A 3-D printed Sound Box!

[JerryVan]

Resolution and strength are still far short of machined, forged or cast parts. Models can be produced for casting. That is probably the best application for rapid prototyping. The process is not accurate enough for gears. Even if you could live with the inaccuracies, the strength and wear properties would make for a short service life.

Agree 100%

[Mormon S]

Resolution and strength are still far short of machined, forged or cast parts. Models can be produced for casting. That is probably the best application for rapid prototyping. The process is not accurate enough for gears. Even if you could live with the inaccuracies, the strength and wear properties would make for a short service life.

Agree 100%

New 3d printing technologies have been made that can produce at much higher quality than any consumer available 3d printers. With smaller filament extrusion tips, faster extrusion rates, faster movements and better tracking, I think really nice gears will me possible in the near future. This hasn't been the case with metal printers, but new filaments such as the Nylon Carbon Fiber ones, gears dont have to be metal

Martin

[Phonofreak]

This would be a great idea if those Mikkyphone black resonators are 3-D printed. That would replace the originals that are lost or busted.
Harvey Kravitz

[Django]

Resolution and strength are still far short of machined, forged or cast parts. Models can be produced for casting. That is probably the best application for rapid prototyping. The process is not accurate enough for gears. Even if you could live with the inaccuracies, the strength and wear properties would make for a short service life.

Agree 100%

New 3d printing technologies have been made that can produce at much higher quality than any consumer available 3d printers. With smaller filament extrusion tips, faster extrusion rates, faster movements and better tracking, I think really nice gears will me possible in the near future. This hasn't been the case with metal printers, but new filaments such as the Nylon Carbon Fiber ones, gears dont have to be metal

Martin

I use Stratasys regularly. I have never used a consumer machine. I have not seen parts that I would use in a precision gear train or parts that could cause additional damage upon failure . If a gear breaks under a high load you could find yourself needing the entire train. I wouldn’t want my fingers in there when the load is released. The finish would be a big concern with gears. Even if the gear held up, it would be likely to ruin the gear that it meshes with. A housing or a tonearm may be fine.

Stratasys claims strength equal to cast parts now, but I would still be concerned about wear of mating parts and overall accuracy. I have found that the hype tends to be better than the end result. The metal parts are still very expensive. The way that things have been going, I think that before long technology will be at a point where we can apply it to our 100+ year old machines.

[mick_vt]

New 3d printing technologies have been made that can produce at much higher quality than any consumer available 3d printers. With smaller filament extrusion tips, faster extrusion rates, faster movements and better tracking, I think really nice gears will me possible in the near future. This hasn't been the case with metal printers, but new filaments such as the Nylon Carbon Fiber ones, gears dont have to be metal

Martin

laser based metal ones now provide capabilities and properties in the finished article that exceed machining of billet metal - but it's very very expensive