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3D Printed Car Parts

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More and more people are toying with 3D printing for car parts. If you've printed any parts for your car, please post some articles in this section describing how you did it. Whether if was for your DSM or not. With more and more OEM DSM parts becoming obsolete (no longer produced) 3D printing will become a popular option in this community.

Here are some resources I found to give people more info on getting started with 3D printing car parts.




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I drew this up to try and rid the A-pillars of gauges so I don't have to look around the gauges on the Autocross course. Fits pretty good and I like the angle of the gauges to the driver. I'll probably redesign it with some holes for lights/switches.

On the topic of molds, I have watched plenty of videos where people 3D print molds of parts. I have also seen someone draw a wing up in CAD then create a box around it and extrude to surfaces of the wing (I guess). This made a mold of the wing that he cut into pieces and 3D printed each piece. He glued them all together afterwards, sanded it, sealed it, and laid carbon in it. It leaves it up to the person making the part, you can either print the part then make a mold or draw the part/mold and 3D print the mold.

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What software did you design this in? i've been wanting to print my own as well since my current one is cracking.
 
Love the suggestion of Xometry.com for getting designs produced. If you have a design but not the production capability you can go there to get quotes from tons of manufacturers looking for small to large jobs usually to fit in between their other production runs. Of course a CNCd part with a small run is going to be expensive, but 3D printed parts aren't. Before I bought my 3D printer I was using this kind of service to get prototypes made.

Disclaimer - I work for Xometry, so I'm biased, but the service model is just awesome.
 
What software did you design this in? i've been wanting to print my own as well since my current one is cracking.
I used Autodesk Inventor for that one as that is what we had at work. It was also before I knew about Fusion 360 from Autodesk. You can get a "hobby" version for free that gives you many of the tools of a professional one. They lock out some things behind pay walls but I could easily have made that model in Fusion 360 as well. I would suggest starting there.
 
Like plastic printing, metal printing is mostly a tool for development or a gimmick for bragging rights. Don't get me wrong, the company I work for has produced "production" parts for McLaren from titanium using a DMLS setup, but the cost was INSANE. I have trouble seeing this price come down any time soon, but technology never ceases to surprise me...

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I have been prototyping a new tool in maraging steel and the post-processing work alone is enough to have me try something else next time around. I'd rather pay the machinists to prototype parts because they present me finished parts, requiring no post-processing work besides heat treat.

@bastarddsm
I cannot wait to see what you do with injection molding, that is an exciting prospect!
I dont know about bragging rights as such but it likely is in some sectors! Koenigsegg have to 3D orint their turbine housings from Titanium due to tight spaces and casting were not possible for the finished item so thats where printing comes into its own vs other methods. They possibly could of looked into lost wax but then i dont know the specs and why they opted for printing vs lost wax method.

Metal printing is cool as what can be made can sometimes be used in the car if designed correctly. Same as carbon prints now, they super strong and flexible in some designs to work well. With 3d scanners getting a little bit more cost effective its going to be a huge game changer in the next 5-10 years thats for sure.
 
I made drew these up and printed one yesterday. Holds stock brake lines and 2 -6AN fuel lines. Unfortunately, I decided to run the feed line on the other side before I made these but it still works.
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I decided to make a lip around the outside of the bracket rather than try to get the hole location right. It is on there snug and doesn't just fall off.

I have only tried PLA at this point. I am unsure of how hot the brake lines will get here underneath the car. I have some stuff coming to try ABS parts next. I will replace these with ABS when I figure that stuff out.
 
I drew this up to try and rid the A-pillars of gauges so I don't have to look around the gauges on the Autocross course. Fits pretty good and I like the angle of the gauges to the driver. I'll probably redesign it with some holes for lights/switches.

On the topic of molds, I have watched plenty of videos where people 3D print molds of parts. I have also seen someone draw a wing up in CAD then create a box around it and extrude to surfaces of the wing (I guess). This made a mold of the wing that he cut into pieces and 3D printed each piece. He glued them all together afterwards, sanded it, sealed it, and laid carbon in it. It leaves it up to the person making the part, you can either print the part then make a mold or draw the part/mold and 3D print the mold.

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Would it be possible to purchase one from you and how much?
 
Kinda getting OT, but places like xometry and send cut send are $$$$$$$$$. I've put a couple parts I make in for quotes, and unless I get a batch of 100 made, I can't get them for what I sell for, let along make money on them and then if it's something that will sell many of, china will eat you alive if it takes you more than a year to saturate the market.

The places that work through xometry can be worked with without the middleman, and you and they don't need to pay xometry to get your parts made. Xometry is not a value added service, they are just adding extra cost to your part. Xometrys prices are only reasonable now because they have to be. What do you think will happen when they put the last job shop out of buisiness because everyone is too lazy to find a shop the old fashioned way?

I made drew these up and printed one yesterday. Holds stock brake lines and 2 -6AN fuel lines. Unfortunately, I decided to run the feed line on the other side before I made these but it still works.
How long did that take to print
 
I made drew these up and printed one yesterday. Holds stock brake lines and 2 -6AN fuel lines. Unfortunately, I decided to run the feed line on the other side before I made these but it still works.
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I decided to make a lip around the outside of the bracket rather than try to get the hole location right. It is on there snug and doesn't just fall off.

I have only tried PLA at this point. I am unsure of how hot the brake lines will get here underneath the car. I have some stuff coming to try ABS parts next. I will replace these with ABS when I figure that stuff out.
I made some for my friend here as he wanted some better fitting ones so i beefed it all up and sent him a few for his gsx build. Worked well for his needs and line size. He decided to make his own new metal brackets so he worked around my design as he did not want it to rotate on a single pin.

Silly thing i did was i put the name upside down LOL oh well, gotta mess up some time right haha

How long did that take to print
When i made some for my friend they were about 50 ish mins each to do. I can print fairly fast on mine with great results but it always depends on the printer itself vs what can and cannot be done
 
Kinda getting OT, but places like xometry and send cut send are $$$$$$$$$. I've put a couple parts I make in for quotes, and unless I get a batch of 100 made, I can't get them for what I sell for, let along make money on them and then if it's something that will sell many of, china will eat you alive if it takes you more than a year to saturate the market.

The places that work through xometry can be worked with without the middleman, and you and they don't need to pay xometry to get your parts made. Xometry is not a value added service, they are just adding extra cost to your part. Xometrys prices are only reasonable now because they have to be. What do you think will happen when they put the last job shop out of buisiness because everyone is too lazy to find a shop the old fashioned way?

"The places that work through Xometry can be worked with without the middleman". Sure, but I'm not sure what point you're trying to make here. If you have places that you already know AND have vetted or worked with, that are willing to talk with you about your production need, that are willing and able to schedule your job and take the quantity amidst all their other work, and the price is one you like... you're absolutely right, you do not need a marketplace service like Xometry and should work directly with the manufacturers. Xometry is not for you in this case and you should save your money.

Xometry is a marketplace service with huge value add for those that need it. It provides value by giving consumers a fast quoting service and access to a myriad of manufacturers that they might not have access to otherwise and eliminates the negotiations and scheduling issues. You have a job, you have a quote fast quote often based on uploading a part file, someone sees your job and accepts it, then it gets done. That is value to you, the consumer, with all the time savings and simplification of the process, and so a price is justified for that value add to the process. It saves you time, headache, and sometimes makes jobs possible you couldn't have done otherwise because you didn't have the contacts with manufacturers to even start a conversation. Also, if there are any issues with your order Xometry steps in and covers it, even if they have to get everything reproduced elsewhere.

There is also value on the other side of the transaction for manufacturers. Manufacturers can get customers' jobs in a nice job board with all the information already gathered and made ready for them in a quote. They can even purchase supplies through the service, basically getting a production ready job with mouse clicks. This is game changing for manufacturers and overall a boon to industry, not a detriment. Manufacturers take jobs as they please, and can use the marketplace how they want. It could be their primary source of jobs, or it could be to fill in between other jobs they get from other means, like direct contacts they've cultured in the past. Either way they get access to more work, and can select that work that best fits their needs which is great because manufacturing can often be a very dynamic service and so the needs change constantly for many facilities. Again, this service isn't free, it takes hundreds of people to develop and run this service, and so yes, transaction fees apply and rightfully so.

The service is NOT some discount finder for producing small runs of parts. Typically you get fair market pricing on production and our whole goal is to streamline that with machine learning based quoting to make quotes super quick and also be at market value. Is that always going to be the case? Of course not, it's a marketplace after all but it's not always going to be the best option for you. This issue you cite is not a service issue with Xometry, but rather a general market issue. The real value in the service is that it's not a lot of work with it to get quotes as opposed to the old fashioned way of calling around or emailing shops hoping they answer you, then try to negotiate with you, and spend hours of your time trying to find the place that saves you the most money. To some people that time is time well spent, but for others that's not always the case.

"What do you think will happen when they put the last job shop out of buisiness because everyone is too lazy to find a shop the old fashioned way?" I really don't understand this comment. The service is empowering manufacturers to get access to more work options and fill in production gaps like never before. They aren't having to cold call customers as much asking for more work but instead can just look at the job board for what's available. More jobs are being made available because the marketplace opens up manufacturing for so many more consumers than before, those that didn't know how to go about getting custom parts made and were stuck just after the design phase. The service is a win for shops all around and way easier and leads to more productivity than the "old fashioned way".
 
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John,

How does xometry handle IP? I typically have to get non-disclosures signed on a per project basis before quoting jobs outside. Nobody is allowed to see engineering drawings before these nda's are signed.

Can I get this type of assurance working with xometry? We often prototype while the legal folks reviews our IP claims, before patents are issued. Are we protected by anything besides xometry's internal policies?

Just curious about the service and hoping you can save me some Google time.

Thanks!
 
Are you familiar with Xometry on the manufacturer side? It's not great, and as far as I see from others in the industry it's sort of a last resort, when nothing else is coming through the door. I still say there is no value add. I live in the middle of nowhere and can literally get any thing done I need within an hour. If you are a little guy trying to get a prototype made you are spending more and saving a little time. If you are in industry you already know how to find places to do this, or have the contacts.

Whats also negative with Xometry, is say you are new and don't know much. You draw a part made out of some crazy expensive alloy that can barely be machined, that is what you are getting back. If you deal with a real shop in the flesh there is a better than average chance that you can get some guidance from them to help you make smarter choices and design shit easier to make so it cost you less. That is a value add, and you don't get that through Xometry.

Maybe I'm in a geographical anomoly but when I had checked material prices on Xometry, they were not competitve with what I source locally and easily.

Anyway my last point is look at what places like facebook has done to forums and things of such. Why bother with a forum when you can go on a fb group easier and get 5000x answers right away. Places like Xometry are heading down that path, many small places cannot survive with the reduced margins of using a place like that. So when every job they get comes through xometry and they shut it down because they can't make it anymore, we are just left with a few big ones that then crank the prices back up. Look at industrial supply houses, we used to have tons of them around here. Old ma an pa places with a greasy counter, but they had stuff in stock, and had knowledge. But wait you can just get online and order through this big catalog, and now we got grainger and fastenal, both are about worthless, they don't stock shit, and what they do is 2x what it is if you could find it elsewhere. And what used to be a stock item they now get shipping on too.
Anyway do whatever makes you happy, just know when you use a service like that, there is someone local that could probably do it better, cost you less, and be better to work with.
 
How does xometry handle IP? I typically have to get non-disclosures signed on a per project basis before quoting jobs outside. Nobody is allowed to see engineering drawings before these nda's are signed.

Can I get this type of assurance working with xometry? We often prototype while the legal folks reviews our IP claims, before patents are issued. Are we protected by anything besides xometry's internal policies?
Xometry can execute an NDA with your company if you require, and we have a standard NDA available for doing this quickly but can also look at one provided by your company. Xometry has its manufacturing partners, the ones look at quotes and thus your designs, sign NDAs. So you're basically covered as far as IP goes. Some details on this can be found here:
 
I have been looking at different filaments and came across ASA. Its supposed to have similar if not better properties than ABS. It also can handle sunny day in car temps as well is UV resistant (no fading colors). Has anyone tried this before? I was about to start trying to use ABS but may try this instead.
 
I have been looking at different filaments and came across ASA. Its supposed to have similar if not better properties than ABS. It also can handle sunny day in car temps as well is UV resistant (no fading colors). Has anyone tried this before? I was about to start trying to use ABS but may try this instead.
ASA is everything you said, basically better than ABS for all those reasons, but has the same challenges if you're new to both. That includes fumes that may be toxic emitted while printing and it is prone to warping while printing and during cooling. A filtered/ventilated enclosure is needed to address the fumes plus also maintain heat around the printing, and you will want to print with brims and draft shields for many designs. I also to reduce warpage have had to adjust print settings, like number of perimeters, to reduce printed wall thickness to reduce the overall warpage, but often this is fine because ASA is so strong relative to many other filaments so it works out. Also, I find with ASA that there is some unavoidable global part shrinkage and sometimes I actually have to slightly adjust my models to compensate. For example because of the slight shrinkage I've had screw holes actually enlarge, meaning I had to reduce the hole diameter so my screws would grip. I've also had an LCD panel fit perfectly snug in a PETG printed enclosure, but the exact model in ASA shrunk ever so slightly that the LCD could not fit.

One other challenge with ASA stems from the printing temps. Since you need not only high ambient temps to avoid warpage (I keep my enclosure at 100 deg F) as well as high extruder temps (260-270 deg C), you can cause damage to printer components if precautions aren't taken. My Prusa MK3S comes with PETG printed extruder parts and even though Prusa insists that is fine for ASA printing it absolutely is not. They started melting not long after I started printing in ASA and PC (similar temps). My fan shroud drooped and hit a model, ruining that print, and the PINDA probe mount slowly drooped and also allowed the internal nut to move which loosened the grip on the probe allowing it to shift and screw up the leveling. Fix is of course to use higher temp materials for the extruder parts, but it's a surprise if you're not ready for it.

Oh because of the warping you may find some designs being limited on how many items you can print at the same time and how large they are. Printing too many parts means the draft shield is huge and not doing as good a job keep warmth around the parts. Larger/taller parts have more plastic that will all cool differently resulting in warping forces trying to shrink the part and pull away from the print bed. You honestly have to experiment with designs to see what works and what doesn't, and whether or not tricks like reducing perimeter accounts or slight redesigns like reducing wall thickness get you by. You'll have more success with larger shorter parts than taller ones.

You also have to consider the other components of the printer and whether or not they can handle being inside the enclosure at the elevated ambient temperatures. If they can't, you would want to relocate them outside the enclosure. For example many people believe the specs on the Prusa power supplies indicate it should not be run in sustained 100 deg F temps, but as a counterpoint I've see many anecdotes that people don't see issues doing so and haven't seen a single one saying they had a failure they attributed to it. Your mileage may vary.

I originally printed ASA materials in a cheap foam core duct taped together enclosure I made a la Staples, and this worked perfectly fine for months. I later bought an enclosure that included a thermostat controlled fan (set to 100 deg F for ASA), built-in carbon air filter (helps with the fumes and hopefully the particulates, but honestly not very scientific but I can tell there is a reduction in at least the scent), and external to internal airflow through the power supply (basically a wall vent to which the power supply is pressed up against allowing air to pass through). This works terrifically. From here: https://www.hall-precision.com/product-page/modular-3d-printer-enclosure-prusa-mk3s

Last thing I'll share is about the print surface. If you have a Prusa or can utilize prusa beds I strongly recommend their Satin print sheet for ASA printing. It is absolutely phenomenal for ASA. It needs no surface adhesive or release agents and provides terrific holding power for prints, meaning I almost never have part warpage unless I forget to clean a spot of the bed. Also there's no scraping to get material off as once it cools down everything either releases on its own, or it pulls off super easily with just a slight nudge of a fingernail. On cleaning I literally only wipe down the bed with 99% IPA with a Kimwipe and it's good to go.
 
What kind of 3d printers do you guys use? I see an Ender there but which model is it and roughly how much do they cost?

I've been a cg artist for about 20 years now so could model my own designs. This something that I've always been wanting to get into.
 
What kind of 3d printers do you guys use? I see an Ender there but which model is it and roughly how much do they cost?

I've been a cg artist for about 20 years now so could model my own designs. This something that I've always been wanting to get into.
I use the ender 5 plus. I wanted a big one for some of the parts plus it means i can print in 1 vs multiple sections. Its a huge print bed. Im due to start making an enclosure soon for it and although i keep it next to a radiator for warmth its still not ideal being open but it does work well with the heated lrint bed. I was torn on the printer to get at the start
 
One to consider is the soon to be released Prusa XL. Multiple head options with automatic changing, CoreXY, huge size, built in enclosure shade option, smaller heat beds comprising the overall print bed... to name a few things. It's pretty awesome. I put a downpayment on mine when it was announced, maybe not the smartest to be an early adopter but since my MK3S is functional I'm not too concerned with growing pains. Not cheap though especially when decked out with multiple heads!

I personally love my Prusa MK3S, just amazing but my only other experience is with an old Ultimaker 2. I had borrowed the Ultimaker 2 from a friend to try my hand at 3D printing, learn the ropes and cut my teeth. Man that printer was tough to use, but I got prints. I then bought my MK3S and realized I had been living in the stone ages with that Ultimaker 2 and realized how bad it was relative to current tech. The glass print bed was awful (as was a semi flexible one he had) and the remote extruder through the bowden tube was... just god awful. Then there was the leveling procedure, always changing, so inaccurate, just really bad. The Prusa just works, freaking awesome and way better in every single aspect. Again, only a comparison of a very old printer to a newer one, so not enlightening on its own. The thing doesn't really need mods to print well, though I'm a techy so I did add a touch display + remote printing control + camera via a Raspberry Pi and Hyperpixel 4 display. Use the right print surfaces for the job, which is super easy to do with three available, and you can pretty much print anything. Also their in-house Prusament filament quality is stellar, worth the extra price in my opinion.
 
I have been looking at different filaments and came across ASA. Its supposed to have similar if not better properties than ABS. It also can handle sunny day in car temps as well is UV resistant (no fading colors). Has anyone tried this before? I was about to start trying to use ABS but may try this instead.
Use ABS. Those holders do not see enough sunlight to need UV resistance, plus it is not worth the added hardship when ABS is further developed for better printing.

I mainly wanted to add that the Voron printers are becoming strong contenders. It is a more advanced setup but they have been able to push the limits of printing speed.
 
Use ABS. Those holders do not see enough sunlight to need UV resistance, plus it is not worth the added hardship when ABS is further developed for better printing.

I mainly wanted to add that the Voron printers are becoming strong contenders. It is a more advanced setup but they have been able to push the limits of printing speed.
Wanted to add this to my last post. 5 minute benchy on a Voron v2.4
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5 minutes but the resulting print is about as bad as it gets. Still... kind of cool?
Yeah... this 5 minute benchy is on the brink of the physics limitations of an FDM printer. After that, there is a huge fluid flow problem because the plastic can not uniformly heat up while its being extruded. As you said, still kind of cool LOL Shows how capable printers can be for large scale manufacturing in the future, along with super rapid prototyping.
 
I was just watching these speed benchy videos last night. The "rules" don't say it has to look decent haha. That one is one of the better ones I have seen at that time. Look up #SpeedBoatRace on YouTube
 
Has anyone modeled and printed the side mirror interior trim parts? I need these.

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