That saddle tank is fantastic, what is the prototype? I shall we watching your entry into 3D CAD with interest

Hi Julia,

How do you do wheels with 3D printing then? - presumably they still need metal axles and tyres, so how does it all fit together? - are the 3d printed bits just cosmetic or is there a reliable way to fix axles and tyres onto them?

Regards, Andy

Just wanted to echo Bryn, that Saddle Tank is lovely!

Thanks Guys

That saddle tank is fantastic, what is the prototype? I shall we watching your entry into 3D CAD with interest

Hi Bryn, its a Peckett 0-4-0 Class 1687. (I only know that because its written on the drawing I am using!) I drawn the chassis for it and have it etched so a scale body for it would be good.

Hi Julia,

 

How do you do wheels with 3D printing then? - presumably they still need metal axles and tyres, so how does it all fit together? - are the 3d printed bits just cosmetic or is there a reliable way to fix axles and tyres onto them?

 

Regards, Andy

Hello Andy. Im not going to say too much on the wheels right now as its very early days and they will probably need some tweaking although I have sent off for an initial batch from the 3D printers. The tyre is going to be steel.

Those boxpok wheels look very nice! Are they designed for something specific?

 

Tom.

Hi Tom. A Dapol Q1, I have some etched coupling rods I drew specifically for the engine so the wheels seemed sensible to do as well. Maybe even drop in 2mm wheels for it?

M

They all look very interesting.

What software are you using? I'm playing around with Google SketchUp at the moment, and finding rounding off edges doesn't seem very easy - hence my choices of prototypres so far :-)

Ian

3D printing is definitely the way forward. One thing from my own experience is that the material can be very brittle. Also the material hardens over time when exposed to natural light so it is important to ensure that nothing is too thin when designing things to be printed in 3D.

Julia have you considered doing 3d Point rodding stools i recon if they were of a generic design you could ofset the costs of yours by selling them to 2mm and probably N guace soc members

please can ordeer some now

Me again

What software are you using?

Ian

Hello Ian. I am using Autocad Inventor and am just scraping the surface of what the software can do right now! Im sure as time goes on it will get easier, and ironically I find it more intuative to use than AutoCAD.

3D printing is definitely the way forward.

Hello Steven. I totally agree, its just a matter of time now until the equipment will be small and cheap enough to have one sat on your desk. The possibilities for this technology is amazing!

One thing from my own experience is that the material can be very brittle. Also the material hardens over time when exposed to natural light so it is important to ensure that nothing is too thin when designing things to be printed in 3D.

Thanks for the tip. I have been keeping an eye on the 3D forum here on RMWeb so hopefully I wont make too many big mistakes. I have decided to test these out with the Prime Grey material from IMaterialise as a sort of 'proof of concept'. It seemed the best option for them right now.

Julia have you considered doing 3d Point rodding stools i recon if they were of a generic design you could ofset the costs of yours by selling them to 2mm and probably N guace soc members

please can ordeer some now

Hi Nigel. I will bear that in mind, something generic would be lots better than the etched option right now. It would certianly be more flexible for sure! I am not so sure if something that small would print ok though.

M

Wow, that Peckett looks lovely, and shows off the nicely rounded shapes you get get with Inventor.

I have been trying boilers in Sketchup, but have been frustrated with the '50p shaped' circles and cylinders!

Can inventor export directly as an STL file?

Wow, that Peckett looks lovely, and shows off the nicely rounded shapes you get get with Inventor. I have been trying boilers in Sketchup, but have been frustrated with the '50p shaped' circles and cylinders!

Hi Will. I didnt realise that Sketchup was that awkward to do? The 50p shaped circles sounds awful! For me to round off a corner is just 2 clicks of the mouse..

Can inventor export directly as an STL file?

Yes it can, although there seems to be an issue with scaling of the bits. For example I had to increase the scale of something by 1000% once it was uploaded onto IMaterialise to get the right size. It looks like (from what I have read) not uncommon with Inventor drawings and 3D printing companies. I could always email you a drawing to check it out for yourself if you wish?

Very nice. I like the Q1 wheels just wish I had to Q1 to modify.

Don

Thank you Don. Dapol Q1s, available from any good model railway stockist!!

M

Reading this thread has made me realise how far technology is leaving me behind -

but I guess you have to get off the bus somewhere.... !

Must be exciting to be working (paid working) with this as its a great way to get trained up and build up your skills.

Me -I still don't see how a 3D drawing with hidden edges can be rendered by a machine though I've long since given up worrying about it!

Interesting stuff!

Hi Chris.

Must be exciting to be working (paid working) with this as its a great way to get trained up and build up your skills.

Heres the weird bit, I dont use it at work. 99.9% of the work I do is on 2D AutoCAD. Fingers crossed though sometime they will change to 3D.

Me -I still don't see how a 3D drawing with hidden edges can be rendered by a machine though I've long since given up worrying about it!

Interesting stuff!

Its quite exciting for me, if I can get used to drawing things specifically for 3D printing then it opens up so many more possibilities than 2D etching. The combination of the two technologies should make for some quite exciting bits and bobs.

As for the hidden edges thing, in Inventor (the software I use) you really dont get and hidden edges or faces. Once you tell it to stick one face to another (called constraining in Inventor) the two pieces are effectively 'welded' together to form a single solid. Add that to a function called 'shrink wrapping' which once you have finished adding all the bits it turns the whole model into a single solid you end up with something that can be 3D printed (hopefully!)

M

I assume the 3D printers work on a layering process (bit like landscape contours). Can it cope with voids and stand out details (e.g door handles) and printing that saddle tank.

Yes to all.

Searching on 3D printing shows some different techniques some use some support material to fill voids while printing which is later removed. So it may depend on the particular printer and how strong the material is for small details. Is it best to include all the details or add some later on?

Resolution is important. You can get some very high resolutions with good accuracy but the material may not be strong enough. (I've read recently of some developments on the nano scale for multiple layers.) Some detail is best added later for a low compromise solution. For example if you want fine handrails they are best added from guitar wire through handrail knobs afterwards. I think you already noticed that I prefer to print the body and add detail and match to an etched chassis so that I can have nice fine underframes.