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I posted this in the other thread about 3D printing (about the TDC sensor) but I'll repost here for posterity:
Reference sensor holes - 20mm diameter
Inspection hole - 17 x 23 mm
I had to bump up the inspection hole plug to 19mm x 24mm to get the right fit.
TDC sensor plug is 17mm OD.
If the reference sensor holes truly need 20mm OD plugs, then I'll need to create a third design.
They're cast in the same manner as the other holes (a little taper inward), so I'm sure you'd have to add a little girth. I'd buy some along with the inspection hole plug, but if you feel like you aren't going to sell a reasonable amount, don't worry about it. People running custom crank pickups are a vast minority, I was thinking it would mainly be useful to people doing service over the BH and don't want stuff falling in the holes when the sensors are out.
They're cast in the same manner as the other holes (a little taper inward), so I'm sure you'd have to add a little girth. I'd buy some along with the inspection hole plug, but if you feel like you aren't going to sell a reasonable amount, don't worry about it. People running custom crank pickups are a vast minority, I was thinking it would mainly be useful to people doing service over the BH and don't want stuff falling in the holes when the sensors are out.
I'll send you a few different pairs with different sizes at no cost - then you can let me know which size fit best or if any other changes are needed.
Is there any possibility that the torque tube bearing inserts could be 3D printed? Depending on how it would mechanically stand up in that environment. I believe people have them machined from delrin when they are replaced. I was thinking maybe an improved design could be whipped up, where they can't be pressed out of the bearing when the drive shaft is re-inserted (lip/flange on one side).
That's step one in 3D printing, but it's a step that many folks don't seem to grow out of. Just because something can be printed, doesn't mean it should be printed.
For torque tube bushings, it would be cheaper, stronger, and faster to buy a block of delrin and machine it. 3D printers compliment other tooling, materials, and processes, rather than replace them.
That's step one in 3D printing, but it's a step that many folks don't seem to grow out of. Just because something can be printed, doesn't mean it should be printed.
For torque tube bushings, it would be cheaper, stronger, and faster to buy a block of delrin and machine it. 3D printers compliment other tooling, materials, and processes, rather than replace them.
Exactly - there was a bunch of hubbub about people having the ability to 3D print guns when 3D printers were first available to consumers... But, any smart person will tell you that a lathe and mill would be far better tools (and quicker) if you wanted to make a gun in your garage.
Exactly - there was a bunch of hubbub about people having the ability to 3D print guns when 3D printers were first available to consumers... But, any smart person will tell you that a lathe and mill would be far better tools (and quicker) if you wanted to make a gun in your garage.
We didn't need no stinking 3D printer or fancy tools to build guns when I was a kid.
I worked as a product design engineer in 3D printing for a while. We had every machine from the small desktop unit all the way up to a $1.5mil SLS machine that took up a whole room. It's pretty cool what you can make with them but I have to agree that the uses for a production part are rather limited. They are great for prototyping, making molds, and making small, low stress parts. Even the big machines like we had struggled to make large parts without warping issues.
The SLS machine we used was from 3Dsystems and printed in Nylon-12 with great fidelity. We used it to print prescription glasses frames similar to how Mykita prints sunglasses frames.
The company I worked for went under (we later found out the entire thing was a business strategy by the owners of the parent company to waste enough money to file for bankruptcy to eliminate ex-employee lawsuits that were piling up, but that's a story for another day...) but it was fun while it lasted and I have a whole bunch of 3D printing patents from it. Plus when my eyes go bad later in life I have a pile of 3D printed glasses frames to choose from!
Maybe you guys could make some 944 sunglasses to wear while driving!
Here's a few photos of what we did:
Print build on the computer before being sent to the machine. I had to fit as many as I could per build which required doing the placement by hand which is not a fun task (using Geomagic Freeform with a Phantom Haptic).
The SLS machine
Breaking the parts out of the "cake"
Here's a couple frames after being smoothed and dyed. You can see the fidelity we would get in the inset writing on the inside of the temple on the purple frame, as well as my badass 3D printed hinge that is one of my patents.
I worked as a product design engineer in 3D printing for a while. We had every machine from the small desktop unit all the way up to a $1.5mil SLS machine that took up a whole room. It's pretty cool what you can make with them but I have to agree that the uses for a production part are rather limited. They are great for prototyping, making molds, and making small, low stress parts. Even the big machines like we had struggled to make large parts without warping issues.
Welcome to the thread! You're the right guy to have around here and provide input.
I was wondering how the hell you could print that pile of sunglass frames before I got to the 'cake' pic.
I printed a few plugs to get started and show the colour options available.
Square'ish plugs fit into the bellhousing 'window' for verifying TDC.
Round plugs fit into the bellhousing hole after removing the useless TDC sensor.
They fit snugly, so they require some finesse to install with the AOS in place. I used some double-sided tape and a long screwdriver to maneuver them into place. They are removable and re-usable.
I'll build up a small backlog, but I'm hoping to print these 'on-demand' for the most part. They will ship the next day after order.
These were designed to use Ninjaflex filament (at 100% in-fill), so I cannot say whether or not these will fit into the bellhousing if printed using ABS or whatever.
I also can't say if something other than Ninjaflex filament will stay put or allow for re-use.
03-21-2016, 12:44 PM
