Can original parts be cloned by 3D printing?

[CoolHands 816]

eg gear case that are no longer available. If I have an original, can it be cloned and printed somehow? If so, s it accurate enough? Not me personally, but I just want to know if it is yet possible as I have some original NIB parts that I'd like to see cloned if so.

[waterbok 1282]

Yes you can, but it is a question of cost, material quality and time invested. There are loads of fellow Tamiya fans who are making 3D reproductions of parts and either DIY or have them printed at professional shops like Shapeways.

Making a 3D file u could use CAD software like fusion 360, scanning parts isn't really a thing ATM as the result still needs a lot of work to get it right so most of the time easier to draw from scratch.

[CoolHands 816]

So I have a contact that 3D prints things and designs stuff. I sent him an email and he thinks he could effectively reverse engineer it. (I'm thinking of gearbox casings for Marui make). He has access to high quality printer through work that prints with carbon fibre infused <whatever> or something. So as he would have the original to work from, you think it might be feasible / possible? Just cost might be too high to get the part right? But once it's right (the cad files) then I suppose it would be straightforward)

[waterbok 1282]

Correct, when you have a 3D image/file next step is having it made either printed, moulded, CNC.

The carbon infused sounds good.

If he is an experienced cad user it shouldn't take to much time if he has an original to work of. But Google what you are after there are (STL) files available at certain websites and maybe yours is already done. Or ask in Marui Facebook groups.

Which Marui gearbox or parts are we talking about?

[Collin 1956]

Hopefully your dont need to pay for the 3d drawings, if so, it will be terrible high cost. Also this fiber infused material might not be the first choice. For some parts its simply to brittle but very hard also.

Especially gearboxes needs perfect alignement with all its gears...

[Pablo68 1049]

It's all quite possible and quite a few people do it.

Drawing the component can be tricky at times but it's mostly doable. What needs consideration is the material you are using/printing, and the printing method. You quite often have to fool around with the orientation of the print so the final piece isn't experiencing forces that will hit weak spots and break it.
The design of what you are printing often has to be tweaked to make it tougher than an otherwise 1:1 reproduction would be.

Despite it being for a hobby, it's quite the engineering problem and needs that kind of thought/consideration.

[Mad Ax 9311]

3D scanning is a thing and it's pretty good.  A friend of mine designs body shells and he usually begins with a physical copy which he then scans and tweaks in CAD.

I'm no CAD expert but I've had a reasonable degree of success measuring and reproducing sketches in Fusion 360.  A CAD professional could probably do what I do in a few weeks of evenings in just a couple of hours - I spend the majority of my CAD time watching Youtube vids on how to do what I'm trying to do, then trying to figure out why it doesn't work when I do the same operation on my design.  CAD engineers will have been through that learning curve already.

As @Pablo68 says, sometimes it's necessary to alter the design to make it work for your chosen printer / material.  I use a resin printer so I tweak my designs so they can be grown smoothly without too much need for support.  Resin printing gives a very accurate finish but can need a lot of support material which then needs lots of finishing.  Resin can also be brittle (I have yet to experiment with 'tough' resins) so any part that would normally have a self-tapper is redesigned to use a machine screw with a metal nut on the back.  I also tend to add extra ribbing that isn't present in OEM parts to make up for lack of torsional strength, but I've recently discovered that extra thickness doesn't always equals extra strength - a thick resin component will shatter while a thin one will bend.

There are other design considerations for FDM printing but since I don't have an FDM printer I haven't really thought about them yet.

[Hobgoblin 1059]

Very possible and quite easy really. 

The only real holdups are that parts designed to be injection moulded can have some horrible geometry to print. If you're okay with either a weaker part or modified geometry then that's fine. 

It sounds like your man possibly has access to a markforge printer which is excellent, we briefly had one at my old job and it was incredible what it can do.