3D Printing

[Balduccimoto]

Thanks. Great explanation! Until I read this, it kind of seemed like "magic". Seems like it's a mig welder building something layer by layer?

I really have to see one of these work!

There is an injection molding company right around the corner from me. I'll have to see if they'll let me wander around a little bit, and then find a 3d printing company so I can fully understand the difference.

Again, thanks for your time, and please keep making parts and updating this thread.


Oh, Nice bike!

If you think of a mig welder extruding hot plastic then yeah you can picture it that way. The 3D printer builds things layer by layer .. The program showed in my previous post is what "slices" the model into all the layers and is written in G-code to the printer. Each layer starts with outlining the part and then infills the inside. Quality of parts is controlled by layer height and extrusion width. I can get extremely precise parts at 0.10mm layer and 0.25mm extrusion width. However the prints become extremely long. My preference is 0.15mm layer and 0.50mm extrusion width and the license plate bracket in my original post was printed at that. That was a 6 hour print. So it is time consuming to create these parts, but at least it is completely automated.

Considering strength, my parts are at the quality or very close to injection molding. Everything I have printed so far is ABS and I have just ordered Nylon because it has superior chemical resistance and physical properties compared to ABS. I would like to have parts made via injection molding because it is much faster, but it has an expensive initial cost.

3D printers are bridging the gap between prototyping and manufacturing of plastic parts. People are attaining production quality at the cost of speed so it isn't a replacement for typical manufacturing methods. It makes it hard for product designers to create plastic parts because of the initial cost of mass producing them. That is why everything is CNC - theres no start up costs in comparison to plastic manufacturing (requires an expensive mold to be made).

 

[rossthaboss11]

Nice work man! I like that part for your bike. I work with 3D printers very often at work and they are simply amazing. If you can think it, and sketch it up in a CAD program, they can build it.

 

[Balduccimoto]

Nice work man! I like that part for your bike. I work with 3D printers very often at work and they are simply amazing. If you can think it, and sketch it up in a CAD program, they can build it.

Thanks. I would like to print those for sale because they are fully functional parts, but I am sure people will not like the cost of it. In order to have a fully functioning tail tidy with turn signals, license plate bracket and license plate light there is 7 seperate parts -- bracket, backing plate for license plate, led license plate frame, top and bottom turn signal housing, and two lenses. I didn't like the look of having everything built into one unit - it begins to look cluttered. People weren't too receptive of it on the Ducati forums for one reason or another.

 

[woodsrider845]

Looks a lot like my cad/cam program for my mill. Get the injection mold machine, and maybe I can make you some molds. Or you can drive upstate and use some of my machines yourself. I'm not very adept at G code and haven't put a lot of time into learning the cad program. Seems like you'd get the hang of it very quickly.

By the way, can you actually see the printer laying down layers, or is it enclosed. I know, it's probably boring after about 5 minutes, but those first 5 would be pretty cool.

 

[rossthaboss11]

It depends on the model printer but most of them you can see it in action. One of ours i can just see it from the top window and the extruder just doing its passes over and over again. The other one has a clear door and you can actually see it printing layer by layer one bead at a time. I sit there and watch my parts start all the time. Running the printer is very simple, doing the CAD design is the more challenging part if you've never used it before.

 

[MCrider]

Just out of curiosity what cad software do you guys use? Up until Monday I have only used solidworks and AutoCAD. I just started a new job and they use key creator.

 

[Balduccimoto]

I use Autodesk Inventor 2016, but the previous photo I posted isnt the program I use for modeling the parts. That is Simplify3D - the program I use for "translating" the model into a code that the printer can interpret. My printer is completely open and I monitor the entire print. It sits right next to my desk.

 

[woodsrider845]

I use (low budget) BobCad V23. I have the upgrade to 25, but have no time to change. It's not my main money maker, more of a hobby.

 

[rossthaboss11]

I use Solidworks. Just save the file as a .STL and go to the printer, upload it, place a tray in the printer and hit print. Very easy

 

[Balduccimoto]

Okay back on topic.. I have everything modeled and trying to get the dimensions of the ebox as small as possible. I have cut approximately 6cm off the length already. Does anyone have dimensions of the MSD cdi? I need to ensure that will fit.

 

[woodsrider845]

Is it the same for a MSD for a kawi 750? I have one of those handy.

 

[Balduccimoto]

Is it the same for a MSD for a kawi 750? I have one of those handy.

I dont think so. Thanks anyway.

 

[Balduccimoto]

A little sneak preview. This is the first iteration of probably many. To manufacture these on the 3D printer would be very lengthy so there is a possibility that these could be CNC machined. It appears very close to ATP's billet ebox, but this one looks a bit smaller. The cable glands are McMaster hardware, although they appear large they seem to be of good quality.

 

[woodsrider845]

Nice.

 

[ajmps1]

havnt read the entire thread so sorry if this was mentioned but are 6 bolts going to make a salt worthy seal of the box?

 

[Balduccimoto]

havnt read the entire thread so sorry if this was mentioned but are 6 bolts going to make a salt worthy seal of the box?

That model was designed with the intention of the box being manufactured in aluminum. Aluminum is alot less forgiving towards deformation of the gasket surface. The OEM yamaha ebox has many screws because of the plastic top and it is critical for that rubber gasket to have an even distribution of load along the entire gasket surface. That model is the first iteration of many more to come and should be treated as a concept. The project has been put on hold for now while I pursue something else that is being released within the next week. The new product is 3D printed and so it allows the end user to take full advantage of rapid prototyping - leaving a ton of customization. It is a relatively small start to some of the larger things that will come and I hope that people will find that 3D printed parts have a place on their jet skis.

 

[txsuperjetfreak96]

Looks good can't wait to c what else you come up with

 

[XJCrawler]

Ditch the lexan cover, every box with lexan leaks. It flexes too much

 

[Balduccimoto]

Ditch the lexan cover, every box with lexan leaks. It flexes too much

I was thinking of getting rid of that cover as well. It just looked so good in rendering.

 

[OCD Solutions]

My employer just released a 2D carbon stack printer.