3D Printing Large Scale in Metal

[WickedFog]

Just saw this, and thought it was reslly cool. It shows you what is possible with 3D printing.

 

[Greywolf74]

Thats too cool. Heres the 3d printed pedestrian bridge that they did

https://mx3d.com/industries/infrastructure/mx3d-bridge/

 

[WoodiE]

Both of these are pretty crazy cool. Crazy what people are doing with 3D printing these days.

 

[WickedFog]

Yeah, when I bought my first 3d printer, I was working in a shop with robotic welders. I was thinking back then, the robotic welders would make for some awesome 3d printers. But I never imagined it on this scale.

 

[Greywolf74]

Yeah, when I bought my first 3d printer, I was working in a shop with robotic welders. I was thinking back then, the robotic welders would make for some awesome 3d printers. But I never imagined it on this scale.

If it wasn't for you helping me get mine all figured out it would have ended up in the trash after being smashed to tiny bits lol

 

[johnnydmd]

Man I'd love to be able to 3D print aluminum. Hmmm...they gotta make some small scale machines, eh?
Well, they do make em...probably not affordable..yet. https://www.desktopmetal.com/products/studio

 

[tntpoof]

seen a Ironman suit done for Jamie on MythBusters by some lab. made outa titanium took them 2 months he said it would have taken him years.I think it was like 2 years ag

 

[WickedFog]

Man I'd love to be able to 3D print aluminum. Hmmm...they gotta make some small scale machines, eh?
Well, they do make em...probably not affordable..yet. https://www.desktopmetal.com/products/studio

Yeah, the metal printers have been out for a long time. A lot of machine shops are getting into additive manufacturing, by 3d printing metal parts, then performing machining processes on them using conventional CNC machines. One aerospace shop I worked at was considering buying one to 3d print molds, and finish them on the CNC routers.

 

[Tunedfrog]

That's pretty amazing.

 

[Doom!]

Super cool stuff, soon the machines will be replicating themselves.

 

[2wdMod]

Now keep in mind this isnt even up to date.. this bridge was completed in 2017.. Going on 6 years ago now.. Think how much in the 3dp world has happened in that 6 years.. What we are seeing here is literally the tip of the iceberg.

 

[WickedFog]

Now keep in mind this isnt even up to date.. this bridge was completed in 2017.. Going on 6 years ago now.. Think how much in the 3dp world has happened in that 6 years.. What we are seeing here is literally the tip of the iceberg.

Years ago when I first got into 3d printing, they were printing complete apartment buildings with plumbing intact in China.

 

[kp321]

With collections growing, cost/budget for hop ups keep increasing.. 3D printing sounds like a real cost saver..

I know nothing about the tech and how to use, just know that they have cad files you can download to make stuff.

Does anyone know how to make something without those files? Can you take a photo of the item you want and reproduce without these measurements? Is there an app for that? Anyone here do custom 3D printing for people looking for specific parts? Anyone here doing 3D printing with metal parts?

Would love to get custom metal parts for the ones that consistently break but no hop up options from manufacturer. Also would be good for people with discontinued RC’s

 

[WickedFog]

Metal 3d printing is still far out of the home hobbyist's reach.

As far as how to create the files for printing, you need CAD software to design the parts. Taking photos is useful, because you can bring the photos into your CAD program and trace them.

I design my own stuff, but I do sometimes design stuff fpr others. However, shipping parts out is not something very easy for me to do.

 

[2wdMod]

With collections growing, cost/budget for hop ups keep increasing.. 3D printing sounds like a real cost saver..

I know nothing about the tech and how to use, just know that they have cad files you can download to make stuff.

Does anyone know how to make something without those files? Can you take a photo of the item you want and reproduce without these measurements? Is there an app for that? Anyone here do custom 3D printing for people looking for specific parts? Anyone here doing 3D printing with metal parts?

Would love to get custom metal parts for the ones that consistently break but no hop up options from manufacturer. Also would be good for people with discontinued RC’s

I design my own cars from scratch.. I have a small cnc router I machine aluminum and g-10 with , and a small table top lathe for turning metal parts ..combined with a small fleet of 4 FDM printers I have not purchased a kit or RTR since about 2012. I just buy the bits I can't/ dont want to make.. Patiently waiting for affordable metal printing.. when you consider I can machine aluminum with my budget router for around $500 its going to be a minute before we see metal printers that cheap I think.

 

[kp321]

Metal 3d printing is still far out of the home hobbyist's reach.

As far as how to create the files for printing, you need CAD software to design the parts. Taking photos is useful, because you can bring the photos into your CAD program and trace them.

I design my own stuff, but I do sometimes design stuff fpr others. However, shipping parts out is not something very easy for me to do.

I want to revive the Losi v100 I purchased that has issues with constant broken dog bones. Need metal ones..

I design my own cars from scratch.. I have a small cnc router I machine aluminum and g-10 with , and a small table top lathe for turning metal parts ..combined with a small fleet of 4 FDM printers I have not purchased a kit or RTR since about 2012. I just buy the bits I can't/ dont want to make.. Patiently waiting for affordable metal printing.. when you consider I can machine aluminum with my budget router for around $500 its going to be a minute before we see metal printers that cheap I think.

So the machine setup cost $500 or to make metal parts cost $500?

Want to take the initiative to create a bunch and sell it on eBay? lol Does that help reduce cost?

There’s got to be places with full setup that can produce in bulk for lower price no? I know many people own these Vattera’s out there and they don’t make the metal dog-bones anymore, prob can sell a few thousand pieces no? I know currently they are out of stock with the plastic ones, they selling out because they keep breaking.

 

[WickedFog]

I want to revive the Losi v100 I purchased that has issues with constant broken dog bones. Need metal ones..

So the machine setup cost $500 or to make metal parts cost $500?

Want to take the initiative to create a bunch and sell it on eBay? lol Does that help reduce cost?

There’s got to be places with full setup that can produce in bulk for lower price no? I know many people own these Vattera’s out there and they don’t make the metal dog-bones anymore, prob can sell a few thousand pieces no? I know currently they are out of stock with the plastic ones, they selling out because they keep breaking.

Your best bet there is to find a dogbone from another kit, or shelve the RC and don't drive it anymore. Sadly, that happens to some RC's.

As far as having them made, that would be a really pricey part to go to a machine shop and ask for a quote. Unless you are going to order thousands of them, individual pricing would be crazy high.

 

[2wdMod]

the cnc router to make your own parts is only like $500.. Of course software knowledge is mandatory.. like fog said best bet is to find something to use or modify..
heres a link to a machine with a decent spindle.. there are way cheaper machines, like even sub $200 but the spindles arent up to the task of cutting anything more than plastics. Its pretty much what I have except my machine is a 30x 40 cm table on it. z height is the limiting factor on the routers. z height is limited to around 4 inches. I actually installed a coolant system on mine using a small fountain pump and a 1/2" thick nylon cutting board with catch grooves around the edges that drain back to the pump reservoir so I have recirculating coolant system on mine.. makes machining aluminum much nicer on the end mills..
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09KTV13T...&pd_rd_r=1071a62c-bd57-4f53-bb99-67dc40a0affe