Whole process equipment and software advice wanted!

Hello,

I am looking for advice on peripherals, software, and the like.
Good or bad, I have a Snapmaker 2.0 350mm purchased that is set to arrive in February. I will be adding an enclosure and creating a venting system for temperature control and ABS printing. This will be located in a home office.
The printer will be used for micro manufacturing, prototyping, metal casting (lost pla), cnc, laser etching, and even some pcb board etching.
The only software I have used for 3d printing so far is Sketchup and Cura. I have Autocad r14 but need to obtain a 32bit computer to get that running again. I am sure Fusion 360 will be highly recommended but will be off the table until I can justify the price.
I am looking for suggestions for equipment and software to aid in both design and process to get my setup ready for operation when the printer arrives.

Thank you,

Steve

the snapmaker is a decent looking machine - expensive, but looks like it should print well.

software wise openscad takes a lot of beating.
Just makes designing things with precision really easy.

Simplify3d is also extremely good - probably the best slicer around and the easiest to use.
That said, the prusa slicer looks pretty good, and is free.
Personally I can't get on with cura.

Not sure why you'd want to bother with 3d printed abs - but each to their own :-)

And fusion 360 is - I believe - free.

What power laser does the snapmaker come with ?
diode lasers are pretty poor. But should be able to remove a coating to create pcbs.
Basically anything under 2.5watts is a total waste of time (and due to their lack of speed - you do waste an awful lot of time).
5 watts is reasonable and lets you do most things except cutting wood or acrylic, PLus the wavelength of diode lasers limits them somewhat.

What print surface does the snapmaker come with ?

Thank you!

I may look into small scale injection molding but until then, abs for it's heat tolerance for custom bezels and other vehicle parts.
As far as the laser, it's weak (1.6) and will be used primarily for hobby crafts. Leather and wood engraving. The pcb function has been achieved using the cnc module.
I have access to a 60w laser if I need to do something on cutting, metal engraving (Cermark), acrylic and glass engraving.
Overall, I see most of the functions of the Snapmaker 2.0 being primarily that of a prototype function.
The 3d bed is a heated magnetic bed on dual rails. There is a grid bed and wood bed for the laser and cnc.
Fusion 360 has a teacher and student edition that you have to renew but that does not give you license to sell anything created with the software.

ABS is a dead filament. And not something anybody should chase printing with in a home office. What is wrong with PETG in contrast? It melts at the higher temp just like the abs. But no poison mustard gas to choke out your wife, kids, and animals. Or PC if we really want high temp. But ABS is best used in an industrial setting and with injection molding. And anybody that has fought with layer adhesion on ABS vs. most other filaments can only agree with my assessment here. Ya we can make it work. We can do anything. But hey we can do anything. So we made a very comparable filament that doesn't poison us in our homes. And that my good buddy is PETG. Which is also recyclable unlike the ABS.

yep - petg is way better than abs and doesn't require an enclosure.
Plus there are all manner of hi-temp pla's around.
Even seen a couple that go up to 120c glass point.

From a cost poijt of view pet-g is on a par with abs and pla.
The hi-temp pla's can be costly - but have the advantage of very easy printing and that's important as yu won't spend so much money in wasted/failed prints

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Originally Posted by AutoWiz

ABS is a dead filament. And not something anybody should chase printing with in a home office. What is wrong with PETG in contrast? It melts at the higher temp just like the abs. But no poison mustard gas to choke out your wife, kids, and animals. Or PC if we really want high temp. But ABS is best used in an industrial setting and with injection molding. And anybody that has fought with layer adhesion on ABS vs. most other filaments can only agree with my assessment here. Ya we can make it work. We can do anything. But hey we can do anything. So we made a very comparable filament that doesn't poison us in our homes. And that my good buddy is PETG. Which is also recyclable unlike the ABS.

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Thank you. I have to admit, I havn't researched the PETG or other newer filament types yet. Last time I printed was about two years ago. I have a spool of ABS and will probably still use it and will have the printer vented to the outside. I am not one that likes to contribute unnecessary pollution. Based on your recommendations, I will likely move to the PETG.

Thank you. I have to admit, I havn't researched the PETG or other newer filament types yet. Last time I printed was about two years ago. I have a spool of ABS and will probably still use it and will have the printer vented to the outside. I am not one that likes to contribute unnecessary pollution. Based on your recommendations, I will likely move to the PETG.
I have very little experience printing and only with PLA. I am looking forwar to getting my printer and creating.