3D printer making a Traxxas A-arm

[WoodiE]

Was at the local hobby shop today and in came a guy from www.artlabky.com with a 3D printer. The printer was running off a LiPo battery pack and was printing a Traxxas A-arm.

Was actually pretty amazing to see in person. The printer was very light, compact and even printed upside down! Was capable of using various different types of plastics - even nylon and a carbon fiber composite material!

 

[alpinehyperlite]

Saw this on facebook. Thats really sweet.

 

[hamz9561]

That's just plain cool.

 

[ThatGuy]

Tell that guy to start making some Tamiya Truggy A-Arms!

 

[Snook Man]

@WoodiE, did you get to see the finished arm? If so how did it look/feel?

 

[WoodiE]

The plastic he was using in this print was a cheaper and weaker variety and he only printed about half the arm before the batteries went dead. Even still the a-arm felt tough and would probably do fine for on-road type stuff.

That said the printer was also capable of printing nylon and even a carbon fiber composite which would have made the same arm far more durable. Seeing the nylon spool I think that would easily be able to handle backyard bashing.

 

[vbgagnon]

I wonder what the cost is on something like that?

 

[WoodiE]

@vbgagnon, about $850 for the unit that was brought into the LHS.

 

[hamz9561]

And Windows 8 has support for them built-in.

 

[Rolex]

That 850 would just be the printer, right? What about the software or the scanner?

 

[hamz9561]

Yep, but most of the current programs like Solid Works 3d have it that support built in.

 

[hotrodrob]

Buddy of mine just bought one, he is actually a member here

 

[WoodiE]

That 850 would just be the printer, right? What about the software or the scanner?

This printer uses open source software (free) and can also be used with a program called Sketch (also free). The scanner I did not ask about, forgot to.

There are also tons of already made models online, one popular place for 3D models is http://www.thingiverse.com/.

 

[vbgagnon]

That is awesome!

 

[hamz9561]

Who the heck was that? Another drive by spamming?

 

[Rolex]

Not sure who that was, but he used the "a" word just to annoy me.

 

[hamz9561]

That is totally AWESOME!!!!!

 

[vbgagnon]

Spamming! HA your just jealous of my awesomness!!!!

 

[HPIguy]

Now that's pretty cool!

 

[Rolex]

:wban: