khooni

So per the title l know many people complaining of premium pricing of aftermarket parts because of the cost of design, prototyping and small batch run. Why aren't vendors or individuals organising group buys trying to digitise some parts and 3D printing them to lower the cost of production?

Let's start with gearsets.....

I'm prolly ignorant of the many different costs involved but would love to be educated on them.

24Chromium

Let's start with material properties. The available materials used in rapid prototyping are not quite there yet. Then there is surface finish, accuracy and on and on. Let's consider it another way. If it was as easy as you think, wouldn't a lot of smart, well funded companies and individuals already be doing it?

ShakeNBake

Things are getting close. We're not that far away, but gears might be a ways off given the need for exacting metallurgy and precision finishes. I've already seen headers, manifolds, wing uprights, and turbo assemblies. Check out what BBi and Koenigsegg are doing. The development process is faster, and you can solve problems with geometry/surface shapes and embedded assemblies that were not possible/easy before. Machines are still very expensive, and the size of parts is limited by the size of the machine. Next 10 years will be very interesting as mass production becomes possible.

Jamie@dundonmotorsports

The metal sintering printers that have a large build volume and sufficient density for parts are still quite expensive and existing subtractive CNC tools are faster, cheaper and more prevalent. Additive mfg is slowly pushing the envelope, but traditional manufacturing for things like gears, crankshafts etc... will still be predominant for a few years to come.

I agree, the next 5-10 years for small mfg's is very exciting...

khooni

Thanks.

Just wanted to know how close we are to that state and what the potential could be. As well as how it could change the way companies promote their products

GeoJoe

Just wait until 3D printers can print 3D printers... then Skynet comes alive.

Seriously... media types are getting better. Powered titanium looks interesting.

switchface

Last night I read that Daniel Defense just made their new Wave suppressor by 3D printing with a laser and a powder, rather than the 'standard' material through a nozzle. The promoted benefit was that there would be no weld/seams like normal 3D printing, leading to less weak points to fail.

Not sure exactly how this relates, but I thought it was neat to see how things are progressing.