Plastic pieces design and manufacture?

[rafaliyo86]

Hi guys

I want to try to make some plastic pieces and the other day I had an "idea". I have seen there are compainies that offer pcb services (oshpark for expample) but do you know any company that  offers the same services for plastic pieces?

Moreover, do you know if they will need a design or maybe with a picture and dimmensions is enough?

Thanks in advance

[Rodent]

plastic is usually injected molded   unless you could get someone do to 3d printing for you. both would be very expensive .

some pics would help  or some more information on what your trying to do being you posted this in electronics section .   does it have to do with electronic components? or other?

[Modded Matt]

The money is in setup. Once the mold is built its cheap but they are expensive.

[FOOKz™]

Custom plastic injection molds start in the 10's of thousands of dollars.

Then you're paying pennies per plastic piece.


Need more info like Rodent said. You could use a 3D printer or resin mold because the start up costs are cheaper.

[Hazer]

3Dprinting is now pretty cheap. I built  my own printer for less than $400. You can goto some websites and have your part printed for you for pretty cheap also. Just know that printed pieces are not structurally sound unless you know how to design for Fused Deposition Modeling.

If you source a final design to China and it does not have super tight tolerance, injection molding is not all that expensive either.

What are you looking for really? If you have a design already done and can email me a stl file, I might even be able to print it for you.

[Rodent]

3Dprinting is now pretty cheap. I built  my own printer for less than $400.

Interesting i would like to know more

[rafaliyo86]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have some ideas on my mind, one of them is make my "own" scuf paddles. I like this kind of controllers and I think it would be better make them with a 3d printer instead of a homemade paddle.

Other cases are radio control. I have some friends who sometimes break their cars and they need to replace some plastic pieces

[GhoSt]

you should be able to find 3d printers you are able to use cheaply in your area, like a maker-space, or a lot of schools and universities have them (at least 6x 3d printers and a couple of laser cutters in our electronics department).

[Hazer]

Interesting i would like to know more

Its an HBOT design I have been tweeking for 6 months. I have a Solidoodle 3 I used to learn the trade. You can buy kits to fully assembled printers from under $300 now a days. Here is a list of the most significant sellers:

http://www.3ders.org/pricecompare/3dprinters/

For super cheap, I would wait for the QU-BD one-up to become available. A very trustworthy company that has been around for alot longer than the other kickstarter companies.

If you pre-assembled, Solidoodle 2 or a Robo3d would work. They are $500-$600  range.

If you want a really goood printer though, the Flashforge Creator on Amazon is a $110 dual extrusion clone (with design improvements over the original) of the $2500 Makerbot Replicator.

http://www.amazon.com/FlashForge-Printer-Extruder-Compatible-Volume/dp/B008CM2TCU

[Rodent]

Its an HBOT design I have been tweeking for 6 months. I have a Solidoodle 3 I used to learn the trade. You can buy kits to fully assembled printers from under $300 now a days. Here is a list of the most significant sellers:

http://www.3ders.org/pricecompare/3dprinters/

For super cheap, I would wait for the QU-BD one-up to become available. A very trustworthy company that has been around for alot longer than the other kickstarter companies.

If you pre-assembled, Solidoodle 2 or a Robo3d would work. They are $500-$600  range.

If you want a really goood printer though, the Flashforge Creator on Amazon is a $110 dual extrusion clone (with design improvements over the original) of the $2500 Makerbot Replicator.

http://www.amazon.com/FlashForge-Printer-Extruder-Compatible-Volume/dp/B008CM2TCU

Very nice work.  did you have to machine and fab all the parts ?  most of yours looks like extruded aluminum and UHMW(Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) for the moving parts. and i am sure this wasn't a simple task trying to get it programmed to operate the way you need it to.  with  X Y and Z coordinates .  how long does it take to make something? I know some of the stuff I use to work with could take 18 hours to 2 days depending how complicated the parts where.

[Hazer]

Very nice work.  did you have to machine and fab all the parts ?  most of yours looks like extruded aluminum and UHMW(Ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene) for the moving parts. and i am sure this wasn't a simple task trying to get it programmed to operate the way you need it to.  with  X Y and Z coordinates .  how long does it take to make something? I know some of the stuff I use to work with could take 18 hours to 2 days depending how complicated the parts where.

The plastic pieces are printed. They are modeled in such a way that the printer gets held together without stressing the weak plane. The electronics are standard reprap (community movement for self-replicating 3D printers). Someone else developed the firmware on an Arduino base. Cost of electronics were $40 for the Arduino Mega, RAMPS interface board, and 4 A4988 Stepper drivers. I bought the motors for $7 each and most of the linear stuff is cheap rollerskate bearings, hardened shafts, and GT2 belts/pulleys that all when purchased from Chinese vendors end up costing peanuts.

I am also working on building my own version of a Delta printer for less than $300 total cost in parts. Its a work in progress, and there may be a problem with the Arduino not keeping up with the mathematical transforms but the backup plan is a faster processor. It just does not have alot of community support yet, so I would rather not trailblaze that road by myself.

[Rodent]

 thats alot to deal with  way over my head.. i wouldn't know where to begin..haha

did find this from Markerbot

3Dprinter
there video
MakerBot Replicator Mini Compact 3D Printer

[Hazer]

All I can say to that is goto Makerbots user forums and find out how their customers feel about their products. Then visit the Flashforge again. You will find that the Flashforge is a duplicate of thier Replicator 2X, which has 2 extruders. You can also research the customer feedback on the Flashforge and find that most of the design flaws of the Replicator were fixed in the Flashforge.

But the one premise on all of this is also experienced 3D printer users. There is a learning curve on this technology that is paramount to using any of these printers. That video is simply hype. No printer is plug-and-play, unless its one of the $10K+ units from 3DLabs or Stratasys.

Let me put it this way. Any printer that costs less than $3K is simply heating a continuous stick of ABS or PLA plastic thats been wound on a reel. The heater is nothing more than poor PID controlled heatblock that heats a nozzle that has been drilled to 0.3mm upto 0.6mm. So the 'magic' is basically like making a CNC sculpture from a somewhat controlled dispenser that is not unlike a roll of toothpaste, or a caulking gun. Want to know what the difference between that Makerbot mini and a Mendel you have to build yourself? $2500 price difference, and how much time it takes to calibrate it. There are better hotends that can be purchased separately, that cost $75 and are better than Makers. And I did not want you to think that when I said 'difference' when it comes to calibration and tweeking that the Replicator doesnt need it, I mean it just needs it less. They dont do anything different than all of the other sub $500 printers. Its the same exact concept.

Just to emphasize: I bought a Solidoodle printer to get started. I spent 3 months learning to tweek it in and understand the concept and weaknesses of FDM technology. After that, I designed my second printer, that is meant to compensate the flaws of most other printers of this technology. I built an HBOT unit that basically removes the motors from the moving parts of the X and Y axis carriages. This allows me to move the hotend without the motor mass being part of the moving system so I can achieve faster and more accurate speeds. I used linear bearing which most vendors do not use, and even refined it one step further. The best application for this HBOT system would be to use Linear Rails to make sure the axis stay perfectly perpendicular and not be effected by the torsion of the belt system for the HBOT. Instead of using $100 rails and blocks, I printed my own zero-play linear guide that uses $2 worth of bearings and an $8 shaft. I still have some work to do, but I should be able to print at speeds that makes the Replicator cry. I already have accuracy at standard speeds.

The point I am getting at is, 3D printing is a good hobby that people should do their research long before purchasing anything. That $200 printer from QU-BD I may pruchase myself just to see if it would be a great starter/learning machine that I would recommend people get before deciding on a bigger unit.

[Rodent]

I understand what your saying, just thought I would post that video so people could see how it works. I thought it was a little expensive for the little bit they offer. And also appreciate that you explained the difference in how they work.  If I were to buy one it would do alot more research . I also appreciate your time to explain how it works etc  pro's and con's and reasons for why you used what you used.

[Gizmo613]

Thanks for the replies guys. I have some ideas on my mind, one of them is make my "own" scuf paddles. I like this kind of controllers and I think it would be better make them with a 3d printer instead of a homemade paddle.

Other cases are radio control. I have some friends who sometimes break their cars and they need to replace some plastic pieces

I'm currently messing around with silicon molds and different resin to make some paddles. i got two sets made so far and they are soft but not completely flexible either. Funny though, my original intent was to repair my heater control on my 89 Honda CRX as these tend to break as they aged. they currently sell close to $100 on ebay. Still trying to find the right mixture/combo right now.