Here’s a thought ..
3d printer..
Microfoundry ( other brands are available)..
..=====> cast part..all at home…
Discuss

Are said suppliers willing to accept orders for one-off castings from a customer's file

Not in the cases that I was thinking of, you would be better off e-mailing your file to one of several small companies that can print and cast as it would be more cost effective than going through the middle man ( the supplier I had in mind) . For this type of service then Abby Castings would be OK for lost wax non ferrous stuff, and someone like Engineers Emporium or RGS can produce larger patterns (printed or CNC machined) and cast in most metals such as iron, steel, aluminium and the brass/bronzes.

if so; in what cast materials

I the example I was thinking of the parts were lost wax cast steel, brass and bronze

Is the obvious cost-saving being shared with the customer

I suspect that the file/pattern was given to the supplier in return for some other parts for that particular engine but that is pure speculation on my part, it could just have easily been given freely or paid for.

Little Samson were the casting suppliers I was thinking of and in particular some of the parts for their 6" GMT

We have already seen on the forum and in ME flywheel spokes being lazer cut and then passed onto another supplier (Blackgates) and being made available to the masses. I would not be surprised to see the next of Neils stationary engines to be sporting a flywheel that was drawn in CAD, 3D Printed by the same person who lazer cut the other (JS) and then cast by Blackgates foundry and made available from them.

I'm currently scaling up an engine and although a lot will be fabricated there are likely to be some castings and I may well go down the CNC/Printed pattern route as there are 3 to 5 of us who will be building the same engine which will spread the costs.

J

Exactly; I bought my 3D printer for a current automotive work project. It will allow me to design and make cases, clips and ducting as needed. The important concept is that it will change the way I design, simply because I can print a part that would be impossible, or time consuming, to machine. In the same way my CNC mill changed the way I designed parts for machining, often making the complex simple.

Regards,

Andrew

Maybe not in the traditional model engineers workshop but what about the more general Home Workshop where people may be wanting to make things for their RC helicopter or car, something for that motorbike or car restoration where it would be ideal to repair that old bakerlite or perrished rubber component. This is an area that will attract people into the ME hobby as they start by wanting to make parts for the above and tthen once they have the lathe, mill or printer want to find other uses for it. I got started in ME through RC offroaders in the late 80s.

I would also say there is a rising number of people with home foundries and the ease of making patterns would only encourage this as there would be no more of the "dreaded brown stuff" which so many seem to shy away from. You only need to look at forums like Alloyavenue or Madmodder to see there are plenty of home casters.

J

All this is a bit like railways will never catch on people cannot survive over 10 miles an hour. 3D printing is here it’s getting more affordable by the minute the quality of the low cost machines will improve over time as will their resolution and if they aren’t already they will become an integral part of the hobby.

It’s a bit like CNC it’s only limited by your imagination and skill. So for coverage explain the different processes, material selection, importance of resolution, deposit rates, examples all make it easier to understand the possibilities. For those building from a set of castings and published drawings I can see the shoulder shrug now. For people like myself building a one off it’s a godsend.

I need one Stones Tonus headlight, first iteration was a CNC one form Australia which weighed a ton and is mantelpiece fodder only. Next iteration was spending hours making one. Third iteration was send a 3D file to Shapeways squirt a bit of nylon out and I have a super detailed model to casts millions from. And all I need to do is fettle the casting drill the hinge pins and make a few eye bolts, now in my book that’s a time saver.

JasonB

Thanks for the very informative reply to my questions.

Much appreciated.

MichaelG.

It seems that most of the comments above are in favour of having a 3D CAD capability rather than owning a 3D printer of ones own. Andrew Johnston's and John Stevenson's comments are always informative and interesting but their commercial slant is not necessarily relevant to this discussion. They can, after all, write off some of their costs against tax! It seems to me that in the hobby world 3D printing and, to a certain extent CNC machining, are an end in themselves. I have seen very little reference to the use of CNC in any of the construction articles published in ME. Comparison of the US market to the UK is difficult since the US has a much larger population, individuals generally have a larger disposible income and certainly tend to have larger workshops because of the availability of land and the way US houses tend to be built with basements. I'm no luddite – I worked very hard to get some small CNC machines (Denford) at my place of work for use in an R&D department and I would love to have both the income and space to replicate these at home, there is just so much that would be easier using CNC rather than manual methods. But, the Novaturn and Novamill with software were of the order of £12,000 each. Just at the moment even £3.5K to Arceurotrade is a bit much and I would rather be making models at the present than machines. I feel that if MEW goes too far towards the use of expensive equipment there is the risk of losing the minimill and minilathe owners who, presumably, are the future of model engineering. Even reference to a Myford lathe now seems to be considered by some to be elitist.

Just my tuppenceworth for discussion,

Rod

Maybe in answer to original question..” How do we cover..”

.just like other subjects…
Based on submissions. .

On a personal note I have started casting again. I say 'again' but the reality is that as a schoolboy I did a good deal of casting in White Metal and a good few years have now passed. A while ago when I wanted to make something in Aluminium I thought I might just "Do it Myself" and it has gone on from there. I am presently setting up to cast in Bronze. And thoroughly enjoying it too.

graham.

my second point on the 11th was that if say someone writes an article on how to produces say SIMPLEX wheel patterns or another popular design via 3D printer then i can see Reeves, Blackgates et al not being very happy! i was always a bit surprised that ME published terry aspin's articles on backyard foundry stuff, notwithstanding the safety issues. no magazine can afford to upset those who provide the advertising revenue!

cheers,

julian

Edited By julian atkins on 13/02/2014 00:21:40

So basically everyone is saying they are here to stay but refusing to accept the inevitable ?

Sounds about right.