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Sep 2015

Hello I am an inventor looking to hire help with my next product. I have my current products produced in Asia and would love to have my next finished products produced in the USA and Canada. I have my fingers crossed that I can use 3d printers to produce my finished products.

Heres what we need to figure out… How to embed a solid into either a nylon or a strong flexible plastic.

Let me know if anyone wants the job/challenge. Or if you have figured it out all ready that would be extremely helpful!

Thank you everyone hope you are all having fun innovating.

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    Sep '15
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    Sep '15
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embedding an object in a 3d print can be made very simple if the model is able to be printed in an orientation that allows for insert placement between successive printed layers. imagine modeling a square hole that a nut can drop into, but wont spin, then printing over the top of the nut. If you are interested in working together, please visit my hub and contact me via my hub page.

I agree with Chris- I’ve read about people pausing a print part way to embed items, and then continuing the print. Some slicers (processing program you use to go from 3D model to printable item) have the ability to do this.

Couple of thoughts though-

3D printing is slow. It’s great for prototypes, or items that need individual customization. Unless you use a provider with a farm of machines lead time can be high. (There’s a place around the lower mainland whose name is escaping me right now that has a farm.) I’m assuming you’re thinking of 100’s of items at a time, if you’re already getting things manufactured in Asia (and I assume by injection moulding or similar.)

Embedding by pausing is going to need manual intervention part-way through the print. You can print several items in the same print run all at the same time, pause once, fill them all, and continue. Or you can print one item at a time, pause, fill, continue, and start the next item in the print run. The first way is great in terms of labor, but in my limited experience I’ve had more failures doing it that way rather than completing an item at a time. Especially with a material like Nylon, which I believe tends to curl during printing.

Does the thing you want to embed ever need maintenance? Does it have to be sealed?

Another option would be to design a cap for a cavity. If it has to be sealed, glue it. It’s probably a little more labour, but I think the failure rate will be a lot lower. And if the item to insert is an odd shape, a “fitted plug” could be designed that was split in two halves. Put the thing in the plug, put the plug into a regular shaped hole, seal it all up.

There’s a 3D Printing/maker meet up that the Richmond Public Library is organizing/sponsoring this coming Thursday at the Minoru branch. There maybe some interested/helpful people there. It’s the first of a series of monthly sessions. (Full disclosure- I’m the speaker that night :slight_smile: )

If you want really amazing finishes, and if the item is UV proof, you could probably do some amazing things with a SLA (laser + resin) printer. They have both solid and flexible resins now. You can write to them for samples. I have some that I can bring along to the library on Thursday if you want to see them.

Good luck!

Julian

Thank you so much I just checked out your website and left a message at your shop. Thank you so much for reaching out to me.