Parts I can't buy
- Thread starter Ken Cross
- Start date
Yup, ended up making one from a scrap of 1" thick polyethylene sheet for my last boat (same wheel pilot). Not difficult, but annoying. Just a part of boat ownership. It's often easier to make simple parts than run them down, even with the internet.
That’s the great thing about 3D printing! We sell all these parts for the Autohelm wheel pilot. The moment you order, we throw it on the printer. Just in time printing!Time, the next dimension of printing.
So how do you price orders in the 3D printing world? If they are already modeled, what's a fair and equitable price based on?
There’s a lot of time in modelling them in the first place to get dimensions perfect. Then additional expense in the chemicals and operation of 5 3D printers, website, servers, etc. I run this as a retirement hobby business, and as such really don’t care if I make much money at it. I really do it mostly to help the environment by eliminating the need for people to have to throw away their entire autopilot because of one silly obsolete part they can’t get anymore. Some of the parts are sent out to be printed on sophisticated laser printers, such as the tiny gears in nylon and stainless steel eccentric cam, and to keep unit costs low I have to order 20 or so, which I may never sell. That gets pretty expensive and I have to pass those costs on obviously. And some parts are laboriously designed and perfected and then never really end up selling very many - a lost effort.
Exactly. Designing the parts is a small part of the cost of running a business. And, it’s a misconception that parts can be scanned effectively. That just isn’t feasible and won’t see interior features like screw holes and cavities. As well as the previous post I made about injection moulding and 3D printing having entirely different constraints and limitations.
It depends on which part it is and what it's material requirements are from an engineering point of view. First and foremost, UV is important for any part exposed to the sun on a sailboat - so those types of parts, levers, brackets etc, are printed in strong UV resistant material. For levers, we obviously want to use a plastic with a high tensile strength. For interior parts, like the interior rollers on the Autohelm 4000, UV isn't a problem, but wear is, so we use a wear resistant, hard plastic - tensile strength isn't a concern. For tiny gears inside planetary drives, speed and wear is the concern, so nylon is the obvious choice. For electronic enclosures on the remote controls we make, we use ABS. So, it varies depending on the requirements of the part. And FDM isn't suitable for all parts - for tiny gears we have to use SLS - selective laser sintering printers. For stainless steel parts - we send out for DMP - direct metal printing. Only Jay Leno can afford to have his very own DMP printer for metal parts for his car restoration hobby!
Yes, there are many types of filaments that are UV stable. I was on a boat last week of a customer who installed one of our levers on an ST3000 3 years ago - and it's still absolutely fine. Been in the sun, rain, and salt with absolutely no degradation. Choosing the right plastic for the particular part is very important.
Marines print concrete barracks in 40 hours. Oorah!
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/08/29/marines-3d-print-concrete-barracks-in-just-40-hours.html
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2018/08/29/marines-3d-print-concrete-barracks-in-just-40-hours.html
Have you use ASA for UV resistant outdoor applications? I don't have any experience with it but I hear it is holds up well to the environment.
Yes I have used ASA for uv resistant parts. But I have found other plastics which share it’s uv resistance and incorporate other beneficial strength properties. One of the difficulties with ASA is poor bed adhesion and related warpage, forcing us to use more aggressive methods which subsequently degrade the appearance of the final part. As you may know, 3D printed parts already have a slightly ‘industrial ‘ look, and appearance is also (unfortunately?) an important part of a marketable part.
Well, there you have it. Next, 3D printed concrete hulls. Or even, 3D printed fiberglass boats. Yep, I see a future in 3D printed boats.
I can see making hull molds with 3D printers, with finishing by band/machine.
- I think boats >20’ are quite a ways out.
Les
Not so far fetched at all @LeslieTroyer. I think it is being done already to some extent. Some of the parts we print, where we want extreme tensile strength, we print using carbon fibre reinforced plastic. We also are experimenting with fibre glass reinforced polypropylene plastic. After printing, these parts can be annealed in an oven to raise the strength another level.
The really cool thing about 3D printing is that you can 3D print shapes and forms that can't be formed any other way, not by machining, moulding, CNC routing etc. A simple example - we print a stainless steel version of the Autohelm 4000 lever. It has a D shaped hole in it. That can't be machined, it is only possible to make a D shaped hole with 3D printing or casting (and the tolerances in casting are lousy). Another example - they make a micro-honeycombed titanium hip replacement for dogs in the UK. The bone grows into the honeycomb. There is no way to machine or cast a honeycomb in metal - only possible with 3D printing.
The medical world is also working to print with actual cloned human tissue to make bladders (already possible) and eventually something as complicated as a heart with multiple tissue types in it. Imagine, your own cells made into a new (and probably improved) heart that will never be rejected by your body!
A boat suddenly seems rather simple now......