pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

That's really cool! How many Cubic Inches is that?

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

Well, 4" wheel that's 1" deep makes it about 12.566 cubic inches if I'm correct; minus the spaces and grooves of course.

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

I have been seeing alot of posts on CD lately regarding 3D printers, being that i have a reprap, im pretty interested in the specifics on this post...(sorry for all the questions!)

1. What size filament? 3mm or the 1.5?
2. What reprap? mendel, prusa...?
3. did you buy a reprap kit or make it?
4. how long did that take? did you use skeinforge?
5. what size nozzle? .5mm?

Thanks!

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

So,
1. 3mm
2. It is a Prusa Mendel I2. (Actually i`m working on the interaction 3, using sheet metal)
3.We bought almost every parts separately and build it, if your are thinking to go this way, i suggest the Prusa Mendel I2, there is a lot of guides and users.
4. I takes 5h20m and this time is fully connected to the next question. We use Slic3r to get the GCODE.
5. Is a .25mm nozzle. With .5mm nozzle you are able to end your prints faster.


Other point. This wheel cost us about to $5, considering the high Brazilian taxes on the filament.

feel free to ask.

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

I find that impressive. On our Dimension 3D printer, our materials cost is about $5 per cubic inch.

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

We have a makerbot and use a Dimension as well, the Dimension is horrifically more expensive for plastic... not 100% sure why. It probably has to do with the custom cartridges they mark up...

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

We pay U$40.00 for 1kg of ABS . This wheel (30% infill) has a total weight of 117g. U$5,2 of ABS...
:]

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

Any durability/strength testing yet?

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

not yet, we need to print some wheels more to put on our practice bot...

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

What material did you print with? ABS?
How are you attaching tread? In my recent experience, 3d printed stuff doesn't hold fasteners well. You are putting tread on, right?

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

Ding ding ding.

Dimension needs to take plastic filament and load it into each cartridge and assembly the other components (PCBA, rubber drive wheel) into it as we'll.

They're also probably making their margin on top of the cost of doing that.

-Brando

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

It's for the same reasons as buying ink cartridges for your paper printer. You can find non-OEM ABS for Dimensions machines as well, but the quality just isn't there IMO. This is also usually the case for paper printers.

Stratasys/Dimension also has quality control over the ABS. Such as color, diameter, grade, and other factors such as environmental conditions. (Moisture, dust, oils, etc.) In the commercial world this is very important. I don't want to replace an empty cartridge to find a slightly different shade of color or grade of ABS...

As you can see they come in expensive cartridges for many reasons other than profit. By the way I should note that the cartridges are recycled back to Stratasys/Dimension.

At any given time I have a several thousand dollars worth of plastic on the shelf or in equipment. :ahh:

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

Personally, ive found that you can even tap/thread some printed parts rather well. As for durability, i think it will hold up well enough.

Re: pic: 1156 3D Printed Wheel
 

We've tapped a few parts well. It taps fine (as long as you can get the tap started) and it seems to hold our 10-32 screw well. But as far as common tread fastening techniques, I've never experimented with riveting into 3d printed material. I'll add it to my list of things to try.