3D printed parts vs. other aftermarket companies
02-09-2018, 01:32 PM
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3D printed parts vs. other aftermarket companies
Are the 3d printed parts stronger and more durable? Also are they heavier that other aftermarket parts? Would it be worth printing other than having something that could possibly be custom?
I have various vehicles like most of you which could benefit from the application, especially a scale drifter I am building up and a crawler (not-so-scale) that could use some attention after so many years.
What are your thoughts on this? Also if you have any links or designs you want to share, let me know. I have a rustler, a 1/10 losi crawler, a tt01 drifter and a tt01 that I'm turning into a rally car (because why not). Oh and a 1/18 short course truck.
I have various vehicles like most of you which could benefit from the application, especially a scale drifter I am building up and a crawler (not-so-scale) that could use some attention after so many years.
What are your thoughts on this? Also if you have any links or designs you want to share, let me know. I have a rustler, a 1/10 losi crawler, a tt01 drifter and a tt01 that I'm turning into a rally car (because why not). Oh and a 1/18 short course truck.
02-09-2018, 04:43 PM
#2
Short answer is no, typically 3D printed parts have a significantly lower shear strength rating, and this all depends on the polymer used, there are some printers that are hot enough to use Nylon which gets in the right ball park with some OEM molds, but most aftermarket brands will add custom blends of plastic that just can't be used in 3D printers. For non stress applications and basic prototyping, 3D printing is great, but for arms and spindles, you'll want to stick with mold injected parts.
02-12-2018, 06:07 AM
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Gotta agree with Bill on this one. I'm designing my own 1/18th on road that I'm building up using my 3d printer. If you have a 3d printer then you might want to check out openRc it's a subpage on thingiverse.com where people post their designs for printing. Structural components would only work on slower moving vehicles, and smaller scale. The larger scale you go the less parts you can 3d print for it. I've only ever printed in pla, but if suppose if you were to try and print, for example, an a arm for a 1/10th car, you would best use abs or carbon reinforced pla. As for weight, a 3d printed part benefits from various ranges of infill so it will be lighter, by design than your typical injection molded part. I had to add weight to my car to get it to run better, even though the chassis I printed extended the wheel base and was 3mm , simply because once the initial wall (of 0.4mm thick) is printed, the inside material is only 50% . It is still very strong (for my uses) but weights less. The benefit to running 3s printed parts is that you can make tons of spares, or redesign the part for a different characteristic for the car. I encourage you to check out openRc and my build here on the website if you're curious. (it's under micro cars)
02-14-2018, 01:59 PM
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Gotta agree with Bill on this one. I'm designing my own 1/18th on road that I'm building up using my 3d printer. If you have a 3d printer then you might want to check out openRc it's a subpage on thingiverse.com where people post their designs for printing. Structural components would only work on slower moving vehicles, and smaller scale. The larger scale you go the less parts you can 3d print for it. I've only ever printed in pla, but if suppose if you were to try and print, for example, an a arm for a 1/10th car, you would best use abs or carbon reinforced pla. As for weight, a 3d printed part benefits from various ranges of infill so it will be lighter, by design than your typical injection molded part. I had to add weight to my car to get it to run better, even though the chassis I printed extended the wheel base and was 3mm , simply because once the initial wall (of 0.4mm thick) is printed, the inside material is only 50% . It is still very strong (for my uses) but weights less. The benefit to running 3s printed parts is that you can make tons of spares, or redesign the part for a different characteristic for the car. I encourage you to check out openRc and my build here on the website if you're curious. (it's under micro cars)
I appreciate the feed back from both of you. This greatly helps narrow things down for a better understanding. I will have to into different parts and builds. I think aftermarket parts makers currently will still stand as tried and true, however 3dp will start to rise and shine.
