Just 3D printed a technika board

[Jim Andrada]

Maybe we need a state by state rating of plastics for softening. It gets a bit warm in a car here as well. But I used to spend time in Miami in the Summer (Eastern Airlines if you're old enough to remember them was my customer when I was working in the Airlines Industry Marketing group at IBM selling hardware to run the reservation systems) Given a choice of where to spend the summer, AZ is a lot more comfortable than FL

I tried PETG but for some reason the printer didn't seem to like it as well as it likes the modified PLA. I might play around with temperature settings - it might not be heating it enough. With the black PLA I was using for stops I could see some light leakage at .5mm but nothing at 1mm which is consistent with what you're saying. The leakage seemed to be more related to small interstitial gaps in the "filler" rather than the material itself. By the way, I changed to design to thicken the area inside the light trap to strengthen the board - it's much stiffer with an extra mm or so. I was thinking that I might want to mount lenses with wood screws instead of the machine screws I use now. I've sort of concluded that the PLA boards will be more than strong enough for anything I might want to mount on the Technika.

The way I designed the board, everything including and outside of the light trap is one part, and everything "inside (with a bit of overlap) is a second part that carries the holes for lenses and mounting screws. That way the only thing I have to update for a new lens is the "Holey" part and I can keep a library of lens-specific parts and a common camera interface part, so adding a new lens would just require laying out the holes and then merging the lens carrier with the camera interface and printing - almost no intelligence required.

[Andy_Arizona_01]

@ Andy

By the way, where in AZ - I'm in Tucson

Re mottling a couple of things occurred to me. Was it a random pattern or somewhat regular? How thick was the lens board? Usually they just lay down a thin skin on both sides with a grid pattern of supports in between to provide a base for the upper skin. So making the board thicker without forcing solid infill wouldn't be any more lightproof than a thinner board.

Hi, small world, I'm in Tucson also. Probably my mistake was using infill, which was hexagonal, in the black PLA.

An example of the mottling:

[Jim Andrada]

Yes, I'd give it another try using "solid" infill. I haven't been to Picacho Peak in a few of years with a camera. I should go again. Funny name Picacho = Peak in Spanish so it's "Peak Peak. On the other hand there's a double peak so maybe it's appropriate. Strange things happen when one has semi imitation Spanish names for things. I live on Calle Bujia - probably someone thought of "Bujia" as flickering candles, but its common meaning around here is "Spark Plug".

[grat]

I normally print PETG at around 225C... But it can vary by as much as +/- 5C depending on the manufacture.

[Pieter]

I have no idea of the cost involved vs buying a factory or other aftermarket lens board, but wouldn't sending the file to have it printed in metal be preferable?

[Jim Andrada]

I can check the printing price for a metal board from a service bureau, but printing one myself is overnight turnaround and maybe $1 for materials. Of course therexs the expense for the printer and CAD software, but I already had the software and bought the printer for a business project. The plastic is surprisingly strong. I don't think there's any lens I'd practically try to put on the Technika for which the plastic isn't strong enough.

[grat]

For me, an "inexpensive" Technika board is around $27 USD, shipped from Wun Lung Wei by tortoise. They're metal, they're solid, they're well made.

Or, I can download an STL file from Thingiverse, fire up a 3D printer, and 2 hours later have one just as opaque, very solid, but slightly flexible-- but not so much that I've got any worries mounting up a modestly large Symmar-S 210 f/5.6 on it-- for about $1 USD. Rounding up.

Which is better? Any metal lens board, followed (probably) by a well-made wooden board-- the plastic lens board beats a poorly made wooden board, and certainly beats my heavy cardstock and tape lens board that I made when I had a brand new lens and camera, and no lens board.

There's no shipping, very little wait, and it's always the right Copal diameter when I make one myself.

Having said all that, all of my regular lenses are mounted on metal lens boards, some of which are even offset, and have Linhof logos.

"printing" a flat plate is prohibitively expensive-- having one milled out of an aluminum or steel blank will be less expensive, but not nearly as inexpensive as buying a used, or mass-produced asian board.

[Jim Andrada]

I would have said the same thing - but after printing a couple for under a $ each and free "overnight delivery" with offset lens holes and flange mounting holes already in place I have to say I'm changing my mind. I have a couple of dozen lenses that I'd like to remount on technika boards and at $25 each that adds up. But before I start cranking them out I plan on a bunch of testing. I use wooden boards on several cameras and have made a couple of wooden adapters to mount a technika boar, so now I'm thinking that I could just make plastic adapters as well.Of course there's something relaxing about making stuff out of wood - I've got dozens of times more invested in sawdust manufacturing than in 3D printing. I've built furniture, cabinets, and even a couple of wooden boats with it. No interest in a plastic boat - it would require a bigger printer.

I wouldn't buy a printer just for this, but I'm finding it pretty useful.

[Andy_Arizona_01]

As far as stiffness goes, have you tried using the carbon reinforced PLA before? I've been wanting to try some but still need to get a hardened nozzle. I also have what I think is a Linhoff board that came with a lens that has a big metal washer that the lens sandwiches, and that would be an easy way to add a lot of stiffness to a normal 3D printed board. On McMaster seems like those washers are pretty cheap.

[Peter De Smidt]

Is pla's hydroscopicity a problem?