Anyone used their metal printing service?
I've got a housing for mounting an E3D V6 into a Wanhao that has fit well when printed on the Z, but I'm worried about the ID of the slide bearing holes being bigger if printed in metal, therefore my money gone.
It would be good though, as I wouldn't have to worry about the hot end melting it.
Big dollars in aluminium, half price in stainless (go figure).
Just wondering if/how it's worked out for anyone here.
What sort of tolerances will they guarantee? Can you design the holes a bit on the small side and then bore them to fit?
If the part you are making is that finned silver object in the center of the pictures, it might not be too expensive to machine, especially in aluminum.
What sort of tolerances will they guarantee? Can you design the holes a bit on the small side and then bore them to fit?
If the part you are making is that finned silver object in the center of the pictures, it might not be too expensive to machine, especially in aluminum.
It's not the silver part. That's an E3D V6 hot end.
It's the blue printed parts.
Yes I've worried about tolerances as well.
It would be an expensive flop if I got it printed then the linear bearings were loose in the hole.
OK, the blue parts would be a little harder to machine, though you might still be better off to bore out the boring holes on metal printed versions of those parts. I'm guessing that Shapeways standard resolution will not be acceptable for your use. Shapeways should be able to answer that question. You could also try ProtoMold - I think that they also offer 3D metal printing.
As it goes I found the whole thing in metal, with a spare hot end thrown in to boot!
It runs 6mm bearings and I need 8, but I'll take a chance with the local machine shop boring it out for me as I would have had to probably with a printed metal part.
Hundreds of bucks cheaper.
Good deal!