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Sheet Metal Brake and 3d Printer.

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BillTodd:

--- Quote from: hanermo on November 07, 2018, 04:59:28 PM ---Excellent thread.

Does anyone know of great uses for 3d printed stuff ?
Commercial ?

--- End quote ---

Well the break through is starting to happen in the aircraft world. Titanium is expensive and a sod to machine* , so 3d printing titanium parts prior to machining (like castings) instead of machining from stock,  saves a huge amount of time and money . There are now many machinery maker adding  laser sintering  into their cnc workstations

Printing is also having an impact on the design of parts. The use of "organic" designs that would be difficult or impossible to machine allow parts to me made lighter without loss of strength ( imagine a simple right angle bracket , replaced by a 3d structure that has finger-like supports only where needed).

Bill


* The motorsport division of the firm I work for make parts for the Redbull F1  cars , one design of brake disc carrier (imagine a thing the shape and size of a soup bowl but with more holes than metal) was taking 80 hours to machine and 90%+ of the material was thrown away.

AdeV:
Bill,

I went to the Racing Car show at the Birmingham NEC (that's Birmingham UK... not AL) a few years back, and got talking to a company that made laser sintering 3D printers. At the time, they could be ordered for titanium or aluminium (I'm not sure if the same machine would do both?). The machines were quite reasonably priced, I thought - around £10,000 or (at the time) about $16,000. The titanium powder to fill it, however... well, it was considerably more than the machine!

I'd love to get hold of one myself; I think it could pay its way back in the motorsport industry in very little time...

S. Heslop:
Only £10,000? Does that include the laser?

AdeV:

--- Quote from: S. Heslop on November 09, 2018, 11:26:11 AM ---Only £10,000? Does that include the laser?

--- End quote ---

I've been thinking about it... I  may be out by a factor of 10.... it was a few years ago!

S. Heslop:


Been up to this the last few days. It's relatively simple but it being so large made it a chore. It's not entirely square but it's close enough. Just need the plexiglass to finish it but i'll probably put the machine in first just to make sure there's clearance for all the moving parts. Little worried the hinges and catches might get in the way - it's a little on the small side just so I could get it all out of one sheet of plywood. 12mm plywood was also a poor choice as it's a little on the flexible side too. I'll probably need a handle so I can lift the door up into the top catch. Toggles would've been the better choice, and I might have to go that way if things interfere. Some bracing might also help, especially on the door, but i'll need to see where I could fit it.

So for the controller board. I was all set to buy the Duet Wifi at £120, but it turns out they don't include VAT on their website. Or shipping. So it went up to £150, and now i'm back to thinking if it's worth giving the MKS Sbase another shot. I've had a look at the setup procedure for the Duet and it's as complicated and stupid as any other board. What's wrong with 3d printing people... Either way i've ran out of time to mess about with this stuff so i'll possibly take a break once it's in the enclosure.

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