3D printer for parts

[mikijh]

Hi - has anyone used a 3D printer for parts? My understanding is the plastic is not as strong, but I guess that would depend on what material is purchased. Any have any experience with this?

Thanks!

[juicedcoupe]

No, the plastic is not as strong.

But yes, lots of us have decent luck with 3D printed parts.

I don't know about any of the design aspects, I just buy parts that others have designed, usually from Shapeways.

[Dadio]

Once you can print in nylon and carbon fibre nylon then the strength is good enough , you do still have to design or modify designs for the printing process , I've literally printed an entire car less the metal parts , see my Yo-clone-oh project .

[Lowgear]

My understanding has always been that 3D printers were invented for rapid prototyping purposes. To be able to quickly and cheaply test a design to see if it works before putting forth the cost to have whatever it is made from the proper materials. It seems like in the future the technology will improve to the point where the printed pieces will be on par with the production equivalent.

[Dadio]

Rapid prototyping used to be all they were good for but the target for the technology is way beyond that , the motor manufacturer industry is investing in the tech for the parts market , instead of a warehouse full of slowly moving parts they aim to have 3d printers to make the part on site in a matter of hours , the new generation of industrial resins for printers is huge business in this field , it would also mean no more obsolescence .
The other major aim is to be the next household appliance , instead of importing goods manufactured half the world away causing massive transport costs both monetarily and environmentally you can just purchase a design from an online catalogue and download it to your household printer using locally manufactured materials , added bonus of no more packaging to go in landfills !
We are a little way of from these ideals yet and home printing is kind of for nerdy enthusiasts right now but its progressing fast and the home user can easily produce household items or hobby items that are very use able right now .

[mikijh]

No, the plastic is not as strong.

But yes, lots of us have decent luck with 3D printed parts.

I don't know about any of the design aspects, I just buy parts that others have designed, usually from Shapeways.

I found a battery holder for the dirt thrasher on shapeways. Ordered it - lets see how it is. It is not a load bearing piece so should be OK.
Thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate it!

[Steve71]

I got into 3D printing about 6 weeks ago and bought two of the Ender 3 v2 printers. So not an expert by any means but I have been doing a ton of printing since and have been learning a lot about what can be done so far. Have printed a few parts for my trucks as well It really depends on what material you use. If you use PLA then that is going to work for cosmetics, but not a whole lot of strength. But If you have a direct drive and upgraded hot end like I bought for mine, then you can print more exotic materials at higher temps such as in carbon fiber, nylon, petg and such and then they will have a great deal of strength. So just depends on what material is used as well as the amount of infill and such.

[morrisey0]

Here are a few parts I have designed and printed for my 10L over the past few weeks. They are made of ABS, which is plenty fine for all of the pieces save the shock mount. If I can get a stock piece that suits my needs, then I will get one, but I tend to want to experiment and do things my own way, and that means making parts that the factory didn't. And when these break, just print a new one.

I have been working with ABS because my six year old printer limited me to PLA and ABS for multiple reasons. Just like Steve71, I now have an Ender 3 V2 that showed up today, and I am hoping to move into the PETG world. With that, I am hoping to build pieces dense enough that I can thread into with 3mm machine screws and the plastic grip and hold, which I was unable to do with ABS.

[coxbros1]

Also on the threading 3mm into the 3d parts deal....u think if u tap it with a 3mm tap then lock tight whatever your screwing in might hold better? just a thought....i have done it on alot of Tamiya plastics lately with great results

[juicedcoupe]

Also on the threading 3mm into the 3d parts deal....u think if u tap it with a 3mm tap then lock tight whatever your screwing in might hold better? just a thought....i have done it on alot of Tamiya plastics lately with great results

Its my understanding that you aren't supposed to use regular Lock-Tite on plastics. I think that the solvent in it attacks some plastics.

They make one specifically for plastics but it is just medium strength CA.

[Dadio]

I use M3 screws in 3d printed parts all the time , you just need to design it with about 5 mm depth of thread or more , I generally use an M3 tap to cut the threads instead of self tapping with a screw , holes tend to close up a bit when 3d printed so I use a 2.7 mm hole in CAD because then I get a 2.5 mm hole printed .
Oh go slow with tapping holes in PLA as it can heat up beyond its glass transition point ( temp it gets soft) , if you have a few holes to tap then start one then the next doing a bit at a time and letting it cool .

[morrisey0]

I ran across this youtube video discussing threaded M3 brass inserts, and I just had to do some testing myself.



I am using these https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B087NBYF65/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 which are shown in the video as the "mid priced" option. A bag of 100 were $14.

I printed a simple test piece to show four different "surrounds." Each hole is 4mm, and the surrounds are a total of 5mm, 6mm, 7mm, and 8mm. So, 5mm is .5mm wall, 6mm is 1mm wall, etc. The piece is printed in generic PETG.

I heated a soldering iron to 500* (or says my cheap Chinese iron), and inserted an insert into each hole. The .5mm wall was a complete fail, not surprisingly, but all other wall thicknesses took the inserts just fine.

To be honest, all thicknesses held up to more than enough than you would ever need in a RC. I don't have an inch-pound torque wrench, but to be honest, I couldn't get these to twist in the plastic. They are as solid as you would need them to be.

So, if you have enough room for a 6mm wide and 6mm deep block, put an insert in there. You can screw and unscrew a thousand times and not have to worry about how your plastic threads are holding up. And if you break the part, just melt the plastic and recycle the insert.

[coxbros1]

They work just titties on stripped aluminum front plates for vintage LeMans style motors too. You will need a vice to press them in

[morrisey0]

Sometimes using a slightly weaker plastic is a benefit. Some may call this a failed printed wheel hub adapter. I call it a servo saver! I mean, when you hit a brick wall at 3/4 throttle, something has to give!

[morrisey0]

On my latest gold pan build, I am putting a stealth trans into an "A" pan, so I thought I would just google a quick adapter as surely someone out there has made such a thing seeing as RC10 3D files are numerous, but for some reason, this does not seem to exist. Oh well, not a complex piece, and my simple brain and sketchup made it work. All stock hardware and no holes drilled. Only lifts the trans 3.5mm, which I don't think will be much of an issue.

(forgive the printing quality in a few parts. as always, adapting printing settings to ever-changing filaments is an on-going process. this is modified, cf reinforced pc, so it may not be pretty, but it is plenty strong)