[rescue] 3D printing

[Peter Corlett]

On Wed, Feb 02, 2022 at 07:55:04AM +0000, Peter Stokes wrote:
[...]
> I have a project for my car which would benefit from a 3D printed part,
> fairly large, a replacement air filter housing, so probably needs to be
> made in a few parts,

A couple of things to keep in mind for more heavy-duty uses of 3D printing
is that a typical hobbyist printer limits parts to whatever fits in a 20cm
cube, the parts are weaker in one dimension so you need to decide which,
things cannot be printed in mid-air, and the standard PLA filament is not
suitable for high-temperature applicaions. A "high" temperature can be as
low as 600C.

> but wondered if there are any hobbyist 3D printing groups/people anyone
> knows of which covers the U.K.?

It's one of those status symbols which hackspaces get as a thing they should
have for the look of it, and it may even still work and have not been hacked
around too much. When I was looking around locally for somewhere with a 3D
printer, the only place I could find was a theatre and art studio, since
they want all manner of bespoke plastic tat for their productions. I
eventually just bought one.

> I could go the whole hog and buy a setup etc, but I do not have the time
> and much better given to someone who actually knows what they are doing!

You're also looking at about #300 before you've printed your first part^W
spaghetti monster. The technology is not yet at the state where you can
throw a 3D model at it and it reliably spits out a perfect part.

It may be worthwhile looking for full-blown commercial services, since they
have bigger and better-maintained printers than hobbyists, and can produce
prints in a wider range of materials than the usual PLA. You will pay real
money for the prints, but they won't fall apart before you get them home.