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Frankster

STL software for 3D printing

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i use freecad for designing and cura for printing....no problems here with those 2 softwares

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On 1/21/2023 at 1:53 AM, RustyHunter said:

What 3D printer do you have? I would recommend learning Fusion 360 at some point, but it sounds like this project would make more sense to just buy the model and modify it if possible.

I don’t have a 3D printer at the moment. Having someone else print for now as I may relocate to a new country. 

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@Ziddan for screw holes in your 3D print, what size are you using for typical Tamiya 3mm tapping screws?

I was thinking 2.5mm dia. if it needs to bite into plastic.  3mm dia. for passing through. 
 

Can you confirm?

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I usually just use 3mm because unless the printer is very well calibrated it is very common for holes to get a little smaller, for through holes i use a round 3.1mm file in an electric hand drill to clear the hole out.

Even if the printer is very well tuned id think that 2.5 might be a bit small, threads arent very deep and one is liable to split a print if not screwing into it in the z axis (ie screwing in from the top/bottom surfaces relative to how it was oriented when printing).

How is the designing coming along btw?

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Thanks @Ziddan and @tam-trucks   Will give both a try.  First time designing the chassis so I expect a few versions before getting it right  
Here is a poor screen photo.  Will save as STL file and send out to 3D print

image.jpeg.b6e537f01d3808d6a7257a538a6f9391.jpeg

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I use Autocad Inventor where I can. I have used Fusion in a pinch. Having said that, there is a good reason I use those, because the schools I worked at used them, and gave me an educator license while I worked with them.

I convert the files to stl when finished and use the 3D printers supporting software for placement etc.

I cannot recommend enough, put radiuses/fillets in any sharp corners on your design. It increases strength, prevents cracks or breaks from that location. As good as CAD software and 3D printers are, you have to design taking the weaknesses of the material and process you are using into account.

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6 hours ago, Pablo68 said:

I use Autocad Inventor where I can. I have used Fusion in a pinch. Having said that, there is a good reason I use those, because the schools I worked at used them, and gave me an educator license while I worked with them.

I convert the files to stl when finished and use the 3D printers supporting software for placement etc.

I cannot recommend enough, put radiuses/fillets in any sharp corners on your design. It increases strength, prevents cracks or breaks from that location. As good as CAD software and 3D printers are, you have to design taking the weaknesses of the material and process you are using into account.

Thanks @Pablo68   I used Autocad in the end. My wife uses it at work and I have not touched it myself in a long time. In the end it was like riding a bike.   For a chassis, auto cad is much better for the task.  I tried Free Tinkercad only to realize it was the same maker as Autocad (Autodesk).  
 

Good point on the radius and I did add a few chamfered fillets for inside corners.  I prob should have done the same for the vertical posts as well.  This is the first print and I don’t expect to get it 100% on the first try 🤞

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Ive made a model in sketchup and a bit of 3d Autocad but it seems that ive created lots of separate surfaces that i cant seem to convert into a solid oject or something i can export as an STL. Does anyone fancy helping out and seeing iftheres an easy fix? I can email over the DWG if so

Cheers

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10 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Ive made a model in sketchup and a bit of 3d Autocad but it seems that ive created lots of separate surfaces that i cant seem to convert into a solid oject or something i can export as an STL. Does anyone fancy helping out and seeing iftheres an easy fix? I can email over the DWG if so

Cheers

Can you screen shot the object for us to see?

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Printed chassis arrived.  Overall sturdy for what I need.  This new 2nd printed chassis fixed  mounting hole issues from my first attempt. 
ADE53B03-921B-440A-A180-8163E41F30C3.jpeg.d94ed419c56d87427e48d9401cb0046f.jpeg9DC4C40C-7D47-4708-829A-4B26B08D3DCB.jpeg.5ebfa3ea20df08097b591d17df879a3e.jpeg

This one also has 2 problems.

I did not chamfer the rear part and the chassis does not fit with the rear gearbox   I will try filing this down to make it fit.

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second I did not measure the front gearbox holes properly.  

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Overall I will file the rear part of the chassis and drill larger holes in the front to confirm if there are any other issues.  Afterwards I will reprint the bottom chassis again

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7 hours ago, Frankster said:

Can you screen shot the object for us to see?

Hi Frankster, 

It looks ok on the Sketchup model;

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But when exporting out of sketchup as an STL directly it was where it had lots of errors according to the 3D printer. I then exported it as an Autocad3D DWG and could then see the problem with the surfaces. @bRIBEGuy kindly took a look and reported the same - i think its to do with the limitations of how sketchup works by creating hollow boxes and it cant really deal with the geometry of circles that well particularly at smaller scales. I remodelled it from scratch last night in Autocad and it seems to have sorted it now.

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14 hours ago, Superluminal said:

Hi Frankster, 

It looks ok on the Sketchup model;

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But when exporting out of sketchup as an STL directly it was where it had lots of errors according to the 3D printer. I then exported it as an Autocad3D DWG and could then see the problem with the surfaces. @bRIBEGuy kindly took a look and reported the same - i think its to do with the limitations of how sketchup works by creating hollow boxes and it cant really deal with the geometry of circles that well particularly at smaller scales. I remodelled it from scratch last night in Autocad and it seems to have sorted it now.

Wow this looks great.  Did you draw this all from scratch?  
I draw in simple Autocad, save as STL and someone else helps me print.  Hard for me to confirm if the issues you mention would be on my side or the printer software which prints the final product.  

So what are you making?


Glad to hear @bRIBEGuy helped out.

 

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7 minutes ago, Frankster said:

Wow this looks great.  Did you draw this all from scratch?  
I draw in simple Autocad, save as STL and someone else helps me print.  Hard for me to confirm if the issues you mention would be on my side or the printer software which prints the final product.  

So what are you making?


Glad to hear @bRIBEGuy helped out.

 

Thanks mate! Yes modelled them all from scratch. They're parts for an F103 formula 1 kit inspired by the work @speedy_w_beans did on his Ferrari but not quite as detailed. I really like Sketchup but have come across issues before with it not generating "solids" as other 3d packages know them.

The issues were being picked up by the printer software of the person i found on ebay to print them and when i imported them into Autocad you could see the surfaces were fragmented. So i ended up staying late at work on friday and remodelling them in Autocad from scratch again.

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Modified 3D model by added more gussets and reinforced the design.   Top deck design approach will have servo mounted on top.  Now waiting for it to be printed and delivered.

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Picked these up tonight from the 3d printing dude I found on ebay - he only lives 20 mins away so collected on way home from work. Bit of filling and sanded needed in a couple of small areas but otherwise well pleased.

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17 hours ago, Superluminal said:

And they fit perfectly.

Looks good!

You're gonna need your own thread for your build and 3D printing adventures!  ;)

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Chassis completed.   Need shorter steering turnbuckles and figure out shorter center drive shaft.  Final wheelbase is 175mm

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I built a shorter driveshaft on my TA02SW which had the reduced wheelbase chassis plates for the porsche 934 by cutting the ends off the of the regular shaft and soldering them into a short length of 5mm brass tube (Worked perfectly. Araldite or similar would work just as well)

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Yours would considerably shorter obvs

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5 hours ago, Superluminal said:

I built a shorter driveshaft on my TA02SW which had the reduced wheelbase chassis plates for the porsche 934 by cutting the ends off the of the regular shaft and soldering them into a short length of 5mm brass tube (Worked perfectly. Araldite or similar would work just as well)

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Yours would considerably shorter obvs

Thanks @superlum.  Is soldiering strong enough for a center drive shaft?   Welding may be stronger but I don’t have the equipment.

 

 The problem I will be having is the locations of the gearbox is different in the X and Y axis   Making it ultra shot will also create problems and potentially vibrations.  I was thinking CC-01 rear universals but may shorter .  Alternate is buying a Yeah Racing alum center shaft kit but switch out center shaft for a 60mm +\- dog bone .  
For now I will bend the existing rod which came with the kit and see how it works. 
 

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35 minutes ago, Frankster said:

Thanks @superlum.  Is soldiering strong enough for a center drive shaft?   Welding may be stronger but I don’t have the equipment.

So far it has stood up to the immense forces and torque generated by shelf admirably (and a gentle run around the living room carpet) It feels pretty strong though - each end has about an inch of the original bonded inside the brass tube and if the original Tamiya bit of bent coat hanger works Im fairly confident with it.

But yeah your vertical alignment issue would scupper that slightly so the dog bone arrangement would be perfect

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