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The 3D printing thread


JohnD

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A while ago, there was a thread about printing small door lock parts.   The OP got a long way into it, up to, I believe, getting a supplier interested, but i can recall no more.     A recent post on another site made me search here for that thread, and I was surprised to find so many other reports, but scattered over many forums.      This technology advances constantly and the potential is enormous, so I think it's time for a 3D Printing thread, if not a forum of its own.     Here are links to the most recent, from the Triumph Expereince in the US, and some others found right here:

https://www.triumphexp.com/forum/herald-and-vitesse-forum.23/3d-printed-tail-lights.1712965/     Transparent tail  ligt covers are "no longer available" here in the UK, and have been unobtainable in the US for longer, so this is an excellent subject for Additive Manufacturing.     The result needs improvement, but definitely works!

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/6045-gear-lever-shroud-threaded-insert/?tab=comments#comment-76978  Spitfire gearlever shroud screw.     Looks perfect!   An update on servicability would be good (RobHJ?)

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/5301-door-locks/?tab=comments#comment-64205    This is the door locks thread I recalled and was looking for.

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/4558-gt6-rear-seat-shot-bolt-catches/?tab=comments#comment-53092   GT6 rear seat latches.    A project, not a product, and in metal not plastic, perhaps more difficult to do at home.

https://forum.tssc.org.uk/topic/3956-gt6-tubular-manifold-flexible-joint/?tab=comments#comment-45926   And exhaust bracket!    3D printing was used to make patterns that were fitted to the car before a steel copy was made of the final prototype.    Better than Cardboard Aided Design for some applications?

And so on....

Please post your projects, success or failure here.     For fellow 3D printers, please also post your CAD files, so they can run off a copy of the part you have made!

JOhn

 

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Great idea John.

So far, I haven't need to get anything made by 3D printing but the day will surely come. For that reason, I'm sorry not to be able to contribute useful content to this thread at the moment, but I will be watching with interest.

Nigel

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Pete,

No, mine broke as well, said so in the thread, I had to put the old one back. Now I’ve a new problem, unlock the door, open and close and........ it’s locked, no key involved! :angry: Rods and clamps need fettling.

Doug

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I have suggested before that the club shop seriously investigates 3D printing on site to fabricate small runs of those impossible to find parts. I know that the resources of the club are limited but to centralise all the CAD for our cars in one place with details of success/failure and the best material to use has got to be a useful resource even if the club don't eventually produce the end product.

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Heres a few, some are interesting

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2995798 Mk4/1500 Spit/Mk3 GT6 wheel nut split washer

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2988361 TR4 wiper washer nozzle mount

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3996076 Spitfire Mk1

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:771146 TR2 Tsta housing mould for casting

 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1649218 Plastic hubcap label

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1522784 Old Triumph Badge

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2336285 Radio mount adaptor

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2929952 Keyring

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2739038 TR7 heater knobs

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2970567 Window washer bellows

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ahebron,

Great!   It would really help  someone looking for a pattern if you were to label in clear text what each is for?

Please go back and edit your post to add a short description?

Also, I can see that some are realworld items that you have made, others are still virtual.    And some are semi-rigid, some flexible.    Your advice or comments on manufacture would be most valuable to another maker!

John

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I started a similar thread re: 3D printing on the Alpine Owners site a couple of years back which failed to get much response. I suggested that it might be worth gauging interest from some Colleges or Universities with more commercial grade 3D printing equipment to see if a commercial relationship with Owners Clubs could be developed to manufacture and sell small batches of unavailable components. It would be good if there were a few classic car nuts in the engineering departments of these institutions, that would perhaps grease the cogs a bit.  As you point out the possibilities of this technology are incredible, including laser sintering of stainless steel, so potentially just about anything can be remanufactured. 

Ian  

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1 hour ago, SixasStandard said:

I started a similar thread re: 3D printing on the Alpine Owners site a couple of years back which failed to get much response. I suggested that it might be worth gauging interest from some Colleges or Universities with more commercial grade 3D printing equipment to see if a commercial relationship with Owners Clubs could be developed to manufacture and sell small batches of unavailable components. It would be good if there were a few classic car nuts in the engineering departments of these institutions, that would perhaps grease the cogs a bit.  As you point out the possibilities of this technology are incredible, including laser sintering of stainless steel, so potentially just about anything can be remanufactured. 

Ian  

Don't be disheartened by a lack of response; people like myself, who have absolutely no expertise in things like this, look on it as a very welcome source of help - but only when it's needed! 

Once something unavailable breaks it will probably be my first port of call, but only when; and if someone has gone to the bother of drawing plans for my much-needed part, that's when it all makes sense. It's going to be the future way of doing things - you need a part, someone draws up the pattern and saves it in a library, maybe even just for club members, and you either get it manufactured yourself or else get it printed / made through a listed outlet of places endorsed by the club or its' members.

Having a resource like this sitting in the background is great, but having it there when you need it is priceless. Keep it going!

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Thank you, ahebron!

It further occurs to me - I'm sorry, but I'm making this up as we go along! - the searcher for a pattern would have bene looking for an OE or reproduction part for some time and will know the part no.    So adding that to the description would help them find it.     With your description, I hope these are the right part nos.!

PLASTIC WASHER FOR WHEELNUT (Spit MkIV/1500/GT6) 155753

JET & BUSH, LH  TR4-4A    511071   (RH is 511070) (Described above as "TR4 wiper washer nozzle mount")

COVER, thermostat ("Housing" above) TR2 to (c) TS1200    105584

TR7 heater control knobs.  Fresh air  - ZKC 1222,  Heat Control - ZKC1220, Fan Speed Control - ZKC4011, Direction Control - Screen/Car - ZKC1219 (I think they are all the same?  Just different labels?)

The others don't have part nos. ( a whole Spitfire??!) or I can't find them.

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On 22/06/2020 at 13:17, SixasStandard said:

I started a similar thread re: 3D printing on the Alpine Owners site a couple of years back which failed to get much response. I suggested that it might be worth gauging interest from some Colleges or Universities with more commercial grade 3D printing equipment to see if a commercial relationship with Owners Clubs could be developed to manufacture and sell small batches of unavailable components. It would be good if there were a few classic car nuts in the engineering departments of these institutions, that would perhaps grease the cogs a bit.  As you point out the possibilities of this technology are incredible, including laser sintering of stainless steel, so potentially just about anything can be remanufactured. 

We had a similar experience on here. Pete started a thread asking for suggestions for parts that were unobtainable and which could be 3D printed and not much came of it. The idea came from a general dissatisfaction with the fact that you had to buy a complete door handle assembly for a Mk4/1500Spitfire-Mk3GT6 when it was just the plastic control rod that caused the failure. My son Louis copied the design of the rod and printed a couple of versions in different materials as a 'proof of concept' and Doug and Barry kindly fitted them in their cars and tested them to destruction. Having proved that the design was dimensionally accurate, my son uploaded the file to an online printing service where people can have it printed in stainless steel. To date, more than 40 people have (including our Barry I think) and there have been no reported failures. So the process does work. I would suggest that the dedicated online printing services are the way to go rather than the club getting involved in any part of the manufacture as this is all they do and they do it really well. Before lockdown my son was just about to start helping out in the 3D printing workshop at the Advanced Engineering department of Brighton University as their facilities were not even as good as he has at home (all home-made or hugely modified)

John starting this thread is very timely as Louis has just finished 3D modelling the unobtainable hardtop mounting brackets for the early Spitfires and they illustrate the situation very clearly. They are dimensionally accurate but were extremely complicated to model from scratch and the task took Louis more than 10 hours before he was happy. This will always remain the problem, even with 3D scanning technology progressing so quickly, you will always need someone who really knows what they are doing to create or fettle the 3D file and make sure that it is fit for purpose. Here is a picture of a low resolution test print of the mounting bracket next to the real thing. When these are printed in stainless steel at full resolution they will be as good or better than the original part.1149125339_hardtopmounting.thumb.jpg.b53d5bd59920c2aca0108075df3a39ff.jpg

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I think the best thing is for one person to take on the library of printer files along with a list of the company to use for the manufacture and the spec of the material to use. I feel it would be better dealt with by the club shop rather than have the details lost in the posts here. Maybe even a section in the courier or a specific info page on the club website.

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I think there is a tide in the affairs of men (good phrase that, eh?) and 3D printing is one of them.

I recall in my previous professional life, when desktop computers came in, that there was a phase when everyone was writing programs for every conceiveable purpose, some very simple in BASIC, some sophisticated, even in machine code.       Eventually, that faded, third generation languages and commercial companies took over.   I suspect we are in the first phase on Additive Manufacture right now, and that as you suggest Badwolf, it will become a commercial matter in due course.    But there were poeple then whose careers were reshaped by it, and Adrian's son may be one who has taken  this new tide at the flood (good phrase that too!).    But fun and benefit while we can!

John

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I foresee a time, not in my lifetime, when you can type in a barcode number on fleabay/amazoan or similar, pay your money and your brand new, freshly printed part, whatever it may be, will drop onto your back garden by drone before teatime. Adrian's son... go for it!!!

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  • 1 month later...

I have been talking with a work colleague who went to 3d do in California in February and he was amazed at what they are achieving.
He was particularly taken with the product that Nasa use called PEEK.
This is a commonly available product for 3d work but is expensive and needs high grade printers.
It looks like the bees knees for manufacturing carparts but as with most technology we need to wait for the price to come down.

Adrian

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On 25/06/2020 at 22:34, Badwolf said:

I foresee a time, not in my lifetime, when you can type in a barcode number on fleabay/amazoan or similar, pay your money and your brand new, freshly printed part, whatever it may be, will drop onto your back garden by drone before teatime. Adrian's son... go for it!!!

Me too. I'm still waiting for a Next Day Delivery from last week. All I can see as a result of improved technology is that they'll be able to tell you, much more quickly, that the item you require is not in stock. :)

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  • 1 month later...

Well I went and bought one.
I got a Crealty Ender 3 Pro and now have something to build all those things I never knew I needed.
I reckon the ones to get are those that can do PEEK or its ilk but as they are expensive I will start with the cheaper ones and hopefully in a few years when I have this mastered and prices have dropped I will be able to invest in the better printers. Also the development of plastics for printing will have improved.

They are not a tool for instant gratification as printing takes a while, sometimes a couple of days and you still have the prints that for some reason go awry but the machine still keeps printing what it is programmed to do and you end up with a birds nest..

Today I printed 2 discs to mount LEDs in Lucas guard top side lights, a cover for a Shimano gear shifter on a pushbike but it was the wrong one, a tyre valve cap and finally a screw in oil funnel for filling a Honda EU1 generator. The Lucas led discs I designed on Fusion 360 which is a must to learn  if you want to print your own items.

You also spend a lot of time printing parts to modify your printer or adjust things that could have been done better.

 

Adrian

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