Hi Jim, I would shy away from making a vessel that needed to be water/liquid/air tight. I've attempted many times to create the rubber diaphragm in the Delco D204 vacuum retard on the distributor for my GT6. I've been successful only twice out of probably 30 attempts. I haven't given up yet but porosity is the challenge. I have printed a cup holder but have not tried putting water in it. I should try and see if it is water tight. PLA is a nice material but so limited for any vehicle parts that I make. Most all my parts I create are nylon, ASA, TPU and PC. Occasionally I use PETG for simple non-functional parts. I never use PLA other than for toys for the grand kids.
I create my own parts using CAD. I've used AutoDesk Inventor for over 25 years. That way I create the part I need and have the CAD file and model so I can make modifications and enhance the design of a part if needed.
I have a Creality CR10, a Creality Ender 5 and a Qidi X-Plus. The Qidi can get up to 300C on the hot end and can better handle the filaments that need that heat. My Ender 5,, I dedicate that printer for TPU only. The CR 10 handles large prints and certain nylon filaments but nylon pushed that machine to its limits. The Qidi works best for the high heat filaments like nylon cast plate and PC. Just as a note; my son has 6 printers, but he only prints PLA.
Just recently I rebuilt an AC Delco fuel pump to have a spare in my kit I carry in my GT6. There is a seal in the bottom of the pump that no one supplies in a kit. It is just a dust seal to keep dirt and other contaminants out. So I designed my own seal using TPU and rebuilt my pump and it works nice. It's fun to need a part, sit down at the computer, create the CAD model, feed it to the printer then just go back out into the workshop and then just a short time later go in and take the part off the printer and install it. Great satisfaction.
As mentioned, I've made over 85 different part numbers for Triumphs, most for my TR250 and GT6 but a fair number of parts for the TR7 & TR8, TR6 and Spitfire models. At one time I was going to start a small business and create a website for Triumph NLA parts but I remembered I was retired and was concerned this hobby would become a job. I like being retired to much I guess. My wife thinks I'm addicted to printing. She may be right.
BT
