3d printer anyone?

[///M42 sport]

seeing as how more parts are becoming NLA for the e30. Wonder if anyone has a 3d printer to make some e30 parts...especially clips or trim pieces.

[Bglad]

I have a 3D printer, and I can tell you that the clips that would come from it would be shit in the long run. Also the resolution isnt very good, and needs work to be presentable. Plus you have to take the engineering and design time to model it up. IMO not worth the effort on 99% of it, and with the way r3v is, everyone wants it until it comes time to pay....

And my printer is $100,000. Yes, $100k.

[Red_liner740]

I too have a 3d printer but mines the open source one you build yourself. Cost me $800 two years ago.

It def has its uses for obscure things but like ^ said, the time taken to design, fine tune the print etc is usually 4x the actual print time. And what I've seen here people either spend big$$ or are total cheapskates.

I'm refreshing a touring and def already see parts I'm gonna print instead of trying to find used.

[AndrewBird]

3D printing has been over glamorized in society. While yes, you can "print" things with one, they are not the super futuristic make-anything-you-want machines they are known for. They are currently about equivalent to a 1970's dot matrix printer. Give 10-20 years and things will be better, but right now, they are more of a hobby for tech geeks or ridiculously expensive prototyping machines for major companies. A bit like computers were 35 years ago.

[Djmack]

It's been about a year since this thread started. A year of 3D printing advancement, such as different filament materials. I think, given a low micron, you can print decent quality clips for anything on the car. Yes it will take some time to model everything up, but someone is likely to do it eventually, why not do it now? Don't sell the clips, give out the print file and hope that other r3v members take the time to model up some new things. (i understand that most people won't care to contribute back, we're bmw owners. lol)

[JeLani]

Im buying one pretty soon


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[ThatOneEuroE30]

Thinking about 3d printing badges

[stonea]

I have a 3D printer and although its very nice and very cool, I really don't finding myself making things that have a purpose. Its either something I modeled for fun, a gift, or making cool gadgets that I found files for, online. Thats why I'm trying to sell my printer to fund a CNC machine because its more practical in my opinion. For example lets say I wanted to make a shift knob, I'd much rather CNC one than 3D print one, I could probably make a small production run of shift knobs on the CNC in the time the Printer would take to make just one.

That being said once I get a CNC machine I'll start saving up for a 3D printer once again, its just like AndrewBird said a year ago, I think its still for hobbyists and geeks. Its kind of over glamorized and needs some time to catch up to other technology before it becomes a reliable means for manufacturing. Great for prototyping though!

[TobyB]

Yeah, it's pretty funny when people start seriously talking about printing transmission parts, etc.

Maybe someyear. Not thisyear. Probably not nextyear.

And while milling is fun, it's also a huge time soak- and while you can make some pretty
neat shit, it's still an order of magnitude from what an OEM can do. E.g. pistons, cams, crankshafts...

t

[Wschnitz]

3D printing is a design tool, thats pretty much it. You make parts to very loose measurements to test out the theory of whatever you are designing, then refine it and have it cut out on a CNC.

Its definitely cool, but not 2k makerbot cool unless you are using it as such.

[4x4_e30]

One of the coolest uses I've seen for a 3d printer so far is for injection mold prototypes. That's how K&N does their first article intake boots.

[locar]

I have a 3D printer, and I can tell you that the clips that would come from it would be shit in the long run. Also the resolution isnt very good, and needs work to be presentable. Plus you have to take the engineering and design time to model it up. IMO not worth the effort on 99% of it, and with the way r3v is, everyone wants it until it comes time to pay....

And my printer is $100,000. Yes, $100k.

What about those front valence brackets? I'm not sure what you mean about the poor quality and resolution. I've never seen anything come out of a 100k 3d printer but i've seen a low end model, and i'd bet it would do the job.

[varg]

Seems to me the best use for a 3d printer with car parts is to print a prototype which needs a little finishing then use it to cast in metal. They've come a long way since I was introduced to the fragile little tchotchkes but the materials still seem to leave much to be desired. I haven't seen any 3d printed stuff that is as durable as the injection-molded plastics available today, let alone the fiber reinforced stuff. Not great for brackets or clips.

[stonea]

Seems to me the best use for a 3d printer with car parts is to print a prototype which needs a little finishing then use it to cast in metal.

/Thread

[Aleman]

this was 2 years ago:

https://www.press.bmwgroup.com/global/article/detail/T0215062EN/racing-technology-right-from-the-3d-printer:-bmw-makes-water-pump-wheel-for-dtm-racecars-using-additive-production-method?language=en