Return to Hobie.com
Hobie Forums
It is currently Mon Mar 18, 2024 11:35 pm

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 44 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next
Author Message
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 12:52 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
The end caps for the posts going up into the scupper holes on my wheels fell out awhile ago. Recently I purchased a 3D printer so I though I'd make some new ones. Fit like a dream and help to safely guide the wheels into the scupper holes. I printed them in orange so I can see them down though the holes when fitting.

I've gooped these ones in and made them a slight interference fit too. They are made using ABS plastic. I'm sure there are more things I can use the 3D printer for on the kayak...

Image

Image

Image

Image

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:07 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Nov 05, 2011 1:58 am
Posts: 2893
Location: Forster, NSW, Australia
Can you make a girlfriend? :lol:

_________________
Tony Stott
2012 Tandem Island "SIC EM" with Hobie spinnaker


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:14 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
That could be destructive if successful. She’d most likely want to sell all my toys and want to buy boring stuff like furniture and have me remove the oil stains off the driveway…

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 2:30 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
They are certainly an amazing piece of kit. I use one at work and I'm still blown away at how useful it is.

I must admit, I've never thought about it for Hobie bits........Hmmmm

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 7:27 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Mon Jul 19, 2010 7:53 am
Posts: 297
Location: Palm City, Florida
Holy Smokes.

When I initially saw the title to this post: "3-D Printing Spare Parts" I said to myself, "What da @&%$*?... That's got to be some kind of mistake". So I passed it over,.... but then curiosity got the better of me.

That's incredible! I never knew machines like this even existed, or were available at this level (boy do I feel old :roll:. )
But you got one to "play with" - how did you do that? - how much was it?

Hummm... If my kids got me one for my Birthday they'd never have to worry about what kind of present to get for Dear-Ole-Dad ever again..., I'd be doing them a favor :lol: .
Oh boy, I could get in to some serious "kayak parts" trouble with one of these bad boys in my shop!

Cowsgomoo, do you want to move to Palm City Florida? Do you like oranges? We have some lovely beaches here and the weather and sailing is great year round :D .
By the way... He dosen't know it yet but my neighbors house is for sale :P .

_________________
Sun E Sailor
Ezra Appel
Palm City, Florida
2014 Tandem Island


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 1:28 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Tue May 18, 2010 2:31 pm
Posts: 3068
Location: Kailua 96734
Think you can whip out some Railblaza Railmount spacers? We're going to need lots more of those.

oh - and rudder pins,.. :mrgreen:


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 3:14 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Thu Aug 16, 2007 2:25 pm
Posts: 2863
Location: Central Coast NSW Australia
Brilliant CGM! 8)
Ever since I saw it used in 'Jurassic Park' I've wanted one.
Are they now at a consumer level?


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Aug 17, 2012 6:59 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
The "home" end of the 3D printer market has 2 general types. The DIY/open source type and the "off the shelf" type. I've selected an off-the-shelf UP! Plus printer. This type was reviewed in Silicon Chip magazine -
http://www.siliconchip.com.au/cms/A_112546/article.html

The price has since plummeted from that quoted in the article. I paid under $1900 for mine. The advantage of the off the shelf types is that they are ready to go pretty much out of the box, whereas the DIY jobbies can take significant time to assemble and tune for quality printing. A guy at work is building one and I've printed him all the plastic parts which are available for download from the internet.

They are really most useful for rapid prototyping rather than final product. However depending on the final use you can make final products successfully. Not sure I'd use it for making rudder pins. Hobie put a lot of effort into getting the material right for the job and I'd rather trust their pins than untested printed ones. I'd certainly give noncritical items a go though.

The ABS plastic comes as filament on spools and is available in a range of colours. It's supposed to be relatively UV stable. You can also use PLA plastic which is a renewable resource from maize or corn starch. It dissolves in water however so may not really work well on a kayak...

See here for a 3D printed ball bearing (skip middle part of video)-
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GOEbZ98J1Ks[/youtube]

Many existing objects can be downloaded and printed from here-
http://www.thingiverse.com/

Custom objects need to be designed in a 3D CAD package of some type. Google Sketchup is a free one that will work. The file needs to be saved as an STL file for import into the UP! printer software. Learning the CAD software can be a significant learning curve if you want to make your own stuff.

Image

Last thing worth mentioning is that larger objects printed in high quality can take a while to print. Longest print I've done was 10 hours for custom extension tube for an optical gizmo a guy at work was building. Think he's looking at getting his own printer now....

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Aug 18, 2012 6:38 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2011 3:57 am
Posts: 244
Location: Fairfax, CA USA
There is also a program available from Autodesk ( full disclosure I work for 'em), called 123D Catch, that allows you to take photos of an object then it creates a 3d model file from it. I've been playing with it and it does work, but takes some fiddling.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Nov 29, 2012 8:43 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Admiral

Joined: Wed Jun 20, 2012 10:16 pm
Posts: 150
Location: Belmont. NC
:mrgreen: [url]Image[/url]


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 9:19 am 
Offline
Site Admin

Joined: Tue May 27, 2003 12:44 pm
Posts: 15021
Location: Oceanside, California
3D printers have changed the course of Hobie Cat for sure... certainly allowed for throttle up! We have a couple and they are awesome for prototypes. The plastic is not strong, so things like rudder pins or parts requiring specific flex or strength are not possible. You can use them for fit and function and sometimes in real use, but they break easier than a properly injected nylon-fiber reinforced part.

_________________
Matt Miller
Former - Director of Parts and Accessory Sales
Warranty and Technical Support
Hobie Cat USA
(Retired 11/7/2022)


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Fri Nov 30, 2012 3:53 pm 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Fri May 08, 2009 5:06 am
Posts: 1701
Location: Lake Macquarie NSW AUSTRALIA
Our works have just developed and commissioned a Titanium 3D printer. I have to get some parts manufactured within the next month so I'll let you all know the specs and take some shots of the results. We currently have the 3D plastic machine and the thought process in design is completely different. Some shapes that weren't possible using conventional machining processes are now a reality. ie: I'm currently working on an injector that has a 1mm round hole opening up into a 3.5mm x 2mm slot with fillets and then back into a 1.5mm round hole. Try knock'n that up on the lathe.

It's all pretty exciting.

_________________
Image

Don't take life too seriously................it ain't permanent.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Dec 01, 2012 1:53 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Deck Hand

Joined: Tue Nov 13, 2012 10:28 pm
Posts: 13
What an interesting thread this is, I will be keen to see what people make with this technology.


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Thu Dec 06, 2012 2:34 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Mon May 04, 2009 5:02 am
Posts: 817
Location: Sydney - Parramatta
And they print great Christmas decorations....

_________________
Image


Top
 Profile  
 
PostPosted: Sat Dec 22, 2012 11:47 am 
Offline
Site Rank - Old Salt

Joined: Sat Apr 28, 2007 11:59 pm
Posts: 586
Location: Coffs Harbour, NSW, Australia
Loving this Thread, Cows you lucky bugger I so want one of those things.

_________________
Fair Skies, Max.


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 44 posts ]  Go to page 1, 2, 3  Next

All times are UTC - 8 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 2 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum

Jump to:  
© Hobie Cat Company. All rights reserved.
Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group