3D printing

[goggles]

Has anyone looked into having plastic parts "remade" with the 3D printing technology?

[bonanzadave]

Stratasys is right in my back yard.

http://www.stratasys.com/

If I could stop wasting my time on GSRs I have a seat waiting for me at solid works school. I could then draw my broken side panels and have them printed .

[Dogma]

It would be awfully expensive, unless you happen to have access to the equipment to do it yourself. First, you'd need an accurate scan of the part. Then you'd need access to a machine large enough to make it. Not cheap. Next up is the material. Machines that are going to work in ABS (or any other plastic tough enough) will produce a finish that isn't good enough to paint. So you'll need to do some finishing work.

DIY on hobby grade machinery (RepRap) will require designing and building a machine yourself. My Prusa Mendel might be big enough to do one of the smaller side covers, but there will be serious warping because I don't have a heated chamber to allow the part to cool all at once. The printed part won't be quite as strong as the injection molded part either.

If you have access to a 3 axis CNC mill, you could make molds from a scan and build your own injection molding rig. That might get you there faster and cheaper. A service like ProtoMold could do the whole molded part from a model, but that would be thousands again. You'd need a couple dozen people after the same part to make that worthwhile.

Cheapest might be having a service bureau print something from a scanned model, but that's still going to run into hundreds of dollars, and you'll have a lot of finishing work to do still.

I recommend saving a search on eBay so you get an email when relevant parts come available. Sometimes NOS turns up, or a good or good enough used part. 3D printing just worn't beat it yet. Not for cost, anyway.

Within the next couple years I intend to build a printer capable of doing such parts. Reproductions and custom variants sounds like fun. There's never enough time to get around to it though.

[goggles]

Appreciate the input. I knew a little about it but your description filled in a lot of the blanks

[SqDancerLynn1]

It will happen some day.. After all they made a gun with one. It didn't last !

[wkmpt]

I think the 3d printing idea is really cool, I think that the tech is almost to the point that it can reach people's dreams/expectations.

In regards to side covers, if one has access to a 3 axis CNC, why not be done with the plastic all together and make some side covers out of aluminum or similar? Much more durable than the originals, I'd think...

[Dogma]

I think the 3d printing idea is really cool, I think that the tech is almost to the point that it can reach people's dreams/expectations.

In regards to side covers, if one has access to a 3 axis CNC, why not be done with the plastic all together and make some side covers out of aluminum or similar? Much more durable than the originals, I'd think...

I think metal side covers are too likely to keep a dent. I was thinking about this, and with access to a 3 axis mill, you could make molds for a very tough poured polyurethane part. Or, if you can borrow (or piece together) a good original, pour master molds for making several PU copies. Alter the molds a bit to make reinforcements in weak areas.

[bonanzadave]

I think metal side covers are too likely to keep a dent. I was thinking about this, and with access to a 3 axis mill, you could make molds for a very tough poured polyurethane part. Or, if you can borrow (or piece together) a good original, pour master molds for making several PU copies. Alter the molds a bit to make reinforcements in weak areas.

You could do it much easier with some casting resin and a vac former. There is not a lot of detail in a side cover so a ABS vac formed part would look very original. Tabs could be made and glued on.

[nikosg]

Guys. There are easier ways to do things.

For short batch runs you can just make a soft mold - using silicone and your "part" whether it be 3d printed or not. Hell, you could make it out of bronze in the end if you wanted to. But there are no issues casting plastic or metals into a soft mold.

CNCing side covers is just a ridiculous waste of materials.

There are plenty of ways that 3D printing can enable you to make good parts, you just need to know a bit about other industrial/model making processes in order to capitalise.
Plenty of people make soft molds and "pour" there plastic - which results in a much stronger part than a 3d printer can produce.

[posplayr]

For the Naysayers

http://www.cnet.com/news/worlds-first-3d-printed-apartment-building-constructed-in-china/

[Joe Garfield]

The technology is there, it's just not widespread yet. There are little (plastic) 3D printers used to make parts in the field for defense vehicles/equipment. I was asking someone at work about when they thought we would have plastic printers with fiber inlays - which I found out people are already experimenting with. You won't likely see that next to a home computer for a little while, but the technology is growing quickly.

[Dogma]

You can get a printer that will lay filament with the plastic now, for about $5k. Not just experimental anymore. The resulting parts are very strong in the direction of the fiber, but only as strong as other printed parts when loaded across the plastic layers.