Fun project - Guess what I'm doing AH friends?

[Saul]

Is it a mold or is it to be used as printed?

 

[rookhawk]

Is it a mold or is it to be used as printed?

It's ready for use with the addition of one hardware store bolt and one nut.

 

[Saul]

Is it for sighting?

 

[rookhawk]

Is it for sighting?

It is indeed! It's a sight pusher for installing gun sights!

Well done @Saul

 

[rookhawk]

Next up on "name that 3d printed tool", what's this one?

Hints: Its missing the metal hardware of a bolt/screw and a washer.

 

[rookhawk]

Finished sight pusher. Total cost about $1.40.

 

[ChrisG]

Your prints come out really good for a $150 printer. This is my last one that I designed in sketchup for one of the STEM classes I teach.

If only the Roman's had 3D printers... It is 77 pieces that are designed to snap together. Ran out of green in the middle of the print and had to switch to yellow. But it was designed to show the students that if you can imagine it, and know how to design... you can make it and it will work.

Have you tried any post processing? For PLA and ABS an acetone vapor bath will increase the strength of the prints pretty significantly. Muriatic acid vapor bath will do the same for nylon filaments.

As for printing metal, I just use shapeways3D.com. Their microject printers have a resolution of like 0.0001 mm so there are no visible layers and the prints are very strong and have dissolvable support structures which leave no marks on the print. The metal prints can get pricey, but for a prototype they are worth it.

 

[Ravensview]

What is the “ink” made of, do you get bottles of polymer that are the cartridges?

 

[rookhawk]

What is the “ink” made of, do you get bottles of polymer that are the cartridges?

spools of plastic wire. PLA is popular, but many types exist.

 

[sestoppelman]

definitely not. We just broke free from the theoretical to practical with carbon fiber and metal impregnated plastic filament. We are still printing plastics, just stronger plastics.

in ten years you’ll be printing with metal at home for the price you spend today for a decent PC printer.

Maybe. But I remember as a kid in the 60's, we always said by the year 2000, (long gone), that we would all be flying around in jet packs which have actually been around for some time. Didnt happen. I will believe it when I see it.

 

[rookhawk]

Maybe. But I remember as a kid in the 60's, we always said by the year 2000, (long gone), that we would all be flying around in jet packs which have actually been around for some time. Didnt happen. I will believe it when I see it.

The difference is I’m not quoting theory, just Moore’s law: things get twice as good and half the price every 36 months.

you can print a metal gun today on a $1,000,000 machine. In ten years, they may be $4000.

(e.g. in 2003 a 42” HD TV was $26,000. Today a TV 8x that resolution is $300)