Practical 3D Printing: Step 4: Printing - Aluminium
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Step 4: Printing - Aluminium
04.59
| 00:00 | Having test-fitted some prototypes we're now happy with our design and ready to make the real thing. |
| 00:05 | We're going to use the same approach as we did in the course, leaning on one of the many manufacturing services available to print these aluminium alloy parts using SLM technology. |
| 00:17 | It's fair to assume most of us won't have access to a SLM printer of our own, so we'll be covering this process of arranging this work rather than doing it ourselves. |
| 00:27 | We're going to look at doing this using the same CraftCloud platform that we used during the course, simply because it's by far the most cost-effective option I've found for SLM prints so far. |
| 00:38 | If we consider plastic printing, there are many more options for affordable printing services, but metal 3D printing is more limited, at least at the time of recording this anyway. |
| 00:49 | With that covered, let's jump into the CraftCloud website and get started. |
| 00:53 | I've got an account and I'm signed in, so we'll jump straight into it. |
| 00:57 | Get Instant Quote From here, we can upload our mesh files for both the passenger and driver's side mounts, and choose our location, currency, and the units it was designed in, so the scale will be correct. |
| 01:08 | That's millimetres in our case. |
| 01:10 | If the scale measurements are wrong, our part will be huge and seem overly expensive, or tiny and seem surprisingly cheap. |
| 01:18 | Our models are then analysed, and we should review them in the viewer to ensure everything looks as it should. |
| 01:23 | Once we're happy, we can click through to the material options and see what we want to use. |
| 01:27 | For this project, we want to use aluminium, because it's relatively cheap and has great strength to weight ratio. |
| 01:33 | We can filter by alloys, and then find and select aluminium, specifically AL-SI10MG. |
| 01:39 | And we can see this uses SLM technology. |
| 01:42 | In this case, the finishing processes don't add any extra cost, but they do reduce the number of manufacturers we could possibly use. |
| 01:51 | So, we'll choose the highest surface finish, glass blasted, so we can receive the part as smooth as possible. |
| 01:58 | Next, is the colour, where raw grey is the only option. |
| 02:01 | So, if we want to finish it another colour, we'll have to look into other coatings, like Cerakote for example. |
| 02:07 | We're going for a clean OEM look with this street car, so grey will be good for us. |
| 02:13 | Finally, we're at the offers page. |
| 02:14 | In this case, we're not going to go with the cheapest option. |
| 02:17 | Rather, Craftcloud's recommendation, as it's a manufacturer that I've used before for a test print of a volumetric lattice structure with aluminium, and they produced good results. |
| 02:28 | It's always worth reading the reviews from other customers to get a general idea for the quality of the work from that manufacturer, but be aware of how different designs can influence the results. |
| 02:39 | For example, if someone has complained about warpage in their part, but we can see their design has sudden changes in thickness, or is long and thin with no bracing, then warpage should be expected and it likely isn't the fault of the manufacturer. |
| 02:53 | Moving forward, we can place the order as is typical, for most online services. |
| 02:58 | We ended up at about 150 US dollars per site, so including the cost of our carbon tube, we're looking at around 400 US dollars total. |
| 03:07 | There are much cheaper strut tower mounts on the market, but these mostly have roughly designed sheet metal strut mounts and an aluminium cross bar with rod ends at each end, so they're likely much heavier and less stiff than our design. |
| 03:21 | $400 is a reasonable amount of money, but fairly inexpensive in the spectrum of of carbon strut braces, not to mention we've created a truly unique design that's far more special than any of the off the shelf parts. |
| 03:34 | Skipping ahead in the following 24 hours after completing the order, we received an email from Craftcloud saying that our order had entered production. |
| 03:42 | In doing these projects, we'll often be contacted by the manufacturer regarding concerns they may have around producing our design. |
| 03:49 | And in some cases, we might need to change the design somewhat to address these. |
| 03:53 | However, in this case, there were no concerns and around 10 days later we received our printed parts in New Zealand, which put short, came out great. |
| 04:02 | I wouldn't call them perfect, as there's still a small amount of warpage causing the mounting surface to not be perfectly flat, likely due to the geometry of the part. |
| 04:11 | We could machine it flat to make it perfect, but they really don't need to be perfect for this application. |
| 04:16 | The grainy surface finish matches the cast aluminium parts in the engine bay, and the forms and details are all crisp and accurate. |
| 04:23 | We'll continue with our printed parts in the next video, and finish up the project. |
| 04:27 | So, for now, let's recap what we've done. |
| 04:29 | For this project, we're leaning on Craftcloud and their network of manufacturers to produce our parts. |
| 04:34 | The process is relatively simple. |
| 04:36 | Just upload a model and review it to ensure it's correct. |
| 04:39 | Also, be sure you set the units to whatever you've modelled in, so you get the scale right. |
| 04:45 | Then we select the material and corresponding printing technology, as well as the finish and colour of the parts. |
| 04:50 | We're then given a list of offers we can choose from based on factors like price, lead time and customer reviews. |
| 04:56 | Before completing the order... |
