3D Printing Parts

[Todd727]

I ran into a situation on my excavator where I needed to add an additional switch to control the door on my forestry mulcher. I tried to find a ready made solution and decided that I was going to have to make it myself. I'd recently seen some of the 3D work that was being produced by my company and realized that I needed a 3D printer.

Of course that opened a mess. I'd known about the process for several years but I just didn't want to get into it at the point where you essentially had to assemble a printer from parts. Anyway, after too many late nights, I ended up getting the Dremel 3D45.

This is not an inexpensive printer, but since I planned on putting it in the shop, I wanted a fully enclosed printer. Getting this thing set up was extremely easy. Very happy with the choice. Was able to print within 30 minutes of opening the box. From everything I've read, this is an outstanding printer, pro level, but easy to use. Only negative is it uses smaller spools of plastic. There are solutions for that though.

The next problem was figuring out how to design the parts. I ended up going trying Tinkercad from Autocad. It is an online program and I was initially having problems because of the way you have to use shapes instead of lines to design your part. Naturally, the switch housing was complicated. Probably should've started with something easier, but I learned a lot very fast. The nice thing about 3d printing was I could quickly print a part, test fit, modify the design and print again.

I finally did get it the way I wanted and mounted. Right after I finished that, I realized I could print a cap for the windshield washer reservoir. It is an odd size, auto stores don't have anything close and Yanmar doesn't sell the cap, just the complete reservoir for $350.

I see questions about brackets and holders and think that a lot of us could really get a lot of use out of these things. I've found several projects around the house now, end caps for a steel table I built and welded to hold the printer, chair sliders, and organizers for a lot of parts. I'm having fun with this stuff.

Sorry for the typical phone photo orientation. If you click on them, they should be right side up.

 

[Handloader109]

these things are fun. I bought a cheapie a couple of years ago, spent a day putting it together and have been making parts and things ever since. being that mine is open I mainly use PLA and for a lot of stuff it works well. just not heat or sun exposure.
I use an ipad app that works really well for 3d, try fusion 360 if you can qualify as they are changing their approvals for free use.

 

[davedj1]

That's pretty cool. I would like to build a couple of things but have no experience with any CAD programs, the only CAD I use is cardboard aided design.

 

[Handloader109]

whew, $1500 machine. I'm kind of happy with my $150, might spring for a Pruisa for $800 at some point

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I have a $150 prusa knock off. It's beengreat. Eventually I'll buy a nicer and bigger machine.

 

[Todd727]

I know it is pricey, but it does a great job and just didn't want the interior exposed to dust when printing. Also with the heated plate it does well with ABS.

 

[Todd727]

That's pretty cool. I would like to build a couple of things but have no experience with any CAD programs, the only CAD I use is cardboard aided design.

Seriously look at Tinkercad. Actually really easy once you get the idea that you have to combine shapes. The subtracting one shape from another with "holes" is what makes it come together. Do the tutorials that they include.

I left the measurements in millimeters because quite frankly it's easier to deal with whole numbers and decimals when making parts. Did have to pick up a tape measure with millimeters though.

 

[strantor]

I bought a 3D printer DIY kit back in 2012. The idea was to make a custom prosthetic hand for my amputee father. I downloaded a fully articulating human hand model from thingverse, printed all the pieces of the digits, assembled it, intentionally slammed it in the bathroom door, and it broke. So I spent the next year or so experimenting with every kind of polymer that was available on the market at the time, doing stress tests, measuring elongation, chemical resistance, impact testing, etc.. Some were much stronger than others, but all of them suffered the same flaw. Printed parts, due to the way they're printed layer-by-layer, always have a weak axis. There is no molecular bond between layers; just a "got hot and smooshed together" sort of relationship, resulting in a "grain" like wood, and for anything more trivial than chess pieces you have to devote some careful thought to what axis you'll print a part in, so that the resultant grain is oriented in the direction where it's least like to get broken. But nevertheless it will get broken eventually, if your part is expected to handle real-world abuse from all angles. Something like the human hand (what marvel of engineering! - or bizarre coincidence) endures forces in all axes all day, from within and without. You can dip it in oils, solvents, leave it out in the sun, beat on things with it, absent-mindedly smash it, and it's no worse for wear (usually). It self-repairs, and with no way to replicate that, a prosthesis must be nigh indestructible. No way to do what I wanted with it, so I decided I need a CNC mill to make my parts out of solid materials. 8 years later, still never made a hand (turns out dad wasn't that interested), but now I'm neck deep in a metal machining hobby that I never foresaw myself having. Still have the 3D printer, sitting in a dusty box somewhere. Much prefer to tinker with the mill and the lathe. I'll be building a CNC plasma table this year. It's odd how 3D printing got me into machining; I think the more common avenue is 180 degrees out.

 

[KenLysons]

I have a couple, first was a used Flashforge Woody dual for $400, and then a makerbot Z18 for $9,000.00. They are amazing and very handy.

 

[hiddentacocatneddih]

I was going the same way and got distracted. Gathered parts for a cnc router and printed some. Now I'm distracted with mechanics(Cummins engine swap I'm a ford). I do work on(repair) CnC machines for living.

 

[MossRoad]

I bought a 3D printer DIY kit back in 2012. The idea was to make a custom prosthetic hand for my amputee father. I downloaded a fully articulating human hand model from thingverse, printed all the pieces of the digits, assembled it, intentionally slammed it in the bathroom door, and it broke. So I spent the next year or so experimenting with every kind of polymer that was available on the market at the time, doing stress tests, measuring elongation, chemical resistance, impact testing, etc.. Some were much stronger than others, but all of them suffered the same flaw. Printed parts, due to the way they're printed layer-by-layer, always have a weak axis. There is no molecular bond between layers; just a "got hot and smooshed together" sort of relationship, resulting in a "grain" like wood, and for anything more trivial than chess pieces you have to devote some careful thought to what axis you'll print a part in, so that the resultant grain is oriented in the direction where it's least like to get broken. But nevertheless it will get broken eventually, if your part is expected to handle real-world abuse from all angles. Something like the human hand (what marvel of engineering! - or bizarre coincidence) endures forces in all axes all day, from within and without. You can dip it in oils, solvents, leave it out in the sun, beat on things with it, absent-mindedly smash it, and it's no worse for wear (usually). It self-repairs, and with no way to replicate that, a prosthesis must be nigh indestructible. No way to do what I wanted with it, so I decided I need a CNC mill to make my parts out of solid materials. 8 years later, still never made a hand (turns out dad wasn't that interested), but now I'm neck deep in a metal machining hobby that I never foresaw myself having. Still have the 3D printer, sitting in a dusty box somewhere. Much prefer to tinker with the mill and the lathe. I'll be building a CNC plasma table this year. It's odd how 3D printing got me into machining; I think the more common avenue is 180 degrees out.

Uh.... no. :laughing: I got my hand caught in a door and it broke pretty easily. 3 pins, a cast for 2 months, and 6 months of therapy, it now works 95%, but a finger will be permanently bent.

 

[MossRoad]

Have you ever considered using the 3d printer to make molds instead of parts?

 

[3Ts]

Have you ever considered using the 3d printer to make molds instead of parts?

I always thought that the 3D printers were to make a prototype to check for fit and suitability, then to use it for casting in some type of metal.

 

[DeudeMann]

I always thought that the 3D printers were to make a prototype to check for fit and suitability, then to use it for casting in some type of metal.

It depends on the materials and the type of 3D printer. For Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM, what this is) with the right plastics, like ABS or Polycarbonate (I use both, with carbon fiber reinforcement) the material properties are good and the part is strong enough for regular use. I make production parts with mine in fact (not for a tractor). I would not hesitate to make things like blinker assemblies, switch boxes, brackets for lightweight parts, knobs for controls, that sort of thing. PLA is the easiest one to print, but it is not as useful since it is pretty brittle and is water soluble IIRC.

I've made rifle parts, fishing lures, rubber band guns, a custom switch panel for my fishing boat, knobs etc. etc. and have about a billion other ideas to try. I design my own parts since I have been a solid modeling user forever (I am a Mechanical Engineer) and am very comfortable with designing parts in CAD.

Another option for CAD modeling is Fusion360 by Autodesk. One can get a license for free for a year for personal use. I am using that now for my personal projects and the user interface is actually very good. I have also used Creo (Pro/ENGINEER) and Solidworks, but those are both very expensive.

 

[DeudeMann]

I always thought that the 3D printers were to make a prototype to check for fit and suitability, then to use it for casting in some type of metal.

It depends on the materials and the type of 3D printer. For Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM, what this is) with the right plastics, like ABS or Polycarbonate (I use both, with carbon fiber reinforcement) the material properties are good and the part is strong enough for regular use. I make production parts with mine in fact (not for a tractor). I would not hesitate to make things like blinker assemblies, switch boxes, brackets for lightweight parts, knobs for controls, that sort of thing. PLA is the easiest one to print, but it is not as useful as ABS or PC since PLA is pretty brittle and is water soluble IIRC.

I've made rifle parts, fishing lures, rubber band guns, a custom switch panel for my fishing boat, knobs etc. etc. and have about a billion other ideas to try. I design my own parts since I have been a solid modeling user forever (I am a Mechanical Engineer) and am very comfortable with designing parts in CAD.

Another option for CAD modeling is Fusion360 by Autodesk. One can get a license for free for a year for personal use. I am using that now for my personal projects and the user interface is actually very good. I have also used Creo (Pro/ENGINEER) and Solidworks, but those are both very expensive.

 

[DeudeMann]

I always thought that the 3D printers were to make a prototype to check for fit and suitability, then to use it for casting in some type of metal.

It depends on the materials and the type of 3D printer. For Fused Deposition Modeling (FDM, what this is) with the right plastics, like ABS or Polycarbonate (I use both, with carbon fiber reinforcement) the material properties are good and the part is strong enough for regular use. I make production parts with mine in fact (not for a tractor). I would not hesitate to make things like blinker assemblies, switch boxes, brackets for lightweight parts, knobs for controls, that sort of thing. PLA is the easiest one to print, but it is not as useful as ABS or PC since PLA is pretty brittle and is water soluble IIRC.

For traditional metal parts it takes something like a ceramic slurry based investment casting or "lost wax process" (wax model printed in 3D printer) to get a good metal casting, like from aluminum for example. Most (all?) of the printable plastics can't take the heat from most molten metals. I think there may be some printers that make models from green ceramic and then they are fired after printing in a kiln. Those might work for metal castings.

Anyway... I've made rifle parts, fishing lures, rubber band guns, a custom switch panel for my fishing boat, knobs etc. etc. and have about a billion other ideas to try. I design my own parts since I have been a solid modeling user forever (I am a Mechanical Engineer) and am very comfortable with designing parts in CAD.

Another option for CAD modeling is Fusion360 by Autodesk. One can get a license for free for a year for personal use. I am using that now for my personal projects and the user interface is actually very good. I have also used Creo (Pro/ENGINEER) and Solidworks, but those are both very expensive.

 

[strantor]

Have you ever considered using the 3d printer to make molds instead of parts?

I did consider that, it's been quite a while so I don't remember specifically why I decided, but with with some reason I decided that still wasn't good enough. IIRC the plastics which can be cold pour-molded still aren't strong enough and the specific type of plastic I deemed most appropriate needed to be injection molded at liquid/spooge heat into a metal mold, and that was one of the things I intended go try with the CNC.

 

[Imold]

Made this clip on my 3D printer to hold down the PTO lever on my GC1705. Got the program from another member here that made one.

 

[DeudeMann]

Made this clip on my 3D printer to hold down the PTO lever on my GC1705. Got the program from another member here that made one.
View attachment 641210

Which printer is that?

 

[WranglerX]

Well I don't print parts, have not ventured there yet as I don't need to.... But a while back my old Craftsman band saw shredded a bevel drive gear, and Craftsman/Sears or Atlas Tools no longer makes a replacement gear, and then I found online source that actually printed replacement gears.... IT was so precision it almost didn't fit saw, anyway way it works flawlessly since install.... I think many issues with people disappointment for printed parts may be poorly designed (cheap) printers or not great understanding of materials use ....

Dale