3-D printed replacement parts

[TWE143]

3-D Printed Parts. Parts printed by 3-D Printing, also known as Additive Manufacturing, need to be considered as a source of replacement parts on our antiques when no other source can be found. Metallic parts have been printed for several years. The hardest part for us would be locating the part we need that can be borrowed or carefully measured, preferably by digitization, because we often have no drawings available—not just CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) drawings, but no drawing at all. Following are a few ideas written by David Wagman in an article about 3-D printed parts used in a nuclear power plant.

 

“Mature” parts are especially suited for additive manufacturing, because replacements are almost impossible to find. 3-D sourced parts can allow our machines to continue to function even when an original replacement can’t be found. The parts can be reverse engineered (digitized) to become a “digital twin” of the original. In this case testing showed that the material properties of the 3-D printed part were actually superior to the original.

 

You have probably noticed that many local libraries now have 3-D printers making parts out of plastic. Observing one of these will illustrate the printing principles. In industry they have been doing metal printing for some time. The cost will very likely be much more than a replacement original part, but if the original is unobtainable, 3-D printing provides an option.

[Durant Mike]

Tim

A member of our Durant Motors Automobile Club had some distributor mounting brackets made using the 3D printing method and they looked fantastic. He took an original had a young neighbor who had great CAD experience draw it up, had a professional factor using this technique make them and pour them in a metal/bronze material.  The part needs some cleaning up, and a good powder coating to make it look like the original silver color since it comes out a gold tinted color, but I was amazed at the quality and the ability to do this. It is a great way to get those old parts for cars no longer manufactured and a cheaper price usually than a machinist can make it.

 

Mike