3D printing

[Mickwhitt 4,625]

Hi all.

First of all, may I say I'm not a big fan of 3D printing. I understand the tech and the work that goes into programming the thing to make an item. But it doesn't ever seem to me like actually making something yourself.

Kind of like CNC machining, you're not operating the lathe or mill, just loading in stock and a programme.

Maybe I'm a luddite, or just not comfortable with compooters. Also we are getting 3D printed guns over here now which is pretty scary, recently some guy went to prison for making viable shooters in his airing cupboard.

Anyhoo,  I saw this on the news and was impressed by it, despite my lack of love for 3D printed parts. 

Now that is one mahoosive printer. Apparently they print whole parts for modular houses. The gunk they use even incorporates wood fibre so it's enviromenkally frengly.  

What next I ask myself....

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,506]

Saw the headlines on this one a few days ago too. 

Pretty interesting. 

I'll be curious to see how this pans out over the upcoming years. 

 

Note the "wood fiber".  Maine is the most heavily forested State in the lower 48. It sure would/wood be neat if the technology world could help the loggers stay in business. 

[SylvanLakeWH 25,560]

They have a concrete 3d printer as well... houses, roads, bridges etc...

[ebinmaine 67,506]

1 minute ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

They have a concrete 3d printer as well... houses, roads, bridges etc...

 

Also ridiculously interesting 

[Handy Don 12,232]

1 hour ago, SylvanLakeWH said:

They have a concrete 3d printer as well... houses, roads, bridges etc...

Recent 800 sq. ft. home build in Spain had the printed walls done in 18 hours. Fitting out for roof, doors, windows, and utilities took another few weeks.

IMHO this will be practical only in locales where the machine can be readily positioned to make multiple homes and the materials are cheap/easy to obtain. Fundamentally, though, I’m not keen on seeing more concrete homes. Too often the sand is being harvested in ways that are damaging vital ecosystems.

[953 nut 55,232]

5 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

Apparently they print whole parts for modular houses.

                    Guess that is one way of overcoming high lumber prices.       Hope they don't melt on hot sunny days!                 

[sergeant 291]

1 hour ago, Handy Don said:

Recent 800 sq. ft. home build in Spain had the printed walls done in 18 hours. Fitting out for roof, doors, windows, and utilities took another few weeks.

IMHO this will be practical only in locales where the machine can be readily positioned to make multiple homes and the materials are cheap/easy to obtain. Fundamentally, though, I’m not keen on seeing more concrete homes. Too often the sand is being harvested in ways that are damaging vital ecosystems.

Well, People In Moore, Oklahoma (hit By Two EF5 Tornado In the same path) would benefit from  concrete  Homes homes. There is a company In Nebraska and a company in Bolingbrook, Illinois, That Make Tornado Proof Homes out of Concrete   where they Can control how the concrete sets Up The Nebraska company guarantees to withstand EF3 tornadoes. The Bolingbrook, Illinois, company has made several that will withstand an EF5 tornado. But the Bolingbrook  company standard guarantee is for EF4 Tornados. But that is where a 3-D Printer Might Just come In Handy for concrete. I have been In an EF2 and an EF3 Tornado  The second Tornado Took My Great uncles cow barn. The Barn was rebuilt in reinforced Concrete on earthquake shocks(1987), and that same Barn was Hit again years Later In the Late 1990's  They new Owners Just had to repair a Door  after that Tornado which I hear was another EF3 Tornado

[wh500special 2,184]

I’m a Luddite too and I generally regard 3D printing as a curiosity.   Mostly, the physical properties of the materials used and the parts made have been lacking in comparison with to their molded (moulded for you Mickwhitt!)  or fabricated counterparts, but they have rapidly been getting better.  
 

I’ve had a handful of plastic parts printed for work over the last few years when it has been too expensive to have molds made to make the same parts.  Ten to Fifteen years ago the discrete layers were readily visible and the parts generally looked terrible, but they are much smoother now.  I have just sent out drawings for a 3D printed diesel/jet fuel tank that we will eventually have blow molded and the cost is very good.  I’m not sure how they’ll look when they come in, but it will be a nice comparison to the welded aluminum variant we are making in the shop.  Pretty cheap too; the 4-gallon tank with a weird shape will be about $1000 apiece for the initial couple I need.  By the time we cut, bend, and weld the aluminum ones we’ll easily have that much labor in them. 
 

I do have nervousness about them leaking during testing of course…but I have that for the aluminum ones too. 
 

Last fall I was lucky enough to tour a facility that had made a 3D printer that could print concrete.  They had constructed a few houses and buildings that while not aesthetically very pleasing were amazingly strong and were very efficient in their use of concrete.  The magic to their setup that I think is unique in the concrete 3D print world was that they had found a way to use standard size aggregate in their printable concrete mix.  Thus giving very similar overall structural properties to the finished composite.  Their design goal was for military use, but it seems like it could transition to commercial use as well. 
 

Admittedly, much of the artistry and romance of craftsmanship is lost when we transition to 3D printing, CNC cutting, and robotic operations but the efficiency gains have a lot of potential. 
 

Steve

[Handy Don 12,232]

1 hour ago, wh500special said:

Admittedly, much of the artistry and romance of craftsmanship is lost when we transition to 3D printing, CNC cutting, and robotic operations but the efficiency gains have a lot of potential. 
 

I agree with you generally, but am confident that as more “artists” learn and understand the technologies we’ll see some very, very creative stuff. One will be printers that can do concrete and fibers (for reinforcements) in the same pass. This will bring shapes that are today out of the question into the realm of possibility.

 

Then will come the ability to control blended materials (concrete with polymer additives, for example) dynamically and precisely to choose strategically the best material for each part of the structure (e.g, compressive strength for columns vs. tensile strength for lintels). These will improve structural integrity and allow inventive shapes.

 

Lastly we’ll see robotic tools working at the same time as printers. These will rough in, i.e. embed, conduits, plumbing, floor heating, and electrical wiring directly into the structure.

 

Talk about labor jurisdictional issues. Sheesh.

[rmaynard 15,461]

My neighbor had her knee replaced with one printed on a 3D printer. Now that's something worthwhile in my book. If only they could print with real flesh and blood, I would be standing in line waiting for a few things.

[lynnmor 7,306]

On 4/28/2024 at 4:28 PM, Handy Don said:

Lastly we’ll see robotic tools working at the same time as printers. These will rough in, i.e. embed, conduits, plumbing, floor heating, and electrical wiring directly into the structure.

 

Talk about labor jurisdictional issues. Sheesh.

Sounds like union nonsense that is the concern.  Might be time for workers to quit crying and do something productive.

[ebinmaine 67,506]

2 hours ago, rmaynard said:

. If only they could print with real flesh and blood, I would be standing in line waiting for a few things.

 

Give it a few years Bob. 

 

We'll be ordering people pieces outta the hospital hallway vending machine.  

 

[Handy Don 12,232]

2 hours ago, rmaynard said:

If only they could print with real flesh and blood, I would be standing in line waiting for a few things.

Already being done and tested in animals. Combined with stem cell research, it could radically change soft tissue medicine.

[Damien Walker 246]

I am a great advocate of 3D printing and have several machines. I hear the concerns of the Luddites about 'not making things yourself but believe me, you require quite a lot of skill to be able to look at a part and work out how to draw it. Successful 3D CAD takes a lot of practice. It's much the same as making a pattern for casting or an injection mould, they require release angles so you can get the thing apart...so 3D printing has it's own foibles. You can't print on nothing (well you can, but spaghetti is the usual result!) so overhangs are difficult (they require scaffolding) but this depends on the particular printing process you are using and there several different types.

 

I have a full machine tool workshop but now print extensively in ABS and this recently has covered most things I need. Spacers, trim clips, a clip for a catheter bag, various (non stressed) items for the car and of more relevance to this forum, motion lever support bearing, blower direction lever for the quiet collector on my 520Lxi and most effectively, a transmission cooling fan for my 518H to allow the pto belt to pass bybwithout snagging as the oem design for this appears to be made from unobtainium.

 

So far from 'not making things yourself, you should look at the 3D printer and be amazed at how it pushes your boundaries away. Basically things that you couldn't dream of doing, now become easy. 

[Mickwhitt 4,625]

Damien.

I couldn't agree more with your views on 3d printed parts.

The skill set to look at an object and then generate the necessary programme to print it is way beyond me. I may have sounded like a luddite but but believe me,  I'm all for the progress these innovations bring.

Just like cnc machining, you have to have the programming skills to use a machine. Not something I can do.

I'm sure the farriers of their day saw lathes and Mills as fancy gadgets that replace their hand skills.

Printing will take its place until the replicator arrives from star trek lol.

Engineering is all about innovation and problem solving,  people like you are innovators and drive the discipline forward. 

Best regards Mick 

[Damien Walker 246]

10 hours ago, Mickwhitt said:

Damien.

I couldn't agree more with your views on 3d printed parts.

The skill set to look at an object and then generate the necessary programme to print it is way beyond me. I may have sounded like a luddite but but believe me,  I'm all for the progress these innovations bring.

Just like cnc machining, you have to have the programming skills to use a machine. Not something I can do.

I'm sure the farriers of their day saw lathes and Mills as fancy gadgets that replace their hand skills.

Printing will take its place until the replicator arrives from star trek lol.

Engineering is all about innovation and problem solving,  people like you are innovators and drive the discipline forward. 

Best regards Mick 

Hi Mick, don't be so hard on yourself - this technology stuff is easier than you might think. It might require looking at from a slightly different perspective, but I reckon you are a man of considerable skills already, and if that is so, then you are already well on the way to grasping most of what is required. The best way to start is to think of a reason for using the equipment....ie something that you can't really do any other way. In my case this involved my Range Rover .... the b*silly designers (or the bean counters perhaps) decided that screws aren't necessary to hold the valance panel behind the bonnet down (ie the huge bit of plastic the wipers poke through) so they moulded on tabs that are held down when the bonnet is closed....and they break off soon as looking at them too. (£70k car when new, might I add). I brought my first printer to create glue on equivalents. Took me ages to draw, but would take me seconds now. I had no inkling of where this would take me and how much I would use it. Another way to look at it is that these increase my skill level considerably. I can mill and I can turn, but often goof at the last minute, taking 10thou off the radius not the diameter!...cnc doesn't do that. You told it what to do, so that's the same turning as the handles, but the computer saves you messing up after half a day's work and it does the same every time.

 

Besides, Luddites came from gentler times when the world was in so many ways, a much better place! Call in for a cuppa if you are ever on this side of the pennines and I'll show you how it works (and a Wheelhorse or two!)