3D printed body parts? Anyone tried?

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Ol'forest

Ol'forest

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I saw online some big parts like front air dams etc can be printed in flexible plastics like polypropylene or ABS. If anyone knows a place that prints big stuff in theory you could scan a part and get it printed in plastic. I'm thinking reproduce lighter parts. Could be scoops or anything. You can even manipulate the parts digitally before printing. I'd like to get a front bumper scanned and printed in polypropylene to save weight. Less crack prone than glass. Anyone else thought about it?
 
Ol'forest said:
I saw online some big parts like front air dams etc can be printed in flexible plastics like polypropylene or ABS. If anyone knows a place that prints big stuff in theory you could scan a part and get it printed in plastic. I'm thinking reproduce lighter parts. Could be scoops or anything. You can even manipulate the parts digitally before printing. I'd like to get a front bumper scanned and printed in polypropylene to save weight. Less crack prone than glass. Anyone else thought about it?
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i dont know man
your talking to a group of people where 90% is still running carb
we're kinda old school


come back on 3-4 decades
 
It's all about platter size with 3D printers. Even the largest ones are usually less than 24", which means your bumper would have to be built in sections and glued together.
 
There's a guy in town here that is just starting this. I've seen some small items he made out of carbon fiber, very cool. I believe his printer is larger enough to do things like fenders and hoods
 
You are also talking about print time. One bumper might take as long as two or three full days just to print and then finish time. Agh, I don't think the technology is quite there yet. But maybe someday we can tweek a replicator and make it happen.
 
I thought about little parts like my headlight trim rings for a 63-64 dart. I wouldnt mind abs plastic ones that dont bend when you look at them.
 
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Blind Squirrel said:
make it happen
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Don't you mean "make it so"
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3d is at least $100/hour. Even if the printer was big enough it would take at least a day to print a front spoiler. You can buy a molded one for $35. LOL
 
A better use would be to 3d print your pattern and make a finished fiberglass part from it.
 
Yeah, at this point in the technology it is more suited to smaller non-structural items. Arm rest bases would be a good example, if they weren't already being repopped. The small 69 'Cuda' hood scoops might be a good candidate, but again, you can already buy them. To make it cost-effective, it would need to be a part that is otherwise unavailable. But one use for it is to make molds for casting metal objects. Say there is a hood ornament on your '39 Hudson that is broken and you can't find one anywhere, or you need a piston for a 1914 Stearns-Knight. If you can borrow an original to scan, you can have it 3D printed in plastic as a mold for metal casting. General Dynamics can 3D print titanium jet engine parts, but that isn't an affordable option for the rest of us.
 
i am planning to 3D print a few items for my car, but not going to do body parts. Mostly, aesthetic pieces and non visible items.
 
Joeycurl said:
i am planning to 3D print a few items for my car, but not going to do body parts. Mostly, aesthetic pieces and non visible items.
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I thought molding clips would be a needed item that could be printed. Many aren't available in the aftermarket.
 
Much more efficient for smaller parts. Body panels and bumpers would be difficult and be very time consuming. 65'
 
I got a local place to print me a blank dash bezel. He quoted me 10 bucks per hour print time. The cost for me was design time. I'm going to have to learn to do this myself. I have not got it yet as they switched to printing medical masks for local medical facilities. Hope to get it soon.

Cley
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89on35s said:
I got a local place to print me a blank dash bezel. He quoted me 10 bucks per hour print time. The cost for me was design time. I'm going to have to learn to do this myself. I have not got it yet as they switched to printing medical masks for local medical facilities. Hope to get it soon.

Cley
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now that is marketable
 
We will see once I get it. It will need to be painted as I told them to use up whatever filament they had kicking around. It is supposed to paint well. I'll post my results when I get it.

Cley
 
I work in the plastic resin distribution arena. Although we do not cater to the 3D printer world, they are getting better at what they are capable of. Most of it does depend on the equipment size and how big the working surface is. Plus, the larger the machine, the higher the cost. Also, the plastics they use are getting better. One place I worked had a 3D printer and used what was deemed "digital ABS", since it had properties similar to ABS, but it was not ABS. In addition, I am not aware of any of these materials having UV inhibitors in them, like a lot of the plastics in modern cars do. If you paint the parts, it will add protection to the base plastic.

I also worked at a place that bought a 3D metal printer shortly after I left to start my current job. Again, they are limited to plate size, but are printing molds for small parts - single and multiple cavity. The finish is rough and they run them all through a CNC to true up and smooth critical surfaces. They are able to harden the printed steel to around an S7 hardness. They are able to print one half of a mold in 2-3 days, including water lines and ejector pin holes, where a fully machined mold would take 2-4 weeks, depending on complexity. In addition, even with the added final machining step, they are able to build a mold for less than half of what they were paying a mold shop and can have it pretty much complete in a week.
 
As a guy who has a 3D Printer and used them in almost all of my jobs. You would need a very large (and expensive) 3D printer and the print time would be quite extensive. Similar to composites, the material isn't necessarily the expensive part, it's the time. On another note, 3D printers print in layers and those layers wouldn't necessarily follow the profile of your "sheet metal" panel. As you print, you have to generate support structures to support your build as its building. Those support structures can be an enormous pain to remove. So, you could have a lot of surface finish issues and in some areas your panels would be susceptible to shearing easier than a metallic or composite body panel.

On that note, I have dabbled with designing and printing parts on my Dart at home. That part takes a lot of time, but it's challenging and fun. My printer can print within a 10" x 10" x 12" volume which limits the bigger car stuff to print.
 
Well I've seen a company that prints large private boats many times longer than a car so size limitations are not an issue, it's just a matter of finding who and where. It looked pretty fast too, would certainly do a car part in good time. I have access to free printer use but have to pay for the plastic I use, but only good for parts 14 inches long or less. Hoping a big printer gets set up in NZ. One thing is it would cut out the normal huge postage I have to pay to get stuff from the US.
 
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