What's new
By:
Pinball info

Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

Unobtainium parts ?

pinsinthewild

pinsinthewild

Site Supporter
10 Years
Joined
Oct 28, 2012
Messages
306
Thinking of doing some research into 3D printing and putting some money into it
So am going to put a list together of stuff that I can make!
I have access to probably any given part to get dimensions
Any ideas
Cheers Baz
 
Banzai Run lifter, a solenoid embedded in plastic that goes up and down a threaded bar. The same threaded bar does the mist multi ball in BSD
 
3D printing not always super strong or long lasting but can be a good way to make the forms for a silicone mould that can then be used to cast more resilient plastic parts. Lots of variables and options to play with and learning to be done! I'm definitely not an expert just my initial thoughts. How are your CAD skills? I know several people that like to use Fusion360 as a cost effective CAD package - though others that hate the workflow! The online 3D printing community is huge and full of tips and tricks. Best of luck and looking forward to seeing progress :)
 
saladman said:
3D printing not always super strong or long lasting but can be a good way to make the forms for a silicone mould that can then be used to cast more resilient plastic parts. Lots of variables and options to play with and learning to be done! I'm definitely not an expert just my initial thoughts. How are your CAD skills? I know several people that like to use Fusion360 as a cost effective CAD package - though others that hate the workflow! The online 3D printing community is huge and full of tips and tricks. Best of luck and looking forward to seeing progress :)
Click to expand...
Pretty good on autocad 3D
The printer I’m looking at is the formlabs 2
Resin rather than sla
The anycubic lads are really good been procrastinating for a good while now but starting to think it’s time to **** or get off the pot !
got a huge backlog of pinballs to get off my list but always interested in something new
 
Formlabs 2 looks like a nice printer. re: 'resin rather than SLA' - do you mean resin/SLA rather than FDM? My understanding is that the formlabs printer is an SLA printer that uses resin. Basically using UV lasers / LEDs to cure the resin layer by layer, compared to FDM printers that use a continuously fed and heated filament of plastic.

Experience that I have had is that SLA seems to give a lot nicer finish than FDM - especially with some post-print processing. I have found this link useful in the past: https://www.3dhubs.com/knowledge-base/post-processing-sla-printed-parts/

However there are some caveats / gotchas. Firstly the propensity for UV damage - see below for a part that was pretty white when printed (SLA), but discoloured after a couple of months in a bright sunny room. Was flat on a shelf, turned upside down to take photo of difference between exposed and unexposed areas.

IMG_20190531_095409.jpg

Second is that SLA printed parts (depending on resin used, ymmv) seem to deform over time when under compression.

The UV discolouration can be negated / fixed by painting that parts. I don't have any experience or hard data on how UV exposure affects structural integrity of the printed parts.

Again, for mechanically functional parts I would be tempted to look at mould making and casting. Can start with relatively simple two part silicone mould and get increasingly complex / expensive: https://hackaday.com/2016/02/09/learn-resin-casting-techniques-duplicating-plastic-parts/


Some super detailed information about a slightly different mould making / casting technique can be found here: https://lcamtuf.coredump.cx/gcnc/ch4/

Lots of procrastination there ;)
 
Congo volcanoes are always smashed to bits
A lot of Rudis head parts are very difficult to source. Especially the rear of his head and eye balls. These would obviously need painting though. But given the choice, those that need them are desperate for them and would have a go themselves for sure over having nothing
 
When I had my space station (shouldn’t have sold that one!) I had a job finding the actual space station had to wait until “free play?” On pinside reproduced them I think he used a vacuum former, but they were still very flimsy maybe a more solid one of them?
isn’t the dr dude figure unobtainable?
And is there an issue with the satellite dish on golden eye? Or is that ceramic?
 
I bought a 3D printer off eBay last year. It gave me three solid weeks of pure hell before I sold it on. Never again. I use 3D modeling software e.g. Maya, every day of the week so that side of it wasn't a problem...but getting the damn machine to print anything was absolutely impossible. I managed half a plant pot and that was it. The base would usually come unstuck on the platform halfway through a build (which takes many hours) and wreck the rest of the build. Or it would just crash. I can't even tell you how many hours of my life I wasted for that half a plant pot.
 
I have to admit that I can't muster up the sanity to run a 3D printer myself, either. Things have certainly improved over the years - I have a few mates that are happily printing away on cheap (ALDI and similar) FDM printers - but way too much hassle for me. I am also lacking in the 3D CAD department which doesn't help. I spent a bunch of time in Shenzhen recently and was getting next day SLA prints done for so cheap it didn't make sense to have my own printer. I miss that place...
 
Ditto with 3D printing just hassle beyond belief and stuff that came out seemed to need so much more after work to make anything viably cost effective.
That said I have a friend who has 3 running constantly making scale race track/railway figures and buildings so if I’m in need of anything I leave it to the experts in this case my mate.
 
Colywobbles said:
Ditto with 3D printing just hassle beyond belief and stuff that came out seemed to need so much more after work to make anything viably cost effective.
That said I have a friend who has 3 running constantly making scale race track/railway figures and buildings so if I’m in need of anything I leave it to the experts in this case my mate.
Click to expand...
Always good to know a guy
 
I think we are still at the golf ball level of printing. But I’d like to be in at the start as the process evolves
 
Said this before. Forget using a 3D print for anything a ball will contact. My 200 grand one wouldn't even be any use for that let alone a 3500 formlabs or ultimaker. To make a mold off, knock yourself out!
 
Sven Normansson said:
Said this before. Forget using a 3D print for anything a ball will contact. My 200 grand one wouldn't even be any use for that let alone a 3500 formlabs or ultimaker. To make a mold off, knock yourself out!
Click to expand...
Bondo is the way to go with vac forming moulds
 
Love my cheapy 3D printer... is great for knocking up odd things.... Example is i bought a pair of Wifi Antennas the other day.. pole mounts. I have a pole one end, nothing to mount on the other. just over an hour later a had a sturdy mount to screw onto the gamesroom, and then mount the antenna on :)
 
Some Zacc's have spinners with a little plastic piece complete with notch on it to lift the spinner wire, if it's missing then no spinner scoring. It's the first and only piece I've had 3D printed (so far).
 
pinsinthewild said:
Pretty good on autocad 3D
The printer I’m looking at is the formlabs 2
Resin rather than sla
The anycubic lads are really good been procrastinating for a good while now but starting to think it’s time to **** or get off the pot !
got a huge backlog of pinballs to get off my list but always interested in something new
Click to expand...

always thought resin was too brittle for Pinball. Had good success on loads of different pinball parts that I’ve designed and made on my Prusa i3 mk3s (around £700) using pla and abs. The myth that parts aren’t strong enough seems to puzzle me. Not everything needs to be the same as steel
 
Brilliant cheers guys hopefully this will be better than the two part ronseal wood filler I've been using up till now
 
The pursuit plastics on Judge Dredd seem to be as rare as rocking horse poo.
 
RudeDogg1 said:
It’s the same stuff just the wood one is easier to sand
Click to expand...
Wood filler is easier to sand than P38, but P38 is tougher and you can get it to a much glassier finish way easier. Not like wood filler can't be gotten to a high-grade finish or anything, but if you care about the kind of sanding that has you graduating grit levels >3000, then it's no contest.

(For the record, I usually don't bother with that amount of ballache. But on the MX5... yeah I'll sweat it)
 
PBrookfield said:
Wood filler is easier to sand than P38, but P38 is tougher and you can get it to a much glassier finish way easier. Not like wood filler can't be gotten to a high-grade finish or anything, but if you care about the kind of sanding that has you graduating grit levels >3000, then it's no contest.

(For the record, I usually don't bother with that amount of ballache. But on the MX5... yeah I'll sweat it)
Click to expand...

You know he means the 2 part polyester wood filler right?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom