3-D Printing of Small Parts

[ubtripn]

So I was missing a small handle for one of the three heat slider levers. (Sorry I don't know the official name.) and an employee printed one off for me. It was amazing. I then asked for a seatbelt plug and a couple of other small items and it worked like a charm. Anybody else ever print a part?

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by ubtripn

So I was missing a small handle for one of the three heat slider levers. (Sorry I don't know the official name.) and an employee printed one off for me. It was amazing. I then asked for a seatbelt plug and a couple of other small items and it worked like a charm. Anybody else ever print a part?

I have a couple of things I would like to try and get done but I don't know where to look for someone that has a good 3-D printer....

LockDoc

[ubtripn]

That was the thing, his was about $300 and then the cost of material, I thought the cost would be MUCH higher but its within our reach now.

[Bigdav160]

I made this a/c vent retainers for the back of my Burb

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

I made this a/c vent retainers for the back of my Burb

Does it make it a lot easier if a person actually has a part to copy?

LockDoc

[James the III]

Originally Posted by LockDoc

Does it make it a lot easier if a person actually has a part to copy?

LockDoc

Not really as you still have to put the measurements in cad software..

now the laser plotting to build a 3d scan of a part is killer but that is a little pricey at the moment..

[ubtripn]

THAT is AWESOME!

[Bigdav160]

I draw my parts in Sketchup (free) and export as .stl

Laser scanners are still $3k

The beauty is you can design or improve a design quickly

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by James the III

Not really as you still have to put the measurements in cad software..

now the laser plotting to build a 3d scan of a part is killer but that is a little pricey at the moment..

Originally Posted by Bigdav160

I draw my parts in Sketchup (free) and export as .stl

Laser scanners are still $3k

The beauty is you can design or improve a design quickly

Thanks guys.

LockDoc

[Robznob11]

I have been contemplating buying a 3d printer to do small stuff. I just wonder how sturdy the end products are? Also where would one look to compare printers so you can get the best bang for the buck so to speak....

[hewittca]

Originally Posted by Robznob11

I have been contemplating buying a 3d printer to do small stuff. I just wonder how sturdy the end products are? Also where would one look to compare printers so you can get the best bang for the buck so to speak....

I've printed many parts for various projects, and I will say that it is awesome for prototyping and test fitting, but not so great for longevity if it's a part that is going to be subject to any sort of stress. If you're trying to replace a part that broke over time or during normal operation, your printed part is sure to fail as well. A mould plastic part is always going to be considerably stronger than an identical printed part. Eventually, the layers that compose the print start to break apart under stress. There are ways to design the print so you can optimize strength, and you just have to keep this in mind when choosing what applications you want to utilize your 3D printer for.

I have several 3D printers at work, all of them the standard layer by layer extruded plastic type. These are the most common and readily available. Ours are either Makerbot or FlashForge (improved version of original Makerbot). FlashForge is an Amazon company, with Prime shipping you can have it and start printing in two days. This printer has been very dependable but it starts at about $1,000. There are many other options for much less than that, several of which are simply parts lists with build instructions for you to construct your own printer. We have one of these and it works but is very temperamental. There are plenty of printer comparison articles out there. This article is pretty good. I've used a few on this list and have found you get what you pay for, to a point. Anything under about $500 and it's going to require a fair bit of maintenance and supervision. Anything over about $1200 and you're just paying for extra (nonessential) features and maybe higher resolution.

Ok, that's enough about 3D printers for now.

[LockDoc]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I've printed many parts for various projects, and I will say that it is awesome for prototyping and test fitting, but not so great for longevity if it's a part that is going to be subject to any sort of stress. If you're trying to replace a part that broke over time or during normal operation, your printed part is sure to fail as well. A mould plastic part is always going to be considerably stronger than an identical printed part. Eventually, the layers that compose the print start to break apart under stress. There are ways to design the print so you can optimize strength, and you just have to keep this in mind when choosing what applications you want to utilize your 3D printer for.

I have several 3D printers at work, all of them the standard layer by layer extruded plastic type. These are the most common and readily available. Ours are either Makerbot or FlashForge (improved version of original Makerbot). FlashForge is an Amazon company, with Prime shipping you can have it and start printing in two days. This printer has been very dependable but it starts at about $1,000. There are many other options for much less than that, several of which are simply parts lists with build instructions for you to construct your own printer. We have one of these and it works but is very temperamental. There are plenty of printer comparison articles out there. This article is pretty good. I've used a few on this list and have found you get what you pay for, to a point. Anything under about $500 and it's going to require a fair bit of maintenance and supervision. Anything over about $1200 and you're just paying for extra (nonessential) features and maybe higher resolution.

Ok, that's enough about 3D printers for now.

Appreciate the info. I don't know if I would do enough to justify the expense of buying one. I would probably be better off just paying someone to make the couple of pieces I need.... I read an article that said it is best to use the 3d printer to make a prototype and have parts molded from that. I did find a couple of places on Craigslist that do it so I'm going to check with them.

LockDoc

[supercheyenne]

Originally Posted by hewittca

Ok, that's enough about 3D printers for now.

Thanks for the insight. I've always been fascinated by them.

[Robznob11]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I've printed many parts for various projects, and I will say that it is awesome for prototyping and test fitting, but not so great for longevity if it's a part that is going to be subject to any sort of stress. If you're trying to replace a part that broke over time or during normal operation, your printed part is sure to fail as well. A mould plastic part is always going to be considerably stronger than an identical printed part. Eventually, the layers that compose the print start to break apart under stress. There are ways to design the print so you can optimize strength, and you just have to keep this in mind when choosing what applications you want to utilize your 3D printer for.

I have several 3D printers at work, all of them the standard layer by layer extruded plastic type. These are the most common and readily available. Ours are either Makerbot or FlashForge (improved version of original Makerbot). FlashForge is an Amazon company, with Prime shipping you can have it and start printing in two days. This printer has been very dependable but it starts at about $1,000. There are many other options for much less than that, several of which are simply parts lists with build instructions for you to construct your own printer. We have one of these and it works but is very temperamental. There are plenty of printer comparison articles out there. This article is pretty good. I've used a few on this list and have found you get what you pay for, to a point. Anything under about $500 and it's going to require a fair bit of maintenance and supervision. Anything over about $1200 and you're just paying for extra (nonessential) features and maybe higher resolution.

Ok, that's enough about 3D printers for now.

Thank you sir!

[davepl]

I bought a BOXZY at an auction a couple of weeks ago... it's a 3D printer, laser engraver, and 3-axis mill in one. So far I've only printed Pokemon models for the kids, but it seems to work well enough!

[feller]

I was just thinking about this the other day

[Jason Banks]

Here is a thread I started about something I made.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=684109

Here is a picture of the magnetic phone mount I made:

[Dustmaker65]

Originally Posted by hewittca

I've printed many parts for various projects, and I will say that it is awesome for prototyping and test fitting, but not so great for longevity if it's a part that is going to be subject to any sort of stress. If you're trying to replace a part that broke over time or during normal operation, your printed part is sure to fail as well. A mould plastic part is always going to be considerably stronger than an identical printed part. Eventually, the layers that compose the print start to break apart under stress. There are ways to design the print so you can optimize strength, and you just have to keep this in mind when choosing what applications you want to utilize your 3D printer for.

I have several 3D printers at work, all of them the standard layer by layer extruded plastic type. These are the most common and readily available. Ours are either Makerbot or FlashForge (improved version of original Makerbot). FlashForge is an Amazon company, with Prime shipping you can have it and start printing in two days. This printer has been very dependable but it starts at about $1,000. There are many other options for much less than that, several of which are simply parts lists with build instructions for you to construct your own printer. We have one of these and it works but is very temperamental. There are plenty of printer comparison articles out there. This article is pretty good. I've used a few on this list and have found you get what you pay for, to a point. Anything under about $500 and it's going to require a fair bit of maintenance and supervision. Anything over about $1200 and you're just paying for extra (nonessential) features and maybe higher resolution.

Ok, that's enough about 3D printers for now.

Very cool info! Thanks!

Originally Posted by Jason Banks

Here is a thread I started about something I made.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=684109

Here is a picture of the magnetic phone mount I made:

Wow, I never seen this. Have you tried to sell them on here?

[Dieselwrencher]

That's a very nice mount. 3d printing is so cool.

[Jason Banks]

If you follow that link to the thread I started there is a link to shapeways.com where you can buy one. Just the plastic part. Looks like it is $11.99 delivered. I think I would get $2 of that.

You would still need your own bolt and "Ram Mounts Ball" or you can weld up the magnetic thing like I did. I went the magnetic way because I have that magnetic mount in my other truck and even have one to use in rental cars.

[LockDoc]

-
Pictures for member Burbor. This will give you an idea of what it looks like....

LockDoc

[Vtec2V8]

We do 3-D printing at my work, unfortunately it is wax printing that gets material poured into into the wax mold, with a good urethane plastic, the part should be pretty damn strong. Alot of the plastic parts ive seen printed are ABS plastic. While this stuff is cheap and semi sturdy, ABS is not repairable with glue or any plastic weld. We use a company called QUICK PARTS, they can print in several different density plastics. Ive had my engineers draw up a few cad models for me and had a friend who owns a 5-axis make parts for me out of aluminum. 3-D printing is pretty damn awesome!

[Coley]

In my work I often design parts in 3D-Solidworks and to a lesser degree Autocad pretty much all the time for work/design/engineering purposes.
I have always considered measuring up and making a few interesting parts from the truck realm....but as of yet I haven't applied any time to it.
In reality it would probably take less than an hour to accurately measure up a part then about the same to commit to 3D design...some more, some less...depending on the part.
That said, I have had designed parts made up in 3D in the past and it looks like the resins are getting better. That last part I had made up a couple of years ago was very accurate...but very brittle and not much use other than as a 'display model'.
As was stated...when the model is complete it can be exported/saved as an .stl file which plugs right into the format for these printers.
Here are a couple of quick jpegs of what I have designed in that past...at least in plastics, noting that most of my design/engineering work is rooted in mechanical/equipment/automation components....ie: metal. Regardless, this part was way more complicated than anything we would find in these trucks...so the difficulty level is pretty 'doable'.

All Good
Coley

['70_402]

I also work in an engineering firm. We have a large very expensive 3D printer. Sooo... if anyone has any solidworks files or stl files that they would like to share, I could make some if needed. (very low numbers) nothing full production for sure. haha.

Most of my stuff is downhole oilwell production stuff, perforating guns and logging tools.

[Hart_Rod]

Some great stuff here!