MajorKong

I am curious if anyone has tried using a 3d printer to make replacement parts. There are some instances where I think it would be very beneficial to make replacement parts of superior material. Suspension arms, shock towers, and chassis plates are a few examples that come to mind.

av4625

go to the JQ products site and read the story thats how he made prototypes and he explains it and it wasnt strong enough but he did find a stronger material but not suitable for racing but that was for 8th im not sure what you want

mydudrevo

iTrader: (1)

I know Marcus with rcshox uses 3d printing to make his pistons

Life_livin

iTrader: (20)

I dont know much about 3D printing but I do know that JQ did all of his prototyping and testing for The Car using parts made with a 3D printer. Edit- Looks like AV4625 beat me to it!

nv529

iTrader: (53)

http://www.rctech.net/forum/chat-lou...rc-future.html

BryanJ

iTrader: (3)

If it's additive manufacturing like most 3D printers, I wouldn't use it for anything beyond printing and fitting a conceptual part. Maybe if it was a completely non-structural part that's not subject to stress? Even if the constituent material is "superior" in theory, when you build them up in layers they end up being very brittle (in my experience).

I'm sure we're not far from viable parts, though. Technology moves fast and I may have missed some developments.

Coppercanyon

iTrader: (18)

3D printers can be used to make parts out of castable materials. Depending on the part it can easily be made from 3D to metal. Or for that matter laser sintered directly.

KainK

iTrader: (25)

As mentioned above the materials aren't quite right yet. I have one and make some non structural parts; swaybar mounts, esc mounts, cases, shock stands, ect. It can work for prototype stuff, but not race parts.
There are nylons that are extremely rip resistant but have to much flex.
ABS is usable for project type rc. Similar to like a Tamiya type plastic.
PLA is decent too but a little to hard.
I'm sure a plastic could be developed to be workable with some r&d. It's just not there yet.

I use it a lot for mold making. I also have been trying some shock pistons. Haven't had any breakage failures yet. I wish I could get more track time to test stuff.