Everything I see shows 3D printing to be about prototyping and making casts, etc. Can it be used to make working engineering components?
Of course! 3D printed parts can be actually used quite effectively as working engineering components if they are printed with care and in the right material. As a matter of fact, some companies have even turned to 3D printing parts for their machines if a part breaks. 3D printed parts can be very rigid, flexible, and durable. The reason that 3D printers are (generally) not used in the manufacturing business is due to the terrible time efficiency 3D printers have. For example, attached is an image of a turbine I printed for a model jet engine I’m working on. The piece is quite sturdy, and although printed in PLA, will hold up to some decent wear & tear. If I had printed it in ABS or some Ninjatek filament, it would be even stronger. The issue with it is not in the quality of the finished part, but in the time that it took to make it. This print took over TWENTY hours on my Prusa i3 MK2, when an injection mold machine could have made just as good a part, if not better, it in seconds. For this reason, you will not see many 3D printers in the factories. However, there are special cases where 3D printed parts are actually the better way to go. Specialized parts, such as custom medical devices, can be generated relatively quickly. 3D printers are capable of producing wonderful working parts, but right now, they’re just too slow to be an effective solution for manufacturing. Further down the road, as they get faster and faster, we may see more in the manufacturing business. Here’s a link to one of the fastest 3D printers in the world right now. Definately check it out. They’re a 3D printing company that’s looking to turn 3D printing into a fast manufacturing tool: Carbon M1 Super Fast 3D Printer Demo! - YouTube But as for right now, they’re just simply not a rapid production tool.
Hi
The parts I design and print for plastic models and model railways are rather unique and customized, than prototypes. It´s not intended for mass-production, but for special use cases. Some parts are functional (in combination with metal or wood). Some parts just serve very simple tasks that not require precision or perfect finish. What demand can you have to a shelf pin or a drilling aid ?
I would put it that way: Is the 3D printed piece suitable for the purpose that is to be achieved ? If so, how much will be produced in what time frame ?
That will be the key question: If 5000 pieces should be produced in a time frame of 2 weeks for a low price, then moulding is very likely the better choice.
If 50 pieces should be produced in the same time, 3D printing can be an alternative (likely also cost effective). If you want to produce smaller amounts on demand (“in time”), then 3D printing is probably the much better way.
Of course there are more things to consider.
bye, Tibor
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Yes. We used a number of 3D printed parts in our Robot Wars entry PP3D. Custom brackets, electronics housings etc all 3D printed and then thrown into an environment which is hard for metal parts to survive.
Sure can!! I make lots of “one time” parts for people who have a broken piece and either can’t find a suitable replacement or don’t like the design of the original part so we try to make a better one.
A fun part is that some people know they can order their replacement part from the “manufacturer” but like the thrill of getting a 3D printer part and being part of it and being able to talk about it to their friends.
GaryB
6
3D printing can be used for production parts very effectively.
I used to have a shop with very high end drilling/routing machines as well as a lathe and mill. I had designed a product for one of my customers who builds environmental chambers. I produced several thousand parts over the years for him. I was able to redesign the part and actually improve it with 3D printing.
The part is now being produced on a Prusa i3 MK2 that runs non stop one shift a day. It produces enough parts to stay ahead of the customers needs. The material cost per part has been reduced by 70%. The labor cost has been reduced by 95%. Instead of $130K of equipment I use a $700 machine. Shop space of approximately 300 sq/ft has been reduced to about 10 sq/ft. Service calls to repair a $100k machine are history. In fact my last service call would have bought two Prusa printers.
I’ve been designing mechanical items for over 40 years. Embracing 3D printing during the design phase and letting your imagination run free can produce some amazing results.
Gary
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GaryB
7
Molded parts are wonderful IF you can justify the cost of a mold. I wonder how many products have never been produced because the cost of the mold is prohibitive.
There is a product being made that just in the month of December (holiday reduced schedule) 3,000 units were shipped. Each unit had 26 FDM printed ABS parts. That’s a whopping 78,000 parts. It took 184 printers at a retail price of $899 each, or $165,416 running 24/7 to accomplish that. If the parts had to be molded I believe the product would not be made. Certainly not at $899. Creating the molds would be prohibitive, especially when you factor in engineering redesigning parts because they’ve dreamt up something new and better, which they’ve done with several of the parts since then.
With molded parts you’d better be real sure the design is stable and you’ve done all your due diligence because when the truck drops off 1,000’s of parts and there’s an itsy bitsy problem with each one you might not be shipping product.
By the way Prusa was the one to ship 3,000 i3 MK2’s in December.
