Node 3D printed Chassis parts.

OK 3D printing has started to make sense for car parts. For the first time I can kind of say this would work and be amenable to people like us.

Print nodes

Add carbon tubing

Presto chassis, figure you could make upper and lower control arms this way. Lotus 7 with carbon tubes. Bends would be a bit of a issue but not the end of the world.

looks like early 1990's bike frame construction.

Are they 3D printing metal yet? Are the silver parts aluminum?

EDIT: I did a search: http://3dprint.com/74810/3d-printed-supercar-blade/

Yup aluminum.

Metal can be 3D printed, but good/strong/low porosity parts are still expensive. Still, with time, everything gets cheaper.

I do really like the idea of having a few printed, extremely intricate, cleverly designed parts and just assembling the rest from basic tubes, etc., especially for a racecar.

What excites me about 3D printing is the ability to create parts that are long gone. Scan your old, broken piece of unobtianium and make a new one.

I can haz 3D-printed Locost please???

While I think 3D printing is cool... and can do some things other machine processes can't easily do - what is the advantage here, for car parts, over a traditional welded tube approach?

What strength do you give up (if any) when printing metal from powder over using ingots and machining them?

Do you have a link to the source info for that? What are the nodes made of?

I figure I can 3d print parts from plastic, and use the plastic parts to make a mold. BTW, if anyone needs stuff printed, drip me a PM

mr2peak wrote: looks like early 1990's bike frame construction.

Yep. I was thinking print in wax or sla and make a investment casting you could make a more universal joint which could be used throughout the car. Basically legos for cars. Part of me wants to print the lugs for a bike as a test of the metal printers and use carbon tubes and see how it looks in the end.

Giant Purple Snorklewacker wrote: While I think 3D printing is cool... and can do some things other machine processes can't easily do - what is the advantage here, for car parts, over a traditional welded tube approach? What strength do you give up (if any) when printing metal from powder over using ingots and machining them?

We make stuff here that's a bit better than a good casting in terms of strength, in some pretty exotic materials, and use them in big engines today.

The big advantage is that there are 100x more people capable of using CAD than a welder and a milling machine and a lathe, and 100,000,000X more people that are capable of paying a few bucks for the plans and hitting "print".

From an industrial perspective, you can make very complicated things, with strange and difficult (if not impossible) to machine features for the same cost as a simple, less efficient design.

wearymicrobe wrote:

mr2peak wrote: looks like early 1990's bike frame construction.

Yep. I was thinking print in wax or sla and make a investment casting you could make a more universal joint which could be used throughout the car. Basically legos for cars. Part of me wants to print the lugs for a bike as a test of the metal printers and use carbon tubes and see how it looks in the end.

I am pretty sure we can print stuff in really good materials for cheaper than wax SLA and investment casting. Certainly faster.

wearymicrobe wrote:

That is a thing of beauty. How are they bonding the carbon to the metal structure?

In reply to nderwater:

There are adhesives specifically for carbon-aluminum bonding. Prep is key though- the insides of those carbon tubes are coated in mold release!

I will love when this becomes a thing.

It would be cool if they could 3d print engines eventually even. Or wheels.

I can't wait, this tech grows every year.

In reply to DrBoost:

Can you use Creo files for that? If not, what kind of files can you use?

tuna55 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

mr2peak wrote: looks like early 1990's bike frame construction.

Yep. I was thinking print in wax or sla and make a investment casting you could make a more universal joint which could be used throughout the car. Basically legos for cars. Part of me wants to print the lugs for a bike as a test of the metal printers and use carbon tubes and see how it looks in the end.

I am pretty sure we can print stuff in really good materials for cheaper than wax SLA and investment casting. Certainly faster.

Not currently, at least not in metal, plastic its cheaper 99% of the time now for me to print a one off.

I think that these guys might even be overdoing the design a bit. For a locost you really just need 90 degree bends and corner connectors for a very very very basic layout. Mind you they are building a 7 figure 2.2 0-60 electric supercar with this tech.

wearymicrobe wrote:

tuna55 wrote:

wearymicrobe wrote:

mr2peak wrote: looks like early 1990's bike frame construction.

Yep. I was thinking print in wax or sla and make a investment casting you could make a more universal joint which could be used throughout the car. Basically legos for cars. Part of me wants to print the lugs for a bike as a test of the metal printers and use carbon tubes and see how it looks in the end.

I am pretty sure we can print stuff in really good materials for cheaper than wax SLA and investment casting. Certainly faster.

Not currently, at least not in metal, plastic its cheaper 99% of the time now for me to print a one off. I think that these guys might even be overdoing the design a bit. For a locost you really just need 90 degree bends and corner connectors for a very very very basic layout. Mind you they are building a 7 figure 2.2 0-60 electric supercar with this tech.

With Inconel?

It's 1990's bike tech, as in nobody does it any more. All-carbon or all-aluminum has been proven to be a superior product over time. The sidewall thickness of a bike frame vs a car might make the difference though. Ease for low production numbers is my guess.

mr2peak wrote: It's 1990's bike tech, as in nobody does it any more. All-carbon or all-aluminum has been proven to be a superior product over time. The sidewall thickness of a bike frame vs a car might make the difference though. Ease for low production numbers is my guess.

Yeah but they are ugly and you cannot do the layup at home. I LOVE old lugged frames

Cant wait until i can print a new intake manifold

Meh, unless you have an engineering degree and really know what you're doing I don't think this is a great idea. The technology is almost there but requires very good process control and post processing to really approach normal metallic properties. Plus bonding carbon to aluminum is a non-trivial process.

I want 3D metal rods, but with interiors configured similar to bones, ie long elliptical cells running lengthwise, and solid 'skins'.

bL79 wrote: Meh, unless you have an engineering degree

There are more then a few of on the board here who have degrees, or not, and are perfectly capable of doing things much much further beyond this. Stick around you will see.