8 replies to this topic

[bpirie1000]

Anyone done any mini parts 3d printing?

I do not have a 3d printer and technology usually stumps me but sure someone on here is a master at this.....

Anyone got the dimensions for the roof cloth bar ends parts.

Or done any other bits.?.
WHAT ELSE HAVE YOU SEEN 3D PRINTED....

Thanks.

[alex-95]

some here ---> https://www.theminif...gns/?hl=printed

 

I've made a few bits including this high level brake light and oil, indicator and high beam light unit in the dashboard.

 

 

[stuart bowes]

the actual printing is easy enough to do, you input an STL file into the 'slicing' software and it generates a code you can either directly print or save to USB and print from that, depending on your printer and how far away it is from the PC / how long a USB cable you can find (this was an issue for us hence mentioning it) 

 

it prints in layers, which means there is a sort of grain, so bear that in mind when choosing which way up to print things because that affects strength (especially when considering small locating tabs or pins that stick out to locate into a hole in the bodywork for example) in the same way as the grain should run along the length of a piece of wood instead of across

 

often it's actually easier / best to print in two halves, and then glue together afterwards to get two detailed sides, because the 'down' side ends up totally flat and smooth and you can't get any detail on that face

 

other than that though the software is pretty straight forward, you choose how densely to print it (as a percentage of in-fill from like a honeycomb all the way up to solid)  solid wastes a lot of material, hollow is weak (and variants of those choices in between)

 

a small part like that is a blessing in a way because you can print it quick, have a look, try again, no time at all.  printing something big would take ages and it's a total b@strd when you realise it's gone wrong somehow

 

another thing to bear in mind is material choice, I've only really used PLA which is cheap (and recycled?) which is great for trying out ideas but not resistant to heat, it'll just bend when it gets too warm, even just being left in a hot car for example.  I just use it really for modelling sample parts, scalextric, RC cosmetic parts more than anything else (monster truck external parts, a rear wing for the TT01E, etc) but when you try and make steering arms or whatever, forget it, one of them snapped and caused the biggest RC accident I've ever seen at high speed lol, it was like a colin mcrae moment...  ABS will probably be the better option for actual useable resilient strong parts

 

but anyway. really the skill is in creating the STL in the first place, which comes down to have you got 3d CAD capabilities.  anyone can do it obviously but it takes time to learn from scratch.  I spent my formative years playing with 3dmax, and then moved on to Solid works which I taught myself by trial and error over the course of a few years, and then did it at a professional level for a year or so when I really learnt how little I knew lol, that was a steep learning curve but really helped my design work, (although to be honest really that's more geared towards metal work, fabrication, sheet metal, pipe and box section etc)

 

there are other freely available softwares you can use though I don't know them myself or which one is best im sure they all do pretty much the same thing

Edited by stuart bowes, 23 November 2023 - 06:26 PM.

[Tds76]

I printed the wiper bosses at Shapeways - a bit pricey, but very accurate to my drawing.

 Printed.jpeg   80.88K   2 downloads

 AYA9139.PNG   349.74K   3 downloads

 Translation.jpeg   33.16K   1 downloads

The CAD I used originally was Sketchup which produced the first model, but when translated to STL it produced the second. I wrongly assumed this was just a display error but the parts I got back were as per the second drawing and can be seen in the photo. I filed & sanded them to the correct shape (partially done on the RH part).

After discussing with one of the CAD gurus at work he pointed out where all the translation settings were which reduced the problem. .

However, i found Sketchup limited, so now use another free package - DesignSpark. Takes a bit more effort but works better for me. 

 

Cheers, Paul

[colinf1]

I made little stand offs for the centre binnacle, as it was tilted up too much with the top dash pad, that's why you mostly see centre clocks with no top dash pad, or on a wooden dashboard.

Another item was a housing for an old Smith's RVI tachometer that was going to be installed just in front of the steering wheel, but bench testing the tachometer resulted in melted wires so decided against trying to put it in the car...



Primary gear seal installer tool...

[Steve220]

I made little stand offs for the centre binnacle, as it was tilted up too much with the top dash pad, that's why you mostly see centre clocks with no top dash pad, or on a wooden dashboard.

Another item was a housing for an old Smith's RVI tachometer that was going to be installed just in front of the steering wheel, but bench testing the tachometer resulted in melted wires so decided against trying to put it in the car...



Primary gear seal installer tool...

 

That's mega!!

[stuart bowes]

got around to collecting a few pics together, various examples nothing mini specific though

 

bits for a model engine I made

 

 

 

bits for the RC monster truck / car / hovercraft (the latter being one of my dads project not mine)

 

 

 

 

 

and the infamous steering arms which snapped and caused a massive crash

 

 

scalextric car base (was a perfect fit, but didn't really work very well to be honest, IIRC the ride height ended up too low and kept getting stuck)

 

 

battery box that had to be a very specific size and flush mounted for something (though I forget what exactly)

 

 

trumpet mouthpiece, bit random, works ok actually just feels a bit weird to use never really used it although the sizing was spot on

 

 

little model engine for a scale model lightweight landy my dad made (did the main blocks for him, he assembled and detailed with ancillaries)

 

 

scalextric track armco and apexes

 

Edited by stuart bowes, 24 November 2023 - 10:22 AM.

[bpirie1000]

Santa,


Have I been good? (Who am I kidding)
I can ask... butmnever going to get one..... the little car will have to continue to soak my funds....

[Icey]

So far, lots of small stuff around the house, but also a chassis for rocker cover racers - so you don’t need any special tools.

It will get used for more serious stuff, there’s quite a few bits on the car that’ll get printed (mostly brackets really).