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Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 25th, 2019, 5:37 pm
by BigBlueDart
I've been putting bill horns on my car for a few years, now. Previously they've always been hooked together from a cheap plastic Viking helmet and money clips, but I've been wanting to try designing something I can 3D print for awhile, now. I couldn't sleep Thursday night, so I ended up piecing together a design based off some other materials I found online. Yesterday I pulled the first sample off my printer:


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The second horn is about halfway done right now. I'll be testing them out to see how well they handle different speeds on the car, as well as how they hold up under the heat. I may be trying these with a different material and tweaked design to make the clips stronger. Once I get it figured out I might even offer them up for sale.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 27th, 2019, 5:11 am
by crazywookie
I'm throwing money at my phone but nothing is happening

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 27th, 2019, 9:42 pm
by jpswensen
BigBlueDart wrote:
August 25th, 2019, 5:37 pm
I've been putting bill horns on my car for a few years, now. Previously they've always been hooked together from a cheap plastic Viking helmet and money clips, but I've been wanting to try designing something I can 3D print for awhile, now. I couldn't sleep Thursday night, so I ended up piecing together a design based off some other materials I found online. Yesterday I pulled the first sample off my printer:


Image

Image

The second horn is about halfway done right now. I'll be testing them out to see how well they handle different speeds on the car, as well as how they hold up under the heat. I may be trying these with a different material and tweaked design to make the clips stronger. Once I get it figured out I might even offer them up for sale.
That probably took forever to print!

I'm not sure what 3D printer you have, but a lot of the slicers now have the ability to change infill percentage based on layer or region. So, you could do something like 20% infill on the horn part and then 100% infill on the clip part.

Another technique I had been contemplating with the Aggie A pedestal project is making a high quality 3D print and then doing rubber mold casting of urethane (see https://www.smooth-on.com/tutorials/mak ... bber-mold/). I'm not sure if it would be cheaper, but it would definitely be faster, especially if you made a handful of molds and could fabricate a lot at the same time. One of my students also recommended getting your original made on an SLA printer so that it has much, much better resolution.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 27th, 2019, 10:00 pm
by BigBlueDart
Each horn too about a day, but I'm aware of a few things that could have sped the process up. With the rubber mold casting idea, I like it, but I'm not sure how to do it without making a solid horn. Probably just need to research it more. Also a question of how many of these I'd really be making and if it would be worth the effort to figure out a cast and molding process. With SLA printers it's more am issue of the size. SLA printers with that size capacity are pricy.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 27th, 2019, 10:42 pm
by jpswensen
BigBlueDart wrote:
August 27th, 2019, 10:00 pm
Each horn too about a day, but I'm aware of a few things that could have sped the process up. With the rubber mold casting idea, I like it, but I'm not sure how to do it without making a solid horn. Probably just need to research it more. Also a question of how many of these I'd really be making and if it would be worth the effort to figure out a cast and molding process. With SLA printers it's more am issue of the size. SLA printers with that size capacity are pricy.
You could always just use something like Shapeways for the SLA print, just for making the rubber molds. That would be way cheaper than buying a large volume SLA printer just for the mold positives.

You definitely could only do the casting as a solid fill. I'm not sure exactly the volume that you have, but a 10 gallon kit of casting resin (about 37850 cm^3) is about $350. Do you know what your volume was if you did 100% infill?

PLA filament is about 800cm^3 per kg or the equivalent volume would be about double the cost. However, you can print sparse infill, so it might end up being much more cost effective for the 3D printing if time isn't the issue.

Finally, on some of the parts with the Aggie A device (the electronics box), I switched to a 0.6mm nozzle and it sped things up considerable. I have a 0.8mm nozzle, but I couldn't find the right setting to get a good print on my Prusa MK3S. People on the reddit forum for prusa seem to have had good success, but I didn't have time to tweak around with it.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 27th, 2019, 11:00 pm
by BigBlueDart
The volume of resin to cast it solid might push the typing point for cost effectiveness, but I'm more worried about how well it would hold up structurally with that design. I'm fairly confident that the piece will hold up well with some tweaks to the design on the clips and using thick walls and a 3D infill structure. The added weight from a solid horn, plus not knowing how durable the resin is, gives me some concerns.

Really, in the end I don't expect to really be making a ton of these. FDM printing might take time, but I think it will be fine when this was really just a project for me that I'm willing to share.

The larger nozzle might be a good tip, though.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 28th, 2019, 11:18 am
by BigBlueDart
I made some quick renders of the horns at different angles. Which do you guys like best?


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Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 28th, 2019, 1:49 pm
by jpswensen
I like the 60 degree one.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 28th, 2019, 1:55 pm
by BearLakeMonster
I like Number 2 as well.

Any chance you can make them bigger?

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 28th, 2019, 3:48 pm
by BigBlueDart
BearLakeMonster wrote:
August 28th, 2019, 1:55 pm
I like Number 2 as well.

Any chance you can make them bigger?
TWSS!

Also, I've about maxed out there size my printer is capable of. The angle might give me a little more room to scale it up a touch, but it won't be much.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 29th, 2019, 8:50 pm
by jpswensen
BigBlueDart wrote:
August 28th, 2019, 3:48 pm
BearLakeMonster wrote:
August 28th, 2019, 1:55 pm
I like Number 2 as well.

Any chance you can make them bigger?
TWSS!

Also, I've about maxed out there size my printer is capable of. The angle might give me a little more room to scale it up a touch, but it won't be much.
Which printer do you have? The CR-10 has a lot more bed area and height than my Prusa MK3S. Apparently they do a pretty good job of printing and are relatively cheap.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 29th, 2019, 9:47 pm
by BigBlueDart
jpswensen wrote:
August 29th, 2019, 8:50 pm
BigBlueDart wrote:
August 28th, 2019, 3:48 pm
BearLakeMonster wrote:
August 28th, 2019, 1:55 pm
I like Number 2 as well.

Any chance you can make them bigger?
TWSS!

Also, I've about maxed out there size my printer is capable of. The angle might give me a little more room to scale it up a touch, but it won't be much.
Which printer do you have? The CR-10 has a lot more bed area and height than my Prusa MK3S. Apparently they do a pretty good job of printing and are relatively cheap.
I've got the Ender 3. Same manufacturer. I may pick up a CR-10 at some point.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: August 29th, 2019, 9:49 pm
by BigBlueDart
I've been wanting a way to properly display the football I had the team sign. So, I've got another project to print, now:

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Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 1st, 2019, 1:04 pm
by BigBlueDart
What can I say? This is spiritually cleansing for me today.

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Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 3rd, 2019, 7:01 pm
by BigBlueDart
BEHOLD!!!!

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Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 4th, 2019, 7:56 am
by NVAggie
That looks really nice. Well Done!!!

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 5th, 2019, 8:51 pm
by BigBlueDart
Finished printing the car horns version 2.0. Stronger, more durable material. Wider clip with more reinforcement. Horns tilted forward at am angle. Here it is on the left compared to the old (last week) version:

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And here is a quick pic on the car, though the garage is dark:

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I'll be testing them out tomorrow and Saturday. I may actually work on them some more (filler, sand, primer, paint), though I'm not sure if that will be part of the deal when I start selling them.

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 6th, 2019, 12:50 pm
by AGinNEIowa
probably could sell them to MN Vikings fans, too

Re: Another 3D-printed Aggie project

Posted: September 6th, 2019, 1:05 pm
by BigBlueDart
AGinNEIowa wrote:
September 6th, 2019, 12:50 pm
probably could sell them to MN Vikings fans, too
Hadn't thought of that one. I did think of the Chicago Bulls and USF Bulls.