I have no room for one in my small basement. I need prototypes parts now and then in metal. More details please?

----------


## systemslave

Rob, 

This is a hobby for me, meaning in my spare time.  I am not a shop.  I have a Sherline CNC mill and lathe (small machines).  I can do small parts, circuit boards, stuff like that.  I like to work in aluminum.  Milling can be a lot more time consuming than 3D printing, so sometimes I wish I just had a friend to print some parts for me.  Also, some parts are harder to make on a mill or lathe.  The flip side is milled parts are metal and are extremely accurate.

P.S.
Nice boat.  What's her name?

----------


## Mjolinor

> Rob, 
> 
>  Milling can be a lot more time consuming than 3D printing,


:roflmao:

minchars

----------


## RobH2

This could be a good thing for both of us. I have a few things I could talk to you about sometime. No immediate need but in the next few months I'll need a few small parts. Do you have something in mind that you need printed? I could do that for you and put some goodwill in the bank for when I need your talent. 

Boat? Thanks! Sherloch...   "Sherloch" like "Sherlock" Holmes but with an "h" instead of a "k." Homage to Sherloch Holmes because my last name is Holmes. The reason for "loch" instead of "lock" is that my ancestry is Scottish and a "loch" is a body of water, like Loch Ness. So Holmes + Scottish and you have "Sherloch."

More info if you are curious:   http://sherloch2.tumblr.com

----------


## systemslave

Email me at young@last1.com to discuss this please.

----------


## systemslave

> :roflmao:
> 
> minchars


I take it 3D printing can be time intensive as well.  Since I do not have the direct experience with 3D printing let me rephrase that comment as "I have read that milling is more time consuming than 3D printing."  I will defer to someone with experience in both technologies.

----------


## RobH2

I guess it depends on what level of CNC you have. Milling and 3d printing are very similar in some ways but are opposite as you know. 3D printing is additive and milling is subtractive but a lot of the same principles apply to both. Milling can work on about any material and gravity has no effect. 3D printing can be time consuming in that there are more variables to manage, tweak and monitor. What prints perfectly today may not tomorrow. Milling machines pretty much just work. If you have sharp tools and a good jib, there's little  to go wrong unless you mess up your cut manually. And, if you have a really fancy mill, you can just clamp your block to the bed and hit go and come back later. 

I'd say that they both work out the same for the same kind of parts.

----------


## Mjolinor

I have a 3dprinter, a universal (lathe and miller in one) and a small CNC miller. By far the biggest time consumer is the 3d printer. Once you sort out milling something it will work that way for ever, if you change materials you only have to change tools and feeds. If you change material on a 3d printer then you are back at square one or you end up with something a different size or de-laminating. The more you do the less messing you do but certainly with the current generation of 3d printers it will never be as easy as milling or any machining.

Machining is a lot more satisfying though.  :Smile:

----------


## Geoff

> I have a 3dprinter, a universal (lathe and miller in one) and a small CNC miller. By far the biggest time consumer is the 3d printer. Once you sort out milling something it will work that way for ever, if you change materials you only have to change tools and feeds. If you change material on a 3d printer then you are back at square one or you end up with something a different size or de-laminating. The more you do the less messing you do but certainly with the current generation of 3d printers it will never be as easy as milling or any machining.
> 
> Machining is a lot more satisfying though.


Isn't it amazing how you can have your printer set up perfectly, its printing great... 

You run out of a colour, and you replace it with another roll.. same colour, different brand... 

All of a sudden, it's like your printer was never calibrated!  :Stick Out Tongue:  sure doesn't happen all the time, but I wish they were like a lathe where when it's set, it's set!!

----------


## RobH2

Geoff, how true 'dat. That same thing plagued me yesterday. All was well, my print was great. I finished a roll of PLA and then this morning I put in a new roll to print the same part. It took me 9 hours to get the print right again. What the @#$&? That's how it goes.

----------


## Matthew

systemslave, I can't look at your avatar, my eyes get tired  :Stick Out Tongue:

----------

