3D Printer Parts

[jurelometer]

Always enjoy your posts, Dave.
I've seen your machining skills, those should come out very nice.

I want to mention there is a guy out of California that has been making clamps with a trigger,
I believe He sells those for $28 a piece and he claims they're very tough... not as bad price for a custom part.
Sorry, don't remember his name, he might be a member here...John Trung?... not sure.

Anyways, you never do anything for money, only to help out, so that doesn't really matter.

Sal

Thanks Sal, 

Any praise from a craftsman like yourself is greatly appreciated.  I am not anywhere close to being in the same league as some of the machinists that make parts for us here.

But I really want to start machining some parts again.

I was thinking that I could make my own mini CNC router pretty cheaply from Chinese parts.  Then I think that maybe I could make a pretty rigid one for just a bit more. Then I think that I should just buy a desktop CNC mill  for making small parts. Then I think why not get a hobby CNC mill like a Tormach.  Then I think for another 10K I might find a  decent used Haas  mini or tool room mill. 

Then I think that spending a huge chunk of money just to put a Haas in my garage for occasional use is insane. And getting a Haas or any pro CNC mill serviced is crazy expensive.   Why not just go cheap and make a mini CNC router from Chinese parts.  Then I think I maybe I could make a rigid one for just a bit more, and so on...

I have been cycling like this for about a year now

I think the trick is to getting a CNC mill is like getting a boat.  The smartest way is to find a friend with one

-J

[Alto Mare]

Dave, in my case that last phrase you've mentioned fits me perfectly.🙂

Can't wait to see what you come up with,

thanks


Sal

[mo65]

   I got Jurelometer's crosswind block installed today. It was a perfect fit...slipped right into place. That aluminum block is one of the aftermarket blocks that Mystic sold out of. This reel gets fished pretty hard, as can be seen by that one season old grease, it was yellow.(Ardent Reel Butter) I'll report back later with results. Thanks for the opportunity Dave.

I am very curious to see how well they hold up.    It will be useful data either way!  Thanks for giving these a try.

-J.

   I haven't forgot about these...but the pandemic totally screwed the spring crappie fishing. Boat ramps and parks are just reopening now around here. I'll get a little mileage on it this summer though, so a report will eventually come.

[mo65]

   Wow...can't believe I am just now getting to report on Dave's crosswind block...the 'rona flat out ruined the fishing here in 2020. Lockdowns, ramp closures, bait shops out of business, what a horrible year.
   At any rate, I'm happy to report that we finally got a chance to test the crosswind blocks and they performed perfectly. We fished them for two days, constantly casting the whole time. We caught a mixed bag of bass, crappie, and bluegill. My only equipment failure was one wind knot...can I blame that on the Jurelometer crosswind block?

   Thanks Dave for a fantastic part!

[Riy2018]

I made one repair on 3D Printer.
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=31100.msg369163#msg369163

[jurelometer]

   Wow...can't believe I am just now getting to report on Dave's crosswind block...the 'rona flat out ruined the fishing here in 2020. Lockdowns, ramp closures, bait shops out of business, what a horrible year.
   At any rate, I'm happy to report that we finally got a chance to test the crosswind blocks and they performed perfectly. We fished them for two days, constantly casting the whole time. We caught a mixed bag of bass, crappie, and bluegill. My only equipment failure was one wind knot...can I blame that on the Jurelometer crosswind block?

   Thanks Dave for a fantastic part!

Thanks for the update!   So we now know that the part works when fishing.  Now it is just a question of how long it holds up.    Is there anyone out there that fishes a 720/722 that wants to give these a try?  I have a few more sitting on my desk.

And agree entirely on 2020. 

I made one repair on 3D Printer.
https://alantani.com/index.php?topic=31100.msg369163#msg369163

Looks like the part for the Daiwa was built on a FDM printer, hopefully out of PETG.  You got a good deal for a scan and a single part.   Parts printed this way are not as strong between layers as across layers, so layer separation is a risk for failure at the same point as happened the original part.  If you need to make a new one at some point, it might be worth it to see if there is enough room in the reel to increase the wall thickness in that area.

-J

[Cortez_Conversions]

This is a topic that keeps coming up from time to time.  Patents are not the main issue.  As Tommy points out, patents on old reels have probably expired.  And individual replacement components may not be covered by a patent.  The bigger issue will be customers unhappy with the appearance, fit and durability of the parts.

I have made parts like handles and drag knobs, and a 720 crosswind block is a very good candidate (but somebody should try to talk Tom at Cortez into cranking out a batch of machined Delrin crosswind blocks). I have  designed and printed functional gear sets (not for reels), but the teeth on  reel size gears  are too small to print cleanly, and will be ridiculously weak if not kept in  alignment.    I have also made frame kit prototypes.  In my opinion, most  replacement parts from a  a hobby printer will be substandard at best and not usually a viable replacement for original parts.

The printed part can be surprisingly strong for forces on an  XY plane (original printing orientation) , but the since the part is made in  layers by stacking  beads of melted plastic, inter-layer strength is not nearly as good and is  unpredictable.  The thicker the beads, the stronger the inter-layer adhesion,  but it makes for an uglier, less precise part.

The plastics that are suitable for this type of 3D printing are not the most suitable for production parts.   The stronger plastics like  nylon, ABS, and even polycarbonate can be printed, but  shrink quite a bit  when cooling causing many parts to  warp as the lower layers are cooling while the upper layers are printing (varies by part design).   Most hobbyists print with PLA plastic, which doesn't warp much while printing  and is very hard but not that strong, and the finished part will often warp when exposed to a hot sun.

Most plastics  require an additive to prevent rapid UV degradation,  BUT 3D filament manufacturers have not been able to come up with a viable UV inhibitor  for  hobby printer filament.   ASA filament is available, and this plastic is intrinsically UV resistant and has many of the properties of ABS, which makes it relatively strong, but somewhat elastic.  It also warps.

I have been playing with (carbon) fiber filled plastics for a bit now.  I like the stuff, but it is not magic.  Fiber does help resist shrinkage and warpage, and seems to help bond layers together better.   Mostly, the fiber makes the part stiffer, but stiffer means more brittle, and subject to stress introduced during printing and use.   No free lunch.   You need a special hardened steel nozzle (instead of brass) to deal with the abrasion from the fibers, and it is trickier to keep the nozzle temp consistent, so consistency  in layer adhesion can be a problem.

There are some interesting new printer systems with costs getting down toward  the USD $100K range that combine special filaments or resins and microwave enhanced sintering ovens.  The sintering fuses the layers together, and the filaments can be a carrier for metal powder, meaning it is possible to print parts out of various metals with densities in the high 90 percentage - approaching the strength of a cast part.  But the filament is expensive, so the parts won't be cheap.  Long term, scientists are trying to figure out how to cheaply get from raw titanium to fine powder, and then decrease the time and energy involved in fusing the powder into a part. Titanium is ubiquitous on our planet, so cheap one-off parts in the future might all be made out of titanium . For now, only very high value parts are made this way.

There are services out there that can make stronger  functional plastic or metal parts with industrial 3D printers, but the cost is usually too high to make it worthwhile.   I sent a few CAD files out for quotes, but never pulled the trigger because of cost.

And finally, the thing that most folks overlook is that in order to print a part,  somebody has to  has to draw up the 3D model in a CAD program.   It seems like only one out of every couple hundred (thousand?) people with a hobby 3D printer has reasonable competence with a mechanical CAD program.   The rest of them are scavenging the internet for 3D images of Star Wars action figures to download. 

I have been hankering to make a full on hobby  printer reel to see if I could catch a dorado or small tuna before the reel blew up,  but the design has to be very different than a typical reel to accommodate the issues around 3D printing.

I do   make lots of non reel parts, tools, fixtures, lure mold masters, and even lures with my 3D printer.  So I do find the gizmo useful.  The only way  to get some 3D printer parts is to print them

A person with some CAD skills and some experience with 3D printing  should be able  make something like a frame kit or sideplate that will work for awhile.  It won't last, or work as well as the original parts, but it could be fun. 

I would suggest doing a search on this site for 3D.  Lots of this stuff is covered, and more.

Ron:  If you get more serious about getting into some 3D printing and/or CAD and want to chat, feel free to PM me.  Making some parts for fun is the right approach in my opinion. I think this stuff is pretty fun.

-J

"(but somebody should try to talk Tom at Cortez into cranking out a batch of machined Delrin crosswind blocks)."

Done!

[jurelometer]

"(but somebody should try to talk Tom at Cortez into cranking out a batch of machined Delrin crosswind blocks)."

Done!

Ooh,  nice!  Just saw them:

https://www.cortezconversions.com/product-page/penn-crosswind-block-spinfisher-reels
 
-J

[mo65]

Thanks for the update!   So we now know that the part works when fishing.  Now it is just a question of how long it holds up.   

   Happy to report I just fished another 2 days of hard use and the blocks are still working perfectly.

[Donnyboat]

Very interesting Mike & Dave, thanks for the follow up, cheers Don.