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The 3D printing thread


JohnD

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10 hours ago, Pete Lewis said:

re reading this post back to the start there is a lot of really good ideas and supportive comments its how to pull it together 

with both sides of the pond being great contributors seems we have all been trying 

its a way forward for many but only possible by the few 

an un wieldy working party would just die before it started 

is there a way ???

Pete

Hi Pete,

To me we'd just need two things, one the group of people that have the kit to make them and willing to do so and a list of the parts with pics for people to ahow interest and then when a price is given, pre-order AND give a deposit. I guess at least the last part would have to be done by the shop?

Aidan

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Perhaps the club would consider an online library of parts files for people to download and print at home if they had the kit. There could be a fee for download like with Amazon Kindle. The club would take a fee for hosting the library and the author of the file a fee for their work. No stock holding, on demand production. If you don't have the 3d printing kit, download the file and get a friend or even a professional company to print it. Just a couple of thoughts over coffee. Better than reading the news.

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Appears that the TSSC group already has the talent to start. You have Jim-GT6, he has the design skills, John D has the organizing ability. I'm sure there are many others that will be able to help out. Keep in mind that the people that have the equipment will need printers that can use the more sophisticated materials. The basic printers use PLA material which is OK for prototypes but useless for any car parts. This material will deform in sunlight so the printers used must be able to use PETG, ABS, ASA, Nylon, PC. Material choice is very important depending on the part function. Size does matter here also. Most all printers can handle a part 8" square but the larger the part the more expensive the part becomes and the bigger the machine required. There are costs associated with printing, the machines require maintenance, electrical costs, filament materials vary etc so most can't do the printing for free. If you do send parts out to the commercial vendors, I think you will find their costs very high as Aidan found out. So keeping your efforts in house will be essential.

BPT 

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Received this as an email today. It's for a webinar on " Metal 3D Printing for Machine Designers"

 https://mailchi.mp/engineering/metal-3d-printing-for-machine-designers-1373825?e=f83f8a9a3a

It's desisgned for production eneginners in industry, but anyway.    You might have to register with the sponsors engineering.com to take part.

JOhn

PS "organising ability"?    Shurely shome mishtake?

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Hi John, thanks for the link. Designing parts that can be 3D printed in metal is quite a science. I've looked into this and there are several companies here in the US and I'm sure across the pond that provide the service but from what I've read is rather expensive. The material (filaments) used are metal infused (sintered) and there are precise "shrinkage" calculations required in the model. The finished 3D print is then sent off to an outfit that has the equipment to "bake" the part and the soft filament is melted out and the metal is fused together. Materials as strong as titanium can be done. MatterHackers is one company in California that provides the metal infused filaments and has the equipment to finish the part. But from what I've researched is likely too expensive for our British car enthusiasts. Porsche frequently uses this process for some of their classic car 3D printed parts and they have bigger pocket books than we do. Better plastic type materials are constantly being developed that will be nearly as good as aluminum strength. On one of my printers that can reach high temperatures (300 C) I routinely print Nylon Cast Plate (13,400 psi tensile) filament and PC (polycarbonate) which are very strong filaments. There are real expensive filaments like PEEK that the space program uses but requires very high temperatures to process (400C and up) and those printers cost $10,000 and up. For now, I stay mostly with making simple parts like knobs. polyurethane gaskets and other parts that need to function but don't require structural safety needs. As I mentioned before, I've produced over 85 separate part numbers for Triumphs, GT6-Spitfire-TR6-TR250,TR7-TR8. One of my printers is usually always running. My wife thinks I'm addicted to 3D printing. She's probably right. But on the other hand, when she's needed something made for the kitchen or other projects around the house, I design and print what she needs so she's happy.

 

BPT  

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A fellow club member here in Aus worked for a 3D Medical Co which relocated to the US hence he left as he wanted to stay here, but he made a new skull cap in plastic for a Dutch woman which was grafted in, he also made a new heel in metal which was honeycombed so the flesh could grow into it, the chap had his heel removed due to Cancer. 

My daughter did a research project for a US car co over 10 years ago on the future potential of 3D printing of spare parts at the dealership spare parts desk, 

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Peter, the possibilities are wide open for 3D printing. Young people looking for a future career should be looking at engineering and 3D curriculum. GM in the US just opened up it's first dedicated 3D printing facility. 

BPT

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Aidan,  Took some time this afternoon to finish up this project. Made up the terminals so I now have complete 3D printed bases. Wish those original clear lenses weren't so hard to come by. There is a club member in the US that has injection mold experience and I'm hoping he'll take on the challenge of making nice clear lenses. When I can get hold of some white ASA filament I'll be able to make some white bases.  

BPT

Dome light base-b.jpg

Dome light base-c.jpg

Dome light group.jpg

Dome light base-d.jpg

Dome light base-e.jpg

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  • 2 weeks later...
14 hours ago, BPT said:

Hope someone purchases that assembly. They don't come up for sale very often. That's an excellent price.

BPT

There are another two currently, one marked as GT6 Mk1 but not correct for that model; even damaged with a cracked lens it's advertised for £36. I think the other one is asking £44.

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YIKES!!    There is a new listing on ebay (US) for a "new" old stock dome light assembly. They want $200.00 plus shipping. These lights must be worth their weight in gold now. This is ridiculous.

BPT 

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Hi Everyone,

I have read your conversation and I am very interested in your work. I am doing research on additive manufacturing for spare parts of classic cars. I would highly appreciate it if you could please share your experience by participating in my survey:

https://redcap.sun.ac.za/surveys/?s=YR4J8PAYWA

The survey will give you more information about my work. If you are interested in more information please let me know.

Regards,

Lukas

Additive Manufactured Spare Part.jpg

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Agree,  Same person has posted on our website on this side of the pond. Porsche and Mercedes already have a catalog of 3D printed parts for their classic cars. He's in Germany so might be better if he contacted them for information.

 

BPT

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The link looks legitimate - it links to a survey on an South African Academic website.

The only thing I would be cautious about would be it wants your email address to send you details after you complete the survey - I would recommend using a disposable address such as from the likes of Mailcatch.com

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I took a shot again at making the "semi-clear" lens for this dome light assembly. After a number of attempts, I think I have a lens that is good enough that I'd use it in my GT6. It's not exactly the same as the OEM lens, I altered the design a bit, but I was able to create it with a semi-clear center section and "frosted" on each side of the center. For the purists it may not be adequate. It actually passes more light than the OEM lens. I used a filament called "T-Glase" which has some glass like qualities. The lens rotates just like the OEM lens does so depending on where it is rotated, there is a different lighting effect.  I prefer to use a 27 diode LED bulb. This "T-Glase" may be useful for other NLA lenses for classic cars. It does come in several colors including red but no Yellow. Printing isn't fast but until someone takes on the task of injection molding certain lenses, this may be helpful.

BPT

Dome light complete-black & white.jpg

Dome light complete-black & white-1.jpg

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  • 11 months later...

This thread hasnt been used much.

The rubber spacers on the Vitesse 6 headlights had more or less perished so I thought I would go buy a bit of fuelline and cut it to size. But I have a 3D printer (Ender 3 Pro with a few mods) and a roll of TPU which is a rubber like filament so thought why not print them. The why not was that I had not used Fusion 360 for over a year but after re loading it and fiddling about I ended up with headlight spacers.

image.thumb.png.5a1952bfa77efcd2ba36a6dcff6441b8.png

First one was printed at 100% infill but is a bit to stiff in all planes so I reset it for 50% infill and am happier.

I have attached my STL file and hope it can be copied

IMG_5929.jpg

IMG_5930.jpg

Headlight spacer TPU v1.stl

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That's a good application for printing in TPU. 

Unfortunately this thread doesn't get a lot of activity in the UK, not sure why. On the forums in the US, there are a number of enthusiasts using printers now and re-creating all sorts of parts. The possibilities are endless. Here are a couple of the latest creations.

BPT 

TR6 Plinth Assembly 3-11-2022.jpg

TR6 Plinth Assembly Lights 3-11-22.jpg

TR7 heater knobs-1-1-2022.jpg

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14 hours ago, ahebron said:

This thread hasnt been used much

It's a real pity as there is so much potential but we all realise that 3d printing is so far mostly in the hands of the computer experts, not the classic owners.

I've asked my whizz-kid nephew about both 3d printing and scanning / copying / making alloy parts for my Heralds with all the computer gadgetry and machinery they have in the Engineering Company.

"Yeah, that's easy."

Then off he goes again to his computer games. It's so easy, it's boring, so he never gets round to it. I just need to work out what motivates him and try that.

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