Legality of posting STL's for repair parts.

[Vaeloron]

Just got my Gaui NX7 in the air last weekend and due to a setup issue I broke a skid strut. I have replacements on order but they won't be here for a week or so and it occurred to me that I could easily design and print a custom strut to use in the meantime. I designed a two piece interlocking strut because my printer is too small to print the whole thing and it is printing right now but the point is it's an entirely different design than the original. I am reasonably sure that I am okay for personal use and I suspect posting them is fine but does anybody know if there would be any legal issues with posting these on Thingiverse?

[vebbyson]

There are many items on thingaverse that refer to its intended use by stating the manufacturers name on model. Haven’t heard of it being an issue.

[madmorgan]

i never share anything on thingiverse because believe it or not there are bums that will print and try to sell if its a perfect part. i myself have made a few pennies designing and making a few parts. so i think if you dont use key words like "align trex 600 skid" and maybe say "trex 600 compatible skid" youd b ok. after all it seems as align has abandoned us for the most part for parts. but they still own the name "align" if that makes any sense. if your printing for your own use u wont have any problems its only when u try to sell.

[Number]

I designed this for the T-REX 500X last year. It worked very well.


https://www.shapeways.com/product/F2...li=marketplace


Sold at least one, but have since lost access to my account on Shapeways since I signed up using Facebook, and I have since closed that Facebook account. I just contacted support about hopefully getting access to my account again. Unfortunately if they can't help me it looks like I'm screwed, I don't think I even have the original 3D file anymore


Because it is not a copy or even similar to the original pulley I don't believe there's any risk in me selling it. And realistically, as long as I don't claim it to be the original ALIGN part (not this pulley necessarily but anything I was to design and sell) I don't think they could do anything. After all, clone heli parts are sold all the time still. However, one thing to note is that if you just straight up copy say a skid strut for example, more than likely it would be more expensive to buy it 3D printed than to buy the original part. That's the main reason I suspect any heli company wouldn't have any reason to fear 3D printed parts.

[Sherer46]

Well if you guys think about it. Lynx and KDE and others have been making parts for other helicopters for years, some of them direct copies or extremely similar with slight tweaks. If they can CNC it, I think you could print it as a compatible part and sell it. Super late to enter this conversation but I think it’s relevant. I found a really good copy of randomheli’s skid clamps on Thingiverse, and one of the employees for RandomHeli complimented the designer. He made a 9/10mm version which the company didn’t offer, but it was a clone of their design.