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| Print your own Geo Metro! | |
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| Tweet Topic Started: Mar 22 2013, 02:42 AM (4,274 Views) | |
| PTA2PTB | Mar 23 2013, 08:56 PM Post #46 |
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I'm totally awesome! I swear.
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If I had one of these printing machines, I'd print me some casino poker chips with it, then head to Vegas.
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| Woodie | Mar 24 2013, 05:44 AM Post #47 |
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I'm having a major problem grasping this. I understand how the printer works, and can accept the making of single parts. But they're saying that it will print out items with multiple different parts, ALREADY ASSEMBLED! He claims that it printed out a crescent wrench with the moving jaw and adjustment barrel in place and ready to use! I just don't get that, can't conceive of any possible way that would happen. Maybe I'm misunderstanding the claims. |
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| Coche Blanco | Mar 24 2013, 10:46 AM Post #48 |
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Troll Certified
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| Woodie | Mar 25 2013, 04:59 AM Post #49 |
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Alright thanks, I guess. That clarifies one aspect of my confusion. I am not misunderstanding the claims. They just, without any ambiguity, printed out a working crescent wrench, while I watched. I'm still not grasping how it can do that. Well maybe I can, just going to take considerable more thought before I fully grok it out. |
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| Murf 59 | Mar 27 2013, 06:22 AM Post #50 |
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Like you Woodie. I don't understand it. But the world and tech has moved on with out us. I have seen it work. But it blows my mind. Jeff Dunham built his new dummy with it last year.
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| nerys | Apr 1 2016, 02:21 AM Post #51 |
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Grr
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imagine SLICING a wrench into thin layers imagine slicing the different parts into different layers. now imagine LAYING those layers down one layer at a time. well you can "lay" the moving parts down "inside" the other parts layers as you lay the layers. if they are not on the same "plane" you simply build "support" material into the model that you would later "remove/break away" to engage the moving parts. the best way to envision this is to look up some timelapse videos of 3d printing happening Anyway the reason I am here. anyone have a 3d Model (max or STL) or a geo metro? |
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| t3ragtop | Apr 1 2016, 08:30 AM Post #52 |
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Turbo3 and Twincam Tweaker
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dang woodie! i never realized you were raised on mars! that explains a lot of things.
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| arudlang | Apr 1 2016, 09:42 AM Post #53 |
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Andrew
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I don't have a model but you could probably make one. There are now a number of programs, some free, which can take somewhere between a few dozen and a few hundred pictures of your object and compile it into a 3D model. I tried autodesk's memento the other day (free), and it worked but I didn't really have enough good pictures so my model of the TV remote was a little lumpy: ![]() That was with about 20 one-megapixel pictures out of a crappy camera, if you can go around your car and get about 100 good shots with good lighting I think you will at the very least get a good starter model you could refine from there depending on the detail level you need. Been wanting to try the process out on my car but haven't had the time so far. Edited by arudlang, Apr 1 2016, 09:43 AM.
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| cwatkin | Apr 1 2016, 10:32 AM Post #54 |
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I actually looked into this for Metro parts a few months back. The first possibility was to machine door handles out of aluminum or stainless. The machine time and material cost PER DOOR came up to like $400! It was a lot cheaper (like under a dollar) with a 3D printer making PLASTIC parts but basically these would have broken just like the crap we all currently have to deal with. The upfront cost of the printer wasn't too bad ($1600-2000). This is the kind that can print the gun magazines, receivers, etc. I understand there are CAD files for a lot of this stuff out there already. Then I found there were 3D printers that used a laser to melt metal dust into solid metal parts with excellent strength characteristics. These were quite a bit more expensive but could melt aluminum or titanium dust meant for this purpose into parts with the required strength for decent door handles that would last. The printer was like $6000 as I remember to start but the material was pretty cheap per unit so this could be affordable on a large scale. Conor |
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| arudlang | Apr 1 2016, 12:26 PM Post #55 |
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Andrew
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I don't know that plastic handles would be all that weak as long as you picked a strong plastic like ABS and printed the pieces 100% solid, then maybe do an acetone hardening procedure on top of that. Depends on which parts take the stress of opening and how thick those areas of the model are ![]() I've printed some stuff in ABS that were not very thick (10mm) nor solid (20% fill) and you cannot break those pieces with your bare hands. I printed an extension for a pistol magazine whose purpose was to elongate the magazine for more grip as well as to provide space for two additional rounds, became an 8 round magazine vs 6 originally. That was just ABS and I did print it solid and treated it with acetone but the portion that slides onto the bottom of the magazine is no more than a couple mm thick and so far its held up and worked perfectly. |
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| perfesser | Apr 1 2016, 04:54 PM Post #56 |
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Elite Member - Former Metro owner
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Printing car parts is no problem, but they still haven't gotten a good cosmetic surface finish on them. Jay Leno has been 3D printing parts for his rare cars for many years, but his budget is larger than I can afford! We have a Rapid Prototyping lab at work with all kinds of 3D printers using a wide variety of materials. It's amazing the things you can do with it! Ever seen a piece made of an alloy of bronze and stainless steel? It combines the properties of both to make a part that has better properties than either material alone. 3D printing and powder metallurgy are the only ways possible to make an alloy like this. I found an obscure part under the hood of my Ford Escape Hybrid that was broken in pieces. It was plastic, so I took it in to work and asked one of the other professors how I could rejoin the pieces so it'd work again. He took the pieces and came back 3 hours later with two perfect 3D printed copies (and the original pieces)! I had to thread them, but the hole he made for that was exactly the right size for my tap. I've seen decent 3D printers in places like the Microsoft store selling for less than $1k. The technology is rapidly reaching a level of maturity that it would be time for regular folks to jump in. |
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| nerys | Apr 2 2016, 09:26 AM Post #57 |
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Grr
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even my mini can do .1mm layers and at that layer height the parts are incredibly clean. nearly invisible from 3ft. I just wan to make a model of the "whole car" just for shiggles. I found a geo tracker stl but its not free :-) but no swift/metro in all my searching. another idea is to use the plastic part to mold metal parts. they also have some crazy strong filaments including nylon and polycarbonate although I can't print those on mine. |
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