So, now I’m wondering. Really, can you 3D print a magnifying glass? Yes you can. A real working, crystal clear smooth one at that.
So, how do you do it? There are multiple ways. I’ll point out the first and perhaps most expensive way.
First of all, use a SLA 3D printer to 3D print your object out of clear resin. Once you’re done with that standard job, you need to finish off the surface smooth by one of several means. Yes, you can do traditional pellet pounding, acid bath, and sanding with sandpaper. Another nifty method you can do is to spray it with a clear resin coating spray.
So, now you’re wondering. Can you also do this with a FDM printer like the Prusa i3? Well, in order to do that, you’d first need to be able to 3D print with a transparent plastic like polycarbonate. So can you do that on the Prusa i3? Indeed you can. Now, there’s a really nifty trick to do that, though. You know how you’ve been told that 3D printing with polycarbonate requires higher temperatures than typical consumer, DIY, and hobbyist 3D printers can supply? Well, not an entirely complete description of what’s going on here. The plastic’s ability to be shaped depends on both the temperature and pressure applied to it. So if you keep the temperature the same, but increase the pressure, will that work? Indeed, it does work quite well.
So, there you go. Now you can 3D print with polycarbonate on a FDM 3D printer too.
Also note that these other plastic materials can be used in a transparent manner too: polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, high density polyethylene, polypropyline. Basically, all of those materials can also be printed with in the Prusa i3 too, with the right settings selected.
So, now that you really have a lot of options for 3D printing your own magnifying glass, you therefore have a lot of options for building your own cheap optical camera viewfinder for Raspberry Pi projects. You just need to apply some original thinking, get the right materials, and, well, do a lot of experimenting.
20181117/DuckDuckGo 3d print magnifying glass
20181117/http://www.instructables.com:80/id/3D-Printed-Magnifying-Glass/
20181117/https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1006913
NOT what I’m looking for, but interesting idea. If you want to build one of those armed magnifying glass systems for working on electronics, but entirely by the means of 3D printing, take a look at this article.
20181117/https://theccontinuum.com/2016/07/08/hobby-creek-arm-mod-3d-printed-illuminated-magnifying-glass/
20181117/https://www.reddit.com/r/3Dprinting/comments/799moi/i_3d_printed_a_magnifying_glass/
20181117/https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2999188
Here are details on how to print polycarbonate with the Prusa i3.
20181117/DuckDuckGo prusa i3 polycarbonate
broken/20181117/https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/print-tips-archive–f86/polycarbonate-here-s-how-to-print-it-without-warpi-t6919.html
20191103/https://forum.prusaprinters.org/forum/original-prusa-i3-mk3s-mk3-print-tips-archive/polycarbonate-here-s-how-to-print-it-without-warping-delamination-or-an-enclosure-with-better-than-abs-results./
20181117/DuckDuckGo prusa i3 transparent hdpe
20181117/DuckDuckGo prusa i3 transparent polypropylene
20181117/https://hackaday.com/2012/11/27/prusas-nozzle-prints-polycarbonate-peek-nylon/
This is an interesting article on threaded rods, i.e. lead screws and ball screws. Yes, the things that may often be necessary for some 3D printer designs. The alternative that I see more often in consumer printers and scanners is belt drives.
20181117/https://hackaday.com/2018/11/13/mechanisms-lead-screws-and-ball-screws/