Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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I don't suppose a TPU print would have been an option?
- Thread starter God mode restorations
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I don't suppose a TPU print would have been an option?
Pete.
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Yes it would but I was in a hurry
Just FYI I needed a 10mm clearance hole so I drilled a 12mm hole ( coz a 10mm drill will make a 9mm hole in rubber) in the rubber and held it between two m12 nuts and washers on some studding, squashed down from 40mm long to about 32mm to compress it a bit and put it in the chuck. Then I turned it using a parting blade and plunge cuts all along the length, went up and down with spring cuts a few times at full rpm to try to get the OD somewhere near even then used the parting blade to make plunge cuts for the grooves. Finished it off with coarse emery.
I keep seeing people printing things, taking several attempts, hours, days, to do so . . . and I keep thinking I could have fabricated/machined/hacksawed that in minutes . . .Yes it would but I was in a hurry
I see printers going relatively cheaply, I have a super duper CAD system that I know how to use, that will give me the correct file types . . . and it still doesn't make any sense to me to have one.
Maybe one day it will.
Hood
I am obsessed.
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It is kind of how I feel for the most part but recently a friend made a part for me that would have been impossible to make on my mill. Still unlikely I will get one, once metal 3D printers become a few hundred £'s then I will be having one although by that time I will likely be long dead
Blobber
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I keep thinking the same, just dont think ive the patience for learning the drawing software now though plus all the other frustrations that go with it!
Dr.Al
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It just depends on what sort of thing is useful to you to make. I find the 3D printer to be another useful tool in the armoury and it allows me to make things that would either take a long time to make by other means or would just be far too difficult. Many of those things aren't essential (and in many cases, the features that make it need 3D printing aren't essential), but they're nice to have and the speed of creation makes it worth it. Yes, they sometimes take hours to print, but while it's printing I'm out in the workshop doing other stuff (or fast asleep in bed).
A couple of examples that sprang to mind. This is a T-handle hex-key holder:
I could have made it with round straight holes, but then the hex keys rotate and the bigger ones get in the way of pulling the little ones out (this happens with another t-handle hex keys stand I have and annoys me regularly). The holes in the 3D-printed holder are tapered hexagons (tapered so it's easy to get the hex key in) and the keys don't rotate. I have no idea how I would try to make something like that by any other means.
Another example:
That's a holder for some PCBs that fit into a Makita battery pack housing. The 3D printer allowed me to make everything a perfect fit.
At the simpler end, there's things like the caps on these chisels:
Whenever I get a new chisel it takes about 30 seconds to create a new model and then it prints in less than an hour (remember: that hour is just the printer getting on with it unattended). I made these after taking a sizeable chunk out of my thumb thanks to a mortice chisel hanging on the wall.
Right tool for the right job situation factoring in current skills and tools/materials availability.
Like all new tech, 3D printing was over-hyped, and then fell short. But everyone remembers the hype. There's this famous hype cycle chart that describes the typical tech lifecycle where each application of 3D printing will sit at different points on that line e.g 1-off gear-shift repair, rapid prototyping, low volume production and parts that can only be made by printing etc.
Like all new tech, 3D printing was over-hyped, and then fell short. But everyone remembers the hype. There's this famous hype cycle chart that describes the typical tech lifecycle where each application of 3D printing will sit at different points on that line e.g 1-off gear-shift repair, rapid prototyping, low volume production and parts that can only be made by printing etc.
My Old Landy
Engineering Mayhem
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For me the 3D printer has given me a new lease of life. I have a workshop full of tools I can't use but if I can dream it up I can usually draw it then print it 
addjunkie
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Snap!
redlig
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Bit like marriage really!
selectedgrub
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so they guess how much filament weight it took to make that pumpkin?
Are they out of season or something?
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
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- Sevenoaks, UK
It's just a bit of fun to weigh the pumpkin.
The pumpkin was purchased from a charity pumpkin patch planted and tended by folk with learning disabilities. Proceeds get put with the pub quiz money and will go to the Poppy Appeal.
SWMBO thought my idea of a wicker basket with a photo of Harris/Saville/Gadd staring up was in bad taste.
Onoff
In the land of the unfinished project I am King!
- Messages
- 11,612
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- Sevenoaks, UK
I bought one for my son for his 21st thinking it'd be a 5 minute wonder. 99% of the printing he does has a practical and long lasting application both at home and work.
indy4x
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I thought is was over hyped but since having one I wouldn't be without it
Most of my prints are functional but have done toys for the grandkids
Dr.Al
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Hood
I am obsessed.
- Messages
- 17,306
- Location
- Carnoustie, Scotland
Hood
I am obsessed.
- Messages
- 17,306
- Location
- Carnoustie, Scotland
Made these.
What are you machining?
Storm Agnes and my Chinese aluminium flagpole did not get on, narrowly missing my neighbours new greenhouse: Decided to turn a piece of Delrin to create a joining adaptor: and sorted: Second chance at the greenhouse?
www.mig-welding.co.uk
