Gilbert & Sullivan's Mikado was from the 1800's...

I think the Great Gazoo was an original idea of the Flintstones.

 

I used media blasting to remove the mealy stuff off of Rusty's door panels. Worked well except I had some slag in the mix and it was sharp enough to bury itself in the panel. But if you use something smoother, like even sand, blasting works well. Turn the pressure down and start with minimal pressure, turning it up until you get to a level that works.

 

I wonder if you couldn't use something like walnut shell or cob to burnish the ridges off your printed parts?

 

Hmmmm, put them in the blast cabinet?! Good idea!

 

Projects for 3D printing? two words. Gas Card.

 

you could 3d print little models of our trucks.

 

Jim - Or, how 'bout placing small one in the vibrating parts cleaner?

Matthew - Gas cards have magnetic strips, and soon will have an embedded chip.

Skip - That would be cool, but that would be a HUGE amount of CAD work. HUGE!

 

There are plenty of 3D scanners that will output a STL file suitable for printing.

Maybe you just need a plastic model, like many of us used to build?

There's a Makerbot store not 1/4 mile from me.
I could see how much they get.

 

Yes, a 3D scanner might work. But I say "might" because I'm not sure it would get the interior details with the top on. Might have to cut the top off the model and somehow merge two files.

Last I saw They want ~$800 for a scanner. And that would dramatically speed up, and maybe even increase the accuracy of creating some things. So, if you have the time I'd be interested in what you could find out there.

I wonder if a scanner can pick up the "leather" texture of something like the lock bezels. I would think the printer could approximate it if it were fed the data. And, I wonder if you can edit a scanned 3D image. I would want to change the slide lock bezel to accept screws instead of the little tabs that were supposed to be melted to hold the spring.

 

I meant they have demo models there in the store.
Would they let you scan something and pay for the file?

The darn printer in the window is running all day.

What about one of these tech lab's or shop spaces where members have access to all kinds of equipment?

Yes, you may have to merge two files to get the interior.

 

Interesting idea - use their scanner. They might do that just to demonstrate how well the scanner works.

And, a tech lab might be a good approach to seeing what it is all about. I think we have some or more in the Tulsa area. I'll check to see what they have. If they had both the scanner and the printer it might be a good way to start.

 

I know it's MUCH easier to edit or modify in Cabinetware than to write the whole Gcode thing.

My personal experience with CNC routers consists of emailing the file and picking up the cut parts.
That is reductive, rather than additive manufacturing.

I doubt I can be of much help there.

 

I'm hoping that the output of the scan is a 3D model and that I could edit it. That would let me scan in the door lock bezel, then modify it to add the bosses for screws. Editing the final G-code would be a pain as you have to figure out where the nozzle is and then change what it is going to do.

 

The one thing I thought would be great for the 3D printing is the plastic gauge housings that the circuit boards and gauges attach to.


Since these are not being reproduced, those of us with vehicles from the '70s knows the plastics are not stable and crumble to pieces. This would allow us to create new pieces out of better plastics.

 

Our instrument panels don't seem to crumble, unless I misunderstood which one you are talking about. But I had thought a new one would be nice. I could see making one to take aftermarket gauges, potentially to replace the factory ones.