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I just picked up a sweet little ride today. A 45 year old bike with less than 5k on the ODO. It's in great shape:
As you can see, the side covers are missing. The PO installed those canvas bags, not a bad coverup, but I think I am going to want sidecovers. After a little searching online, it looks like sidecovers could end up being a significant portion of the cost of this thing. I have access to a large 3-D printer and am learning solidworks. I thought printing out sidecovers might be a good learning project for me. I'll post updates as I have them here.
Anyone heard of this sort of thing? I'd be interested to see other examples of work along these lines.
Could redefine the repro market for impossible to find parts. As those things become more popular it will jst open up the access. Imagine instead of buying a part and paying shipping and waiting for it to come from china, you just buy a dwg file and print it out...could change a lot.
I have seen a few printed objects and they all seem to come apart through the strands. Maybe you could coat it in fiberglass resin once you have it printed to strengthen it.
I have seen a few printed objects and they all seem to come apart through the strands. Maybe you could coat it in fiberglass resin once you have it printed to strengthen it.
What were these parts used for? Do you figure it was UV exposure that did them in? A coat of fiberglass would add a lot more work to the project... maybe there is a way to do a thin skim coat of some kind of sealer that would keep the bad rays out, and a couple coats of automotive paint and clear.
The trouble with 3d printing is that as you put layers down.. the bottom layers cool faster than the upper layers.. you also have a heated platform.. so you get weird issues when you try and print something larger... it warps/peels and its kinda a fight to get it to come out straight and proper. That being said.. there is a plastic filament that disolves in water.. so you can do a loss casting process and make the side panels out of anything at that point.. fiberglass, polymer etc. I am working on a new kind of 3d printer that uses lasers and a SLA curing polymer to build stuff.. should be stronger... if I ever get time to work on it.
The trouble with 3d printing is that as you put layers down.. the bottom layers cool faster than the upper layers.. you also have a heated platform.. so you get weird issues when you try and print something larger... it warps/peels and its kinda a fight to get it to come out straight and proper. That being said.. there is a plastic filament that disolves in water.. so you can do a loss casting process and make the side panels out of anything at that point.. fiberglass, polymer etc. I am working on a new kind of 3d printer that uses lasers and a SLA curing polymer to build stuff.. should be stronger... if I ever get time to work on it.
I've never used a 3D printer, but have seen plenty of examples from them. I have access to about 5 or 6 at the ID department at SCAD. I got to take a tour at an unnamed shoe company (non-disclosure signed), and they are able to print usable shoe soles from their machine. It's just being used for prototypes now, but they anticipate being able to deliver one off shoes to customers with custom sizing for perfect fit in the near future.
If nothing else, this is just another learning experience.
It seems that 3D printing is changing very quickly and usable parts from a printer might be a real possibility.
I sat down and made a quick model of the basic shape:
I have no dimensions to work with though. Is there anyone out there that could take some photos of an existing cover that I could work from? Views from all sides and straight on would be awesome. Also shoot using a longer lens so there is less distortion.
Overall length height and thickness would be rad too!
I have access to 3D printers that won't cost me much to run, so I'm going to skip trying out another source. There is so much happening with 3D printing right now. There are printers that are capable of printing other printers! It's going to bring this technology down to a price where it is accessible to everyone before long.
Cool stuff to check out. That wind-powered walking thing is amazing!
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