Anybody here know anything about 3D printers, ever used one, have access to one?

I seen a few that look cheap enough for a hobbyist to play with ?

I thought before I invest any time into learning about them I would ask here first, what I was thinking is get one cheap enough buy one to make parts like a intake manifold for the Pilot cant a manifold like seen in this pics http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?f=37&t=13196 be made from plastic that comes out of a 3D printer rather than made from billet aluminum?

Again I know nothing about them the cost of materials you need to buy to run them, the strength of materials etc.

https://www.google.com/search?q=3d+printer&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&client=firefox-a#q=3d+printer&rls=org.mozilla:en-US:official&tbm=shop

Most of the material is too bittle or may even be porous.

And they are expensive to buy and material is very spendy too.

A real nice one will make parts you can actually use (may need to coat them with some sort of sealer). But that's going to be out of the budget of the average backyard mechanic!

How much is out of the back yard mechanic budget?

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q= ... 39PMzv0MEA

I like the idea of open source.

I have been thinking of buying one also but decided just recently not to.
Info I gathered is: Cubex printer $2500, 3D systems pro jet $5000, Makerbot I think is $800.
Resolution is 0.3 mm, Filiment is $45.
Makerbot makes a digitizer that scans in 3D and saves the file $1500.
Printer tables are usually 6x6x6 or 8x8x8.

I did a little research on them I was looking at the Cube and the Cubex also I have always liked the Alibre products and still have a copy of their free 3D cad some place that works really well and easy.

I found that it will cost about 1500.00 to 3500.00 to get setup after a lot of thought not sure I could ever use it enough to make it worth it, just another expensive toy to collect dust.

If I was to buy it would be the Cubex because you could do parts 10-3/4" x 10-3/4" x9.5" so I could do things like design custom air boxes for my machines.

At this point just too many unanswered questions like the material I know ABS is some really tough material but is it the same quality, strength, durability as the ABS they use in injection molding and will the finished product be the same quality, strength, durability as a injected part.

Could I scan a coolant over flow bottle off a Pilot then print one out as a replacement I assume so but am worried about the material used being good enough.

I have no concept what it cost to print a part, for all I know by time I printed out a copy of the Pilot coolant over flow bottle it would take 300.00 in print cartridges.

Just too many unanswered questions and a overwhelming amount of info to read and digest almost need to find someone that owns one and go see it and ask the 1000 questions haha

I would not have a problem paying the money for the Cubex and the scanner if I knew it would do what I need it to do like produce parts I can actually use in real life and copy parts like the over flow bottle on the Pilot and the fan blade on the Pilots fan that are discontinued and will be needed in the future, many other parts could be done also like the plastic cover on the steering yoke of the FL250, the Pilot and FL350 will be needed in the future, custom air box covers like the dual intake cover on the Pilot, and the Klem research box cover for the FL350.

We've got a Stratasys model "Dimension SST 1200ES" here at work (might be the Elite, i don't remember what the cabinet looks like), and I think it cost north of $32k new. It'll spit out a ~9x~9x~12" prototype with pretty decent resolution. We use it to make filter housings generally when the OE hasn't yet made any yet, hasn't made any we can borrow, or when the housings cost too much to buy. Mostly used for Engine air intake boxes for filter design, fit-try, and filter performance testing; and some liquid filter component prototyping. Time-to-market is uber important, and this tool certainly helps.

Almost none of the air boxes fit within the dimensional capabilities of the 3D printer, so we often chop the cad model up into pieces which can later be epoxy'd together. Sometimes we'll use up different colored poly simply because we have it, so the parts are sometimes multi-colored.

Nice machine, but PRICEY. And when the power goes out 5hrs into a build....its toast -- you have to start ALLLLL over again. No one has even ran a "government job" through our machine yet, and I highly doubt anyone ever will. lol

My high school's drafting & tech department has a rapid prototype machine. Not sure which one. But they do final design projects on it and also operate as a working rapid prototype shop for local companies. They didn't have it when I was there back in the early 1990's though.

I would have thought government jobs would have been done just to break it in, when searching I see a lot of pictures of stuff people make looks mostly like trinkets and stuff like Christmas tree ornaments and some toys lol

I stand corrected...our model is the "Dimension SST 768" and didn't cost as much as the newer 1200ES or Elite. It was more like $10k when new. The cabinets all look the same, so my Googling mislead me. ;)

You can hone your skills printing one of these http://www.pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=2306

Then one of these http://pilotodyssey.com/PO/viewtopic.php?t=573 this one you could incorporate one of your filters in as a prefilter

Click print before you go home each night lol

Under 600 bux http://www.3dstuffmaker.com/hobby-starter-pack

So will one of these make manifolds like this to be used on Pilots and Odysseys?







Would probably need someone proficient in CAD to draw up the file so it could be printed I suck at CAD lol

The thing about 3d printers is there just not there yet.
It's still new tech and until i start seeing them in the $500 range im not picking one up.

also the plastics used are still not satisfactory for heat related parts.

I agree the material is the biggest problem right now. You don't need CAD, you just need to use a 3D scanner to create the print file.

Everyones probably seen this but , pretty good explanation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl ... ZrJsrTT4EA

Suprised Jay uses Fadals, Ha!

Another good one...Faro arm...badass!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q3SVTBrK ... detailpage

They are sill nagging me to buy one with the emails lol
http://www.3dstuffmaker.com/mega-prusa-semi-built-kit

Come on lotto (its 400 million tonight) then I will buy one like Jay Lenno has

I keep seeing the 3D printer thing come up and I keep hoping you will get over it with out me needing to say anything.
The issue is - the parts do not have a useful level of strength.
The process of laying down the media in layers is great but the material is not fused to the existing media sufficiently to have the strength you are looking for.
A plastic molded part will be 30% to 100% heavier, this means molded parts are much more dense (and stronger).
Also the molded parts have an advantage of the plastic molecules (they are longish strands) being cross linked.
There are 2 mechanisms that make molded parts superior in strength.

I had a sales guy telling me this story about the high strength material he had available for rapid prototyping.
I wanted to know how they are testing the stuff to make the claims they where making.
Sales guy insisted they use industry standards to establish there claims.
Finally he sent me some test data, they used ASTM test methods.
So I ask, the ASTM uses a pull test coupon, how did you make your coupon?
I was expecting them to claim they lay it down in a 3D printer.
No there plastic material supplier gave them molded coupons.
It has no meaning!

I have seen lots of parts used on vehicles (I'm not saying any more on this).
They don't last.
Pressure washing will destroy them.
Intake ducts crack.
Don't even bother with anything mounted on the suspension or the Engine.
And that is for a one time test, not long term usage.

You might get by using 3D printing for a one time test for non critical parts.
But the application in our hobby is really limited.

The place where there is potential is in pourable urethane products.
The guys at 3 wheeler world web site talk about reproduction parts made this way.
The FL350 intake boots on e-bay (the ones that come in bright colors and cost an arm and a leg) are done this way.
With a little ingenuity, even parts like air boxes can be done.
The materials come in soft compounds that flex and in harder compounds that are similar to plastic injection parts.
The result is not at the same level as a new production parts but it is usable.

My 2 yen worth.

Thanks for your honest assessment and analysis Lee your giving info I have not been able to find else where, so far the impression I have got from the inexpensive 3D printers that I would consider buying they would only be good for mold making or for making trinkets,toys and nicknacks .

After reading your analysis I will have to see one in person and get some samples of the printed plastic to use for my own testing.

IMO testing of the plastic should be on a PRINTED coupon that came from the 2D printer in question, injection molded coupons are irrelevant, so are coupons that come from other printers.

My only interest in a 3D printer would be if I could print replacement parts that people could use like a hoserized air box lid on a Pilot or the coolant over flow bottle and the fan blade for the radiator, maybe in the future new lid for the tool box and the plastic cover on the steering yoke.

Thanks

You could prob 3D print reference parts for fiberglass molds or for sand-casting.

So are the Odyssey and Pilot intake manifolds interchangable? Is the inside throat of the manifold a machined finish or is it left as cast? Is the rubber adapter a specialized or hard-to-get part or is it similar to those you can get from Mikuni? It would seem you could print a pattern and have it cast. Just wondering...

I need one of these! But not paying no $160 for one, that's for sure.

You mean something like this? It uses the Mikuni intake boots that Parts Unlimited sells. Modeled one up for my Zilla a while back. Had to change a few dimensions/features to make it match the FL350, but....thar' it is. The back side isn't exactly easily machinable via cnc. The cnc would cut a basic/rough shape, and then the "outlet" would be port-matched by the user with a die grinder to whatever reed or stuffer they used. I believe this is also similar to what Steve was offering over at A/S for $159.99.

Then there is the 78-83 CR250 intake you mention over here: http://www.pilotodyssey.com/BTmanifold.htm. Which goes for $106 OBO on evilBay.

And the CR250R reed cage I picked up has the horizontal fin across the middle of the intake to even out the flow even more.

I see some of the custom parts being made for the phantom quadcopter I bought are being made by 3d printers.This company does a lot of them for customers who upload their designs
http://www.shapeways.com/
On October 19, 2012 Shapeways opened a new '3-D printing factory' in Queens, New York that could house 50 industrial printers and churn out millions of consumer-designed products a year.

Nobody in our group does casting for a living, aluminum or with today's epoxies make them out of something you mix and pour just need the molds.