3D printers

[KellyVB]

Was wondering if any of you out there are using a 3D printer to make parts for helis that are no longer available? Id like to learn how to make tail blades and main gears and other stuff BUT no nothing about what kind of printer to get. Your thoughts on this are greatly appreciated.

-Kelly in San Antonio

[tonys-heli]

you might want to check out this forum.. its for 3d printing..

https://www.helifreak.com/forumdisplay.php?f=442

[Andy from Sandy]

Was wondering if any of you out there are using a 3D printer to make parts for helis that are no longer available?

The USAF are using 3D printers to make parts that they can to service some plane parts here in the UK.

[cyclenut]

I have one that I picked up when I started building mini quads. I have printed a number of plane and quad parts, but only a few for helis and not any for high stress parts. I haven't been willing to do the mods to the printer to be able to print the higher temp filaments like nylon that would be better for making such parts.

[P.I.Engineer]

if you can CAD it up, you'll get better results using quick turn machine houses.

protolab
xometry
sunpe
mfg.com

[yakky]

Get a 3D printer, they are a lot of fun, but the reality is for consumable parts, they are not there yet. Its cheaper/easier to just retrofit something else from another heli in most cases.

[KellyVB]

I saw a 4 in 1 printer that has 4 diff tool heads, thought that might be a cool one to get BUT, I'm kind of confused on what to do. My goal would be to be able to make hobby stuff I can use, not worthless trinkets that you end up throwing away. What are the main gears on our helis made of, Nylon, ABS?
I would want a printer that can handle those materials. Then there's the design aspect. Can I take , say a main gear to a place that does 3d scanning and come back with a file the printer can use? I would also like to learn to design myself. ( I'm RETIRED) so plenty of time here.

What To Do

[Skiddz]

3D printed main gears would likely not survive on larger helis. Smaller helis, with gears printed from nylon *might* survive if your printer settings are really dialed in. Things like brackets, clips etc. are all doable for low load applications in PLA (Typical filament for newbies) and ABS (A little harder to print as it doesn't tolerate drafts or changes in temp while printing so an enclosure is usually used)

There are MANY other filament types out there and each requires certain temps, flow rates, nozzles etc to print and even things like how filament is fed to the hot-end (The print head if you will) are important.

Most main gears are injection molded and/or machined. Nylon, Delrin etc are common materials.

As for the design side, there are tons of free tools out there that have more than enough capability to draw up parts. SketchUp, TinkerCAD, Meshmixer, even Fusion 360 if it's for personal, hobby use. I use SolidWorks, but my license is expiring soon and it's too expensive for most individuals (me being one of them) so I'm learning Fusion 360 with some help from the AutoDesk online tutorials and a YouTube series called "Learn Fusion 360 or Die Trying".

As for 3D scanning, it's been a few years since I've done this and things have likely changed, but it's not cheap. Basically, the object is scanned which generates a point cloud. A mesh or surface then needs to be built with those points and a 3D file is generated. This is either done manually or via machine.

Your 3D file, depending on format (We used to get STEP or IGES files) then needs to be turned into an STL (STereoLitography) file which is then "sliced" into GCode for printing.

The parameters for how that particular object is printed is yet another 'learning curve' item. Wall thickness, layer height, infill percentage and type etc. all play a part in the end result.

It's not hard to learn, it's just that there is a lot to it to get decent, repeatable results.

Personally, I've enjoyed the challenge and have my particular unit set up pretty well after a month or so of tinkering/testing and have printed a bunch of useful things. (and some really silly ones too!)

[MariaFan]

There is really no comparison between injection molded parts and 3D printed parts.

Injection molded parts are totally homogeneous.
3D printed parts are done layer-by-layer, and the strength just isn't there.

[JMoto84]

I've recently gotten into 3D printing and have made several RC parts so far. I'm not sure if I would make anything that will see significant load but the parts I've made so far have held up just fine.

I've used my 180 CFX as a test platform with great success so far. This experimenting has also resulted in an incredibly light heli, as I've been trying to print parts to replace the stock alloy parts. The stock heli weighs around 200g in stock config with an eflite 3s 450mah and mine is at 182 AUW swinging 180mm mains.The parts I'm currently flying the heli with:

Bottom plate
Battery plate
Motor mount
Bearing blocks
Skids
Tail fin
Main rotor hub

I will try printing a main gear and see how that holds up. I've printed tiny spur gears for my 1/18 scale rc truck and they've been holding up not too bad.

[KellyVB]

Just pulled the trigger on an Ender 5, ( Should have it by Apr, 15th)I wanted the Ender 5 Pro BUT, waited to long and there all out of stock SO, I ordered the 5 and will make it a Pro version over time. Trying to learn Fusion 360 (The Die Trying one) but keep running into problems. A-lot of the stuff he does I cant get mine to do what his does. Wish I could go to an actual class of find a live webinar.

[Skiddz]

I'm guessing you're running into some of the same issues I am with the Fusion 360 'course'. The videos are showing an older version of Fusion and the interface with the latest version is changed a bit.

I find myself pausing the videos and having to hunt for the menus/commands the 'instructor' is working with. Once you've figured out where they are, it gets easier to follow along.

[MariaFan]

Originally Posted by KellyVB

Just pulled the trigger on an Ender 5, ( Should have it by Apr, 15th)I wanted the Ender 5 Pro BUT, waited to long and there all out of stock SO, I ordered the 5 and will make it a Pro version over time. Trying to learn Fusion 360 (The Die Trying one) but keep running into problems. A-lot of the stuff he does I cant get mine to do what his does. Wish I could go to an actual class of find a live webinar.

Enjoy!!!

[curmudgeon]

Originally Posted by KellyVB

Just pulled the trigger on an Ender 5...

How's the printer working out?