First Experiment in 3D Printing

[45609]

I've been fascinated by the potential on offer by 3D printing so I decided it was time to try something out for myself. The incentive has been provided by my involvement in Robin Whittle's Barrow Road project. It has been very well publicised here. The Midland roundhouse had 24 roads radiating from the turntable and above every road there was a smoke hood to duct the exhaust from simmering locos to the outside world. Clear photographs of these things are not that easy to come by. The usual subject of the photograph being the loco underneath them. If you follow this link you will be able to see in the photo the silhouette of 2 smoke hoods. However, after much study of photos it has been possible to determine the basic proportions and generate a 3D model.

 

 

Yesterday I uploaded this model as a .stl file to the Shapeways site and placed an order for 2 printed in Frosted Ultra Detail (FUD). At the moment I'm considering these pieces to be purely experimental for a couple of reasons. Firstly I'm not sure whether they will be used directly on the model or whether one can be used to make a casting master. Secondly I have not yet applied any allowance for part shrinkage or material loss if the print needs fettling to remove print steps.

 

When the bits arrive I'll share my thoughts but in the meantime if anyone wants to use this thread for useful comments or discussion about Shapeways, FUD or 3D printing in general please knock yourselves out.

 

Cheers.....Morgan

 

P.S. Before anyone asks the CAD package I'm using is Siemens NX7.5

[richbrummitt]

Given you have a reasonably plain shape (not much fine surface detail) then I would suggest that once you have rubbed down and used a primer to get a smooth finish the size will be back where you started.

 

I have had 3d prints used as masters, but these have either been wax or sla type prints and used in a lost 'wax' arrangement. I've never done it myself, or on a small part.