Does anyone have access to a 3D printer who might be able to print of some parts for a project? Will cover costs. The main part is about 25x15cm.
Also any recommendations foe 3D printers for home use (aeromodelling and making some odds and ends generally)
Lastly what software do people use?
Here I am having spent all morning trying to get our old work one to get going 
Sadly it doesn’t have the build area to fit your part or is offer to help. It’s 10 years old also, but was best in class when it was new!
As for recommendations; look at the Prusa3D printers. The I3 has sort of become a gold standard for hobby printing, and are pretty easy to use. So long as you’re patient.
That’s quite a large part, what sort of height/thickness is it?
Could you split it down into smaller pieces? You’re less likely to get warping that way.
Happy to help.
All morning to get this bloody thing working… But now it is!
Dual head printers for the win to print dissolvable supports 
It’s a frame to go round a small LCD screen so it fits into a Peli type case.
This is one of the designs I’m looking at:
The other option I guess would be to get a sheet of ABS or similar and drill / cut to fit.
That is proper industrial kit!
I’m not sure what it is, but it looks good!
Years ago I trekked all the way up to the North East to see some of the very early 3D printers. I’m now getting to the point where I’d want to invest in my own…
This printer was one of the first ‘plug and play’ type printers! It’s one of these. Released in 2010. I think it cost about £14k new 
Excuse me?
The one I really want is at McLaren F1. Prints metal but is the size of a shipping container!
I’d love to have a ‘play’ with a DMG Mori Lasertec but sadly there’s no way I’ll ever talk my boss into buying one of those… Not anytime soon anyway 
I’ve got two I should really sell . . . they are both broke and need some major tlc 
We have a couple at my place of work… 18 in fact
I can recommend the the Creality Ender 3 or CR6-SE (I have the CR6)
Both pretty decent for home use once you have got them dialled in and are relatively inexpensive.
I’m using PrusaSlicer for slicing the stl into gcode. I’ve also used Cura but PrusaSlicer seems easier to use in my opinion.
Getting a little more complicated I also have a Raspberry Pi running OctoPrint giving me remote control over the printer.
If you do get one, expect to spend a significant amount of time tweaking settings, adjusting the printer and multiple failed prints 
I suspect it’s a bit like a lot of tools, you need different ones for different jobs? The Anycubic Photon gets recommended a lot on the model making groups for small parts (replacement flaps, undercarriage parts, that type of stuff).
I imagine that would be better for small fine detail parts,
It’s a SLA printer so better for that kind of work, I think anyway. I don’t have any experience with them
For home and office use, I have a Creality CR10S. Most of the creality machines are pretty solid; it is just a matter of how big of parts you want to be able to print. Prusa’s are nice because of the continual design improvements they make. Either brand can produce fantastic prints. My advice is to get a cheaper machine such as a Creality or similar clone and spend money on learning filaments. If you decide to move on to another printer, check here. and you can always sell the current one you have pretty easily and recoup most if not all of the cost.
