So a couple of weeks ago in an effort to embrace modern technology i approached a 3D printing automotive design company to get some costings to print 3 designs i had in mind, the largest part was around 80 cm x 80 cm and 2 parts 50 cm x 12 cm. Now i knew it wouldn't cheap but...........
[/I’ve had a look at the cost to make the parts, unfortunately these are coming in really high, for the 3 parts plus the scanning we would be looking at around £9000 which I don’t think is cost effective for what you are trying to achieve. That’s without any design work costing. I’ll speak to the MD here about reducing the cost but honestly would suggest trying another approach to get the parts at a more reasonable price. We could do the scanning and design work, this would be around £1200, but I reckon there must be a specialist metal fabricator who could make the parts for much much less. Alternatively we know some carbon fibre fabricators who work with the like of F1 teams who might be able to suggest another method of fabricating the parts that they could then carbon wrap?i]
You need a nice CAD person to machine you one out of some metal. When I used to work in the schools one of the technology teachers was a motorbike nut, he was always measuring and making stuff for 'student projects' A clever man, he setup 3D models of stuff, pressed the big green button and the cutting machine would churn something out in minutes.
Thx for the link not a site i've seen before. I have the design already it's just the fabrication i am struggling with at the moment. Like bense said i really need some kind of sheet metal supplier. For now i have put that bit of the car on hold and am just concentrating on the front end. I really want to make some progress.
Without unnecessarily giving the game away.
Could you describe the nature and desired properties of what you're trying to make and from what material do you want to make it.
With such basic information provided, you are going to be better able to draw upon the collective extensive knowledge and experience of the T-bar membership for a solution.
"Keep calm, relax, focus on the problem & PULL THE BLOODY TRIGGER"
We have a Z Corp 3D printer and use SolidWorks as the design software; very expensive hardware and even the Solidworks 3D software is now around £12-13K just for a single seat, also the working table for the printable volume is only 12x10x9 inches.
The printer lays down one tenth a mm per pass on the highest resolution of a sintered powder which sets (like plaster of Paris) then we dip in hot wax to give it a tad more strength, the end result is very accurate in shape and size but it's only for aesthetics in the design process.
The price of 3D printers has come down enormously since the college bought ours and Maplins now sell a limited range where the end product uses spool feed heat extruded ABS and free software (cloud based) Autodesk 123D.
The basic Vellerman K8200 printer is around £700 and the Up! 2 Plus printer is around £1,250, unfortunately they both only have a small working volume but the end product in ABS will be usable.
So plan B involved a rage/impulse buy, It arrived yesterday on the back of a recovery truck.... Anyway ofc it's way to big, however i have the part/shape i need now. So plan C begins, get the part scaled to fit by a 3D CAD designer (found one who charges £17.50 per hour) then I have found another website where i can upload the CAD design and put it out to tender and hope i get lucky. Plan D will involve 10 gallons of petrol and a zippo if i don't :rant:
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