Bought a 3D printer

[Torq_Shep]

On 9/11/2020 at 9:52 PM, Dzimm said:

It's not possible yet to 3d print clear materials.  Opaque at best but definitely nothing close to usable as taillights.

 

I do have the knowledge and experience to setup and run injection molding machines tho so if anyone has the money for a mold and a press we would be in business!  

 

Not that I have the money but about how much do you think that would be? Based on my limited previous experience in plastics I am going to guess it is $$$

[Dzimm]

9 hours ago, fiatslug87 said:

If you're looking for other projects, how about the ring that keeps the shifter boot in place, or the antenna delete plug? Or what about Comanche emblems in minature for fridge magnets?

I do have MJ 3D models in the works and plenty of ideas with them.  It's very difficult to get even lighting on something as big as a truck....  Really need a warehouse and lightning equipment of a fairly bright but cloudy day so there aren't any shadows.  I have successfully been able to get a good enough to work from scan of about 65% of the truck.  Still working on the rest.  

 

I'm not sure what you mean by the shifter boot ring.  An antenna delete plug Id have to do some deeper research on due to being exposed to the elements.  Definitely not going to last if it were made in PLA.

 

I have ABS on the way to start testing with as it has a little better heat tolerance.  

[Dzimm]

8 hours ago, Torq_Shep said:

 

Not that I have the money but about how much do you think that would be? Based on my limited previous experience in plastics I am going to guess it is $$$

You can get smaller used 55Ton presses for less than $1000.  Problem is a 55Ton can only produce a part as big as an inch or two. 

 

For taillights we would be in the neighborhood of 400Ton presses and they are huge and not cheap.  Add to that you need accessory equipment and a transport company capable of moving it.  Youre in the neighborhood of $50k-$100k to get running with used equipment if you can find any.  New equipment you'd be well into the $150k-$250k range and that doesn't always include the screw and barrel.  Want to add more convenience and automation? Cost just keeps going up.  Don't forget maintenance either.

 

Then you need a mold.  A simple halfway decent one that can produce a set of taillight lenses would probably be in the $10k-$15k range.  You definitely get what you pay for with molds though and they can be much more than that for a really good one.  

 

From my experience with molding clear parts, it's a royal PIA.  We would run multiple different materials through our presses and when we would change over to a clear part, you had to be really freakin good about cleaning because one freakin resin pellet gets in with your clear and it's all over.  We threw out dryers full of clear material due to contamination all the time.

[MiNi Beast]

appreciate the break down. 

[Torq_Shep]

On 9/19/2020 at 12:43 AM, Dzimm said:

You can get smaller used 55Ton presses for less than $1000.  Problem is a 55Ton can only produce a part as big as an inch or two. 

 

For taillights we would be in the neighborhood of 400Ton presses and they are huge and not cheap.  Add to that you need accessory equipment and a transport company capable of moving it.  Youre in the neighborhood of $50k-$100k to get running with used equipment if you can find any.  New equipment you'd be well into the $150k-$250k range and that doesn't always include the screw and barrel.  Want to add more convenience and automation? Cost just keeps going up.  Don't forget maintenance either.

 

Then you need a mold.  A simple halfway decent one that can produce a set of taillight lenses would probably be in the $10k-$15k range.  You definitely get what you pay for with molds though and they can be much more than that for a really good one.  

 

From my experience with molding clear parts, it's a royal PIA.  We would run multiple different materials through our presses and when we would change over to a clear part, you had to be really freakin good about cleaning because one freakin resin pellet gets in with your clear and it's all over.  We threw out dryers full of clear material due to contamination all the time.

That is the best breakdown I could have asked for =P

 

I was thinking somewhere around 50-70k so I wasn't that far off (assuming used equipment). Not even close to break even in equipment and time until 1000+ units.

[Dzimm]

20 minutes ago, Torq_Shep said:

That is the best breakdown I could have asked for =P

 

I was thinking somewhere around 50-70k so I wasn't that far off (assuming used equipment). Not even close to break even in equipment and time until 1000+ units.

Yeah definitely need a lot of production to get any RTI

[Dzimm]

On 9/16/2020 at 8:02 PM, JMO413 said:

 

Final tweaks have been made and I am ready to send you one to make sure it works with the real REM.  PM me your address.

 

I left the tolerances a tad large due to potential variation in consoles and REMs since they are 3D printed, they may vary a bit.  I'm curious if it'll make any noise on the road with the two piece design.  My XJ is still tore apart otherwise I'd go test it out.  

 

 

 

 

I will make these available to everyone once JMO413 gets his and makes sure it works and doesn't need any further tweaks.  They are roughly 15 hours to print as is so I could get them out 1 a day.  Not sure what kind of interest anyone else has in these. 

 

Post any other ideas you guys would like to see available for our trucks or XJs.  I'm open to custom work outside of Jeeps as well if someone needs/wants something. 

[JMO413]

7 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

Final tweaks have been made and I am ready to send you one to make sure it works with the real REM.  PM me your address.

 

I left the tolerances a tad large due to potential variation in consoles and REMs since they are 3D printed, they may vary a bit.  I'm curious if it'll make any noise on the road with the two piece design.  My XJ is still tore apart otherwise I'd go test it out.  

 

 

 

 

I will make these available to everyone once JMO413 gets his and makes sure it works and doesn't need any further tweaks.  They are roughly 15 hours to print as is so I could get them out 1 a day.  Not sure what kind of interest anyone else has in these. 

 

Post any other ideas you guys would like to see available for our trucks or XJs.  I'm open to custom work outside of Jeeps as well if someone needs/wants something. 

This is just awesome!!

[Dzimm]

After some final tweaks and official test fit courtesy of JMO413, the center console REM mount will now be made available.  Check out the vendors section for the sale post or Click here.

 

Photo credit: JMO413

 

I am still working on the 3D model of an MJ.  I've currently got about 85% of the truck showing up good in the scan.  I'm starting to think I will have to manually model the rest as I'm having trouble getting a good scan of the front end and tailgate.  Plenty of smoothing and cleanup to do on the scan portion as well.

 

I have also modeled some leaf spring pads and am printing some currently.  I'm going to try them out on my XJ and see how they do.  Not particularly cost effective for the print time vs the price of what's commercially available but the material cost to print is nothing so I'm giving it a shot.

 

If there is some part that isn't available or would be useful to anyone and could be 3D printed, let me know and we can see about getting one made.

[89 MJ]

I don’t need any, but the b-pillar inner vent might be a good thing to make. 

[Dzimm]

4 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

I don’t need any, but the b-pillar inner vent might be a good thing to make. 

Thanks for the idea!  I will definitely see about making replacement frames, the rubber flaps will have to be reused or custom made.  At some point I may buy another printer and modify it to run flexible materials to produce the flaps.

[JMO413]

8 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

Thanks for the idea!  I will definitely see about making replacement frames, the rubber flaps will have to be reused or custom made.  At some point I may buy another printer and modify it to run flexible materials to produce the flaps.

I have a set of vents if you need it for measurements.

[Torq_Shep]

On 9/19/2020 at 12:23 AM, Dzimm said:

I do have MJ 3D models in the works and plenty of ideas with them.  It's very difficult to get even lighting on something as big as a truck....  Really need a warehouse and lightning equipment of a fairly bright but cloudy day so there aren't any shadows.  I have successfully been able to get a good enough to work from scan of about 65% of the truck.  Still working on the rest.  

 

I'm not sure what you mean by the shifter boot ring.  An antenna delete plug Id have to do some deeper research on due to being exposed to the elements.  Definitely not going to last if it were made in PLA.

 

I have ABS on the way to start testing with as it has a little better heat tolerance.  

 

PETG is usually a pretty solid choice. ABS can be difficult to print

[Dzimm]

22 minutes ago, Torq_Shep said:

 

PETG is usually a pretty solid choice. ABS can be difficult to print

Yeah I'm realizing how difficult ABS is.  I made a makeshift enclosure for the printer and it helped immensely but still haven't gotten a good print with it.  I'll have to look into the PETG.  

 

After some research it sounds like PLA actually fairs well in the elements, especially if it's painted with a UV resistant paint.  

[89 MJ]

15 hours ago, Dzimm said:

I am still working on the 3D model of an MJ.  I've currently got about 85% of the truck showing up good in the scan.  I'm starting to think I will have to manually model the rest as I'm having trouble getting a good scan of the front end and tailgate.  Plenty of smoothing and cleanup to do on the scan portion as well.

If you want to try to scan another truck to see if that makes a difference, you could always come up near me unless you want to scan a closer truck.

[Dzimm]

7 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

If you want to try to scan another truck to see if that makes a difference, you could always come up near me unless you want to scan a closer truck.

I actually only need pictures.  If you could get me 50+ really good and clear pictures with even lighting of all exterior areas of the truck, I can certainly give it a shot.  They have to be very evenly lit so a bright cloudy day is best.  

 

The pictures need to have as much of the truck in it as possible and in a large open area like a parking lot.  The program I use has to have the camera sensor in it's database so not all cameras will work.  I believe all of the main smartphone cameras should work tho.  

[89 MJ]

6 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

I actually only need pictures.  If you could get me 50+ really good and clear pictures with even lighting of all exterior areas of the truck, I can certainly give it a shot.  They have to be very evenly lit so a bright cloudy day is best.  

 

The pictures need to have as much of the truck in it as possible and in a large open area like a parking lot.  The program I use has to have the camera sensor in it's database so not all cameras will work.  I believe all of the main smartphone cameras should work tho.  

I need to get some supplies from school today (because we have to have online school BS), so I should be able to get some good pictures in the school parking lot. I'll see what I can do and try to PM them your way in the next couple of days.

[Dzimm]

2 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

I need to get some supplies from school today (because we have to have online school BS), so I should be able to get some good pictures in the school parking lot. I'll see what I can do and try to PM them your way in the next couple of days.

Sounds good.  May need to share them on google drive, I'm not sure if they will come through with all the proper stay if we upload and download through the messenger.  PM me later if you get pictures and we can figure it out.

[89 MJ]

3 minutes ago, Dzimm said:

Sounds good.  May need to share them on google drive, I'm not sure if they will come through with all the proper stay if we upload and download through the messenger.  PM me later if you get pictures and we can figure it out.

Sounds good!

[NKCrider]

I would be interested in the plastic trim piece that covers the passenger side rear bolt of the "oh crap" handle. My buddy was going to make one, but his printer is offline currently

[Dzimm]

27 minutes ago, NKCrider said:

I would be interested in the plastic trim piece that covers the passenger side rear bolt of the "oh crap" handle. My buddy was going to make one, but his printer is offline currently

I can add it to the list and see about making one.  I do think though by the time you factor in print time, shipping, and then paint to match your interior, it's probably cheaper to source a factory one from elsewhere.  I only say that because it's a shared part with the XJ and thus there are millions of them.

 

I'll keep you posted when I get closer to it on the list.