3D Printed Servo

Using your 3D printer you can create servo mechanisms to produce controlled movements. This is a very interesting and exciting field of science that makes you feel fulfilled with what you learn and make. Use your creativity and think about more and more possibilities that you can create combining 3D printing with servo mechanisms and electro-mechanics.  

The post starts with an interesting video with some examples and continues with another video on how to build these kinds of machines.

We don’t intend to speak about the definition of a servo mechanism but if you require more information, you can use the following links:

How servos work

homofaciens.de

Servocity.com

Seatle Robotics

3D Print Servos

In this video, RCLifeOn youtube channel is using the following 3 mechanisms from thingiverse to create the machines.

Motorized Door Lock

3D printable robotic arm claw gripper

Linear actuator for mini servo (11-20gr)

It’s really interesting. Sit relaxed and enjoy it.

How To Make A 3D printed Servo Mechanism

Where to buy Servos?

In Amazon , you can find a variety of servos with different torque capacities and varuios applications including RC Robot cars and helicopters. You can also find a range of the components related to servos including servo gears, arms, cases and mounts there.

Click Here to see the different products and check the prices.

Bottom Line

In conclusion this small post is showing how you can extend the variety of your 3D printed parts by using your creativity and combining 3D printing with other different fields of science.

In the future posts we will see more of these examples and applications.

See you there soon.

The post 3D Printing Electro-Mechanical and Servo Machines appeared first on Best Cheap 3D Printers.

Lost_wax_casting ( Wikimedia)

Use your 3D printers to create metal parts. It’s really exciting!! Isn’t it?  In this post we are looking at some practical examples of using 3D printing in other manufacturing methods. Combining the ideas in these videos you can think of mass production of parts with the help of your 3D printer. Totally we will watch 4 videos in this post that cover the following topics:

• Lost Polymer Casting

• Low temperature Metal Casting        (Reusable  Mould)

• Cold Casting

• Use a Reusable Silicon Mould To Cast Plastic Parts

Lost Polymer Casing 

In this video Peter Alaric shows you how to create real metal parts with the help of our 3D printed parts. It may take some time but you produce a part that is mechanically much stronger, and functions better. Using multiple 3D prints in multiple moulds enables us to produce several parts in a shorter time and this means a production with higher speed. 

Relax and enjoy this interesting video… 

Bismuth Crystal

Low temperature Metal Casting (Reusable Mould)

Chris DePrisco  is showing us how to use Silicon rubber to make a reusable mould to cast the metals with low melting point temperature.

You may ask, ” Is it possible to cast a metal in a polymer mould?”

He is using Bismuth-Tin alloy as the metal with melting point at 138 ̊ C ( 281 ̊ F ) and Alumilite’s High Strength 3 Kit  ( 205 ̊ C ) to make the mould.

Note to the points that he mentions during the video.

Why is he using the primer and the top coat before casting?

Air bubble is something you’d like to prevent because they create holes in your Silicon rubber mould which in turn creates ugly tiny metal balls on the outer surface of your casted part.

He applies a thin layer of the Silicon to the outer surface of the master (3D printed) part with a paint brush. This is a very important step to prevent the air bubbles( pockets) on the internal surface of your mould. Think How?

 There is another point that help you prevent air bubbles. Once the surface of the master has been covered, hold your mixed rubber high above one corner of your mould box and pour a small thin stream of rubber and slowly fill the box. The thin stream will burst any air bubbles as you pour it in the box. 

Enjoy this interesting video and see how many important points you can extract from it.

Cold Casting

This method uses a very simple logic and it is mixing metal powders with some resins. Paul from  Mold3D Channel is showing us how to create antique-like beautiful pieces of art .

You can create parts with shiny or rusty appearances and also with magnetic properties.

He has mentioned a lot of important and useful points that will make our work easier towards a beautiful result. So please note carefully!

Why has he used a bath of Alcohol ? 

What brand of resin he is using and with what ratio of parts A and B?

How we can reduce the air bubbles in the resin and mould?

Mention some safety points when mixing the resins.

What is the ratio of iron powder and resin?

Why is he using mould release?

Continue asking questions and complete the points that Paul has mentioned in his helpful video.

You can see that with the way he is pouring the resin he could reach to a good quality in final part with a few small bubbles which are not so important. We need to copy this method for our castings to reach to the same level of quality or even better.

Use a Reusable Silicon Mould To Cast Plastic Parts

Watch and enjoy this interesting video from Smooth-On you tube channel. Don’t forget to write down the valuable practical points that are mentioned especially about the pouring method. 

We can see that after preparing the mould the speed of manufacturing in this method is much more than a 3D printer. So this method could be a good option for mass production of the parts.

Isn’t it exciting?

Don’t forget to consider the production cost and quality.

Useful Links

Cold Cast Bronze Tutorial

How to Cold Cast

Degassing

Bottom Line

Now we have more knowledge on how to use our 3D printer to produce parts with higher quantities and more material variety. Mass production of plastic parts is something that we can think of it. It can mean less time spent for creating similar parts if we need them. It can also mean to us creating a business or more money. 

I don’t know about you but I feel really excited about the extent of the opportunities that have opened in my mind.

With more knowledge, creativity also works better. Think more and find more opportunities…

See you soon in the next post.

The post Use Your 3D Prints to Cast Metals and Non-Metals appeared first on Best Cheap 3D Printers.

Electroplating Process (WIKIPEDIA)

With electroplating , we can cover our 3D printed parts with metallic coats and give them the shiny and beautiful appearance of true metals. Gold, Copper and Nickel are 3 of the most important metals we can use in this regard. We can think of setting up a good business with manufacturing the more valuable gold or metal coated parts.

The logic is really easy. 

The Easy Logic of Electroplating

• Make your plastic part conductive to electricity
• Prepare the appropriate medium  solution
• Connect the coating metal bars( Gold, Copper or nickel ) to the positive side of your electrical source and put it in the solution. (Anode)
• Connect the part that you want it to be coated to the negative side and put it in the solution(Cathode)
• Wait for the coating particles to separate from coating material bars and sit on your part
• Finally do the final finishing and fining

How to Make Your Plastic 3D printed Parts Conductive To Electricity

Barkus Labs youtube channel uses an interesting and cheap method to make a conducting mixture. They use a mixture of Acrylic Paint and Graphite fine powder to cover the outer surface of the printed part. Acrylic paint sticks to the plastic and graphite gives the electricity conductivity , creating a conductive outer layer on the 3D printed parts.

Now enjoy this interesting video.

Gold Plating Your 3D Printed Parts

Gold Plated 3D Print

Conductive Ink is another solution that comes to help us make our plastic parts conduct electricity. Note that conductive ink will not stick to the dry surface of the part. You need to apply a clear lacquer solution to dissolve the outer layer of the part and apply the conductive ink while the solution is not completely dried. This gives time to the ink to mix with the solution and dry together with it. After the layer mixture is dried an outer conductive layer will be created on the part.

The following video from Uwe Klinkmuller youtube channel helps us implement our Gold coating process step by step. It gives all the details to enable us to perform a complete coating job.

It’s really helpful and interesting. Enjoy watching it….. 

Bottom Line

Now we have stepped another valuable and exciting step forward. Combining the 3D printing with electroplating we expect something more than just fun and creating beautiful parts. We are looking at creating more value out of our 3D printed parts. We can think of creating Jewels and valuable Gold or Silver coated artefacts.

Use your creativity and establish a successful business out of your 3D printing fun. Why should we limit ourselves just to the combination of 3D printing and electroplating. Think of the other fields of science and find out what valuable thing or service you can can present to the world. 

See you soon in future posts where we’ll discuss on more applications of 3D printing.

I am really excited! What about you?

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