3D Printed Models

Whatever next?



A see-trough P38 for less than $20 worth of material - who's got a 3D printer and wants to have a go at this?

Really clever technology, you can print very intricate shapes with them, makes prototyping new products a much quicker process

We have one at work, I wonder if I could print a 40% Extra :whistle:

Hi David,

I headed over to the designers website and I can see the temptation, for the cost, providing you have a printer, it's amazing. I've only seen one 3D printed item, it was an antenna mount, and although it's doing the job fine, it's not what I'd call 'refined', this I'm guessing is down to the resolution of the printer not the design. There is no doubt that 3D printed items will become increasingly common and I assume like the early days of inkjet printers the quality will go up and the price will come down.

Has anyone played with a 3D printer? And how easy is it to design something in 3D space and then get that printed.

Hi All
I have Franks 3D printer which I have just managed to get working after a rebuild, (managed to print a servo mount). I just wondered if anyone would be interested in seeing it working at a club meeting. Is there Broadband at the meeting hall? There are loads of free samples that can be downloaded.

Printing is not quick - the simple servo mount took about 20mins so it would need to be started and left to run. Watching it do its thing can be likened to drying paint but it is also quite theraputic.

Ron

Hi Ron, I'd be interested to see it work.

Did you design your own servo mount? And how strong is it, i.e. could you use a 3D printer to make a control horn or servo arm?

All the best, Chris

Hi Chris
I downloaded the file from www.thingiverse.com/thing:272930 It is much stronger than I expected and it even has the servo mounting screw holes included.

Checkout the thingiverse website, www.thingiverse.com/categories for stacks of printable items.

There are CAD packages available and some are free. The learning curve is pretty steep and I am not even on the ladder yet!!

I suspect it wont be long before you will be able to download almost anything without having to design it yourself. The file could be for a full size object with as much detail as possible. The printer software would allow you to scale it down to whatever size you required.

ie:
Fully detailed cockpit.
Fully detailed Pilot.
Fully operational, (Sliding or opening) cockpit canopies, (PET material).

Metal 3D printing is available as are tabletop filament extruders. (A sudden demand for scrap plastic on the horizon!!)

The possibilities are endless.


Ron