Technical 3D Printed Parts

I have been working on one out of an Xbox Kinect but haven't been able to really get much value out of it. Most of the time I can take a few dimensions and draw it in CAD do some paper checks and go that way. Scanning and getting the models cleaned takes more time for me. I could see it with something with difficult geometry maybe.

2Kg of filament is 20-25 dollars for decent materials. You could get quite a few parts and trinkets out of one of those. I mean that's less than a few 2x4s now.

 

This dome light cover is the straw that put the camel over the edge about 10 years ago. I spent a ton of money on parts and they came in a little box. So i went of and built a different car for a while to let this one acclimate to temperature in the shop. Now I am tearing back into it and just going my own way with it.

 

I won't link as the car is very O/T but if you search youtube for "3D printed aluminum intake manifold" you'll find a video that shows printing with aluminum, the way it works is aluminum powder is spread over a sheet of glass, a laser is then fired in a specific pattern that causes the powder to fuse together when the laser is fired, another layer of powder is spread and the laser is fired and so on. Its quite impressive, albeit expensive.

Back to our end of the scale, the process is you need to draw the item you want in a CAD package, this can take a little bit of time to figure out - but using guides from youtube you can soon figure out enough to get by.
From there you save your file and put it through another piece of software called a "slicer", a popular one is "Cura". The slicer converts the item you've drawn in to something called "gcode", which is a bunch of instructions that the printer will understand, it also adds various controls like print temperature and how fast to print. You put that file on a memory card, put that in the printer and off it goes.
There is a website (www.thingiverse.com) where people upload designs, so you might find what you want there, saving you designing it. I've got a couple of different designs for sanding blocks for example. There is also fun stuff like this: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3532251

Examples of other tools:
3D printed dimple dies:
Press dies:

Free CAD packages:
Sketchup: https://www.sketchup.com - select "for personal use" and you can run it in the browser. If you prefer a desktop version, download "Sketchup Make 2017" from this link: https://sketchup.com/download/all
Tinkercad: https://www.tinkercad.com this one is web browser only.
Cura slicer software: https://ultimaker.com/software/ultimaker-cura

 

I've made a few doo dads for my truck on my printer.
A shift knob and used TPU (urethane) filament for some line clamps.


Also use TPU to replace the rotted rubber bumpers for my door stops and latches.

 

Think I am going to surprise the wife with a shift knob for the bug. I dig the idea @Paulz

 

I work in a R&D design office and we use 3D CAD for everything we design/make.
Prototype designs are confirmed or assessed by making the parts on any of the 4 printers we have available.
Bigger parts are make in segments and dovetailed together.
I'm at the end of my engineering career and still very old school but this technology is what takes us to the next level.
BTW: It's a great way to make '46 Tudor parts that are next to impossible to find easily "down under".

 

These came out decent have a little bit of an issue with my bridges on a couple of them.

That and I dropped one inside my door.

 

I have a friend who is making up some next-level FE heads, and has a Gigabot printer that he models with to do flow testing etc. He just did a tunnel ram, looks like a Hogan or similar, and it took 10-1/2 days to print. The machine can do an entire block, but it would have to run for a month

 

The "shit that makes me sad" @Tman is when someone takes something I said out of context, and uses it as an example.

Below was a response to whether a certain 1950s Roadster with aluminum dash parts started the billet trend.

"So, did Peter Seferian, start the billet revolution?"

"No, that's NOT the "billet aluminum" we're talking about. Making hot rod parts from misc. chunks of aluminum, in your shop, by hand IS traditional and has been going on for many years.
What's NOT traditional is creating a CAD program, throwing a chunk of 6061 in a CNC mill and pushing a button."

 

It seems you have posted a couple things this weekend that got you to say mea culpa. No worries, just call em as I see em

 

I watched a YouTube video recently where they 3D printed a titanium exhaust header for an off topic car. It was pretty cool, and eliminated all the fitting and welding of a bunch of angle pieces.

 

Thanks for such an insightful and intelligent response.

 

We have mold patterns made with a printer. Used to take up to three months to schedule an appointment and have the pattern made by hand. Now pattern is back in a week. As a restoration shop having everything from a 1909 International High Wheeler to a 1938 LaSalle many parts have to be made from scratch. We use the traditional sand or silicone molds but waiting on patterns is a non problem now.

 

We’ve had a little bit of a discussion about someone using a 3-D printer for making new seat shells for the 50s era Buicks, Pontiacs, and others. The plastic these were made of has not aged well.

 

Has anyone watched the new 3D printers that have a solution of juice in a tub? The plastic is in the solution and is printed by lazar which hardens the plastic into the shape you programed. No more threads of plastic glued melted together. There 's a specific name for this type but I don't know what it is. The finished part looked molded and has much better surface texture.

 

Stereo lithography. Not that new. NASA was doing bathtub sized parts in the 90s

Sent from my SM-G965U using The H.A.M.B. mobile app

 

there are finishing methods for smoothing out the layers as well. depending on the plastic you use. Or some of them can be sanded and painted. Just another tool in the tool box for hard to find stuff.

 

It is so cool! Also want to buy a 3D printer. Any hobby is better than just sitting in a chair and scrolling the Internet.