» Site Navigation | | » Recent Threads | | | 1999 M3 Swap 09-07-2023 10:10 PM 06-01-2024 03:04 PM 7 Replies, 429,836 Views | | | | | | | 02-19-2015, 05:54 AM | #1 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | Custom 3D Plastic Printing Hey all, it is random, but our company has a 3D printer that has some down time. We use it to print molds out and for prototyping items before we buy them. If anyone wants anything designed or 3D printed, let me know. Our printer can do prints the size of 11.7in x 10.8in x 9.8in high. We print in ABS plastic. It is actually very strong stuff. If you are serious, we can get you a quote based on your needs. We can order colors if you need a special color. 25% of the profit we make goes to our nonprofit, the rest goes to our operating cost, living cost, materials, and general wear and tear of the printer. We will have the best price in town, you can shop around but we will be at least 50% cheaper than the cheapest site, and over 125% cheaper than commercial sites. I will also do any CAD work you need done. I will only charge $20 an hour. Others want 40 - 120 an hour so I hope this is reasonable. We will do any work, it doesn't need to be car parts. If the item you need is larger than the print area, I can print and design in sections and the part can be glued together. Thanks __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! | | | 02-19-2015, 08:06 AM | #2 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Quote: Originally Posted by hotmilk400 Hey all, it is random, but our company has a 3D printer that has some down time. We use it to print molds out and for prototyping items before we buy them. If anyone wants anything designed or 3D printed, let me know. Our printer can do prints the size of 11.7in x 10.8in x 9.8in high. We print in ABS plastic. It is actually very strong stuff. If you are serious, we can get you a quote based on your needs. We can order colors if you need a special color. 25% of the profit we make goes to our nonprofit, the rest goes to our operating cost, living cost, materials, and general wear and tear of the printer. We will have the best price in town, you can shop around but we will be at least 50% cheaper than the cheapest site, and over 125% cheaper than commercial sites. I will also do any CAD work you need done. I will only charge $20 an hour. Others want 40 - 120 an hour so I hope this is reasonable. We will do any work, it doesn't need to be car parts. If the item you need is larger than the print area, I can print and design in sections and the part can be glued together. Thanks | Can you print Cali top motor gears? They are Nylon or some other tough plastic material. I can loan out an example gear if we think the ABS plastic is an appropriate replacement material. I'd guess different members would be interested if the material is suitable which could recover design and material cost plus a profit. __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! | | | 02-19-2015, 12:43 PM | #3 | That's not Millpoint Blue Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: BNA Posts: 3,161 | Quote: Originally Posted by BlackBMWs Can you print Cali top motor gears? | LOL... that was the first thing I thought of, even before I was finished reading the whole post. The plastic gear in regular sunroof motors would be another similar candidate. They might be the same gear, I don't know. You might also consider making the plastic posts that connect the door panels to the door. I think someone was making, or going to make some, but I don't recall if that actually happened or not. __________________ Real men know how to SEARCH! THIS IS A MILLPOINT BLUE INTERIOR Mods 'n' stuff: Star Spoke 43 wheels - X-Brace - Mason Engineering front strut brace - CF gauge overlay - ZHP shifter knob - Racing Dynamics cat-back - Doubled brake lights - M-tech rear spoiler From Page 68 of the 1997 Owners Manual: "Vehicles equipped with ASC+T remain subject to the laws of physics." | | | 02-19-2015, 02:29 PM | #4 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | I printed plenty of gears in ABS and they are strong. I would say if the original gear is plastic the one I can make should be just as strong. I could definitely give it a try. I'm not familiar with the gear, is this something everyone wants? If the demand is high, I could eat the cost and design for free and just sell the gears. I can print a gear for way less than postage. Send me the gear and I'll be happy to help. As for the door clips, I remember someone made a set of them. They had them on ebay about 1 month ago but I dont see them online anymore. Maybe they sold out of what they had? I will look into them too. My car has a complete set, and I have a 2nd set that is almost complete. It would take me awhile to copy them all to the computer. Thanks everyone, I will look into both things. __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! Last edited by hotmilk400; 02-19-2015 at 02:51 PM. | | | 02-19-2015, 04:03 PM | #5 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Quote: Originally Posted by roadrash LOL... that was the first thing I thought of, even before I was finished reading the whole post. The plastic gear in regular sunroof motors would be another similar candidate. They might be the same gear, I don't know. You might also consider making the plastic posts that connect the door panels to the door. I think someone was making, or going to make some, but I don't recall if that actually happened or not. | Different gears, I checked. I'll pull a gear out of one of my spare motors and send it off. There are two identical nylon gears in that motor, typically the top (drive) gear is the one that gets stripped. I personally would get 4 gears to repair two motor assemblies. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! | | | 02-19-2015, 04:43 PM | #6 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | No worries, I think both gears should be replaced too. ABS should work fine but if the gear eats itself, I can order up some nylon and print with that. I never tried nylon because it warps easy during production. We can focus on getting the gear perfect first and maybe offer nylon later? Nylon is also much more expensive for me to print with, but we can surly use it later. - Update. Actually, I will probably switch to Nylon once we get the gear perfect in ABS. I called up the company I order supplies from and they told me that the strength will far exceed ABS. They actually use Nylon to print custom prosthetic body parts. They said ABS will work fine but nylon will make a better quality gear. Gotta go with quality over quantity __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! Last edited by hotmilk400; 02-19-2015 at 04:58 PM. | | | 02-19-2015, 09:28 PM | #7 | That's not Millpoint Blue Join Date: Apr 2005 Location: BNA Posts: 3,161 | Oh... I thought of one other thing that seems to be popular but hard to find, and could be made out of ABS... M-Tech rear bumpers. heh heh __________________ Real men know how to SEARCH! THIS IS A MILLPOINT BLUE INTERIOR Mods 'n' stuff: Star Spoke 43 wheels - X-Brace - Mason Engineering front strut brace - CF gauge overlay - ZHP shifter knob - Racing Dynamics cat-back - Doubled brake lights - M-tech rear spoiler From Page 68 of the 1997 Owners Manual: "Vehicles equipped with ASC+T remain subject to the laws of physics." | | | 02-19-2015, 09:44 PM | #8 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | I could vacuum form them but they would not be as pretty. Our company uses the 3D printer to make molds for vacuum forming so the idea isn't impossible. We could vacuum form in Plexiglas, polycarbonate or ABS, hmm, clear body parts? that would be different. haha __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! | | | 02-19-2015, 09:55 PM | #9 | Member Join Date: Oct 2014 Location: San Diego, CA Posts: 51 | You have a PM. LouM... | | | 02-19-2015, 10:34 PM | #10 | Senior Member Join Date: Jul 2007 Location: SW Florida Posts: 4,275 | I would love to have a few sets of gears for my cali-top motor. If this pans out...please keep me posted as I do not subscribe to any posts. Thanks __________________ Sean 1995 Active | | | 02-19-2015, 11:23 PM | #11 | Senior Member Join Date: May 2013 Location: Seattle Posts: 513 | I too would be a consumer of Cali-top gear sets. ...an interesting idea to ponder. | | | 02-20-2015, 12:54 AM | #12 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | Thanks LouM, I will def get you the part you want. TeeTime and Bradestar, I will contact you as soon as I get the part made. This will happen, I need the cash and the printer has downtime for the next few weeks. Thanks. __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! | | | 02-25-2015, 09:51 AM | #13 | Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 2,451 | Finally found a post office with shipping boxes... Mike, I'll ship out the motor tomorrow. Here a pic of the gears and the motor itself. This motor and gear has not been installed, NOS from Germany and my spare motor. Should be a good gear model as it has not been used or worn. You can use the motor to fit and test the new gears. I'll include a Torx screwdriver to open the case. While there are four gears, the two nylon looking ones are the ones that usually fail. There is a rubber union piece in between the gears to hold them together. Thanks again for attempting this fabrication. Cheers, Rich __________________ 1998 318ti Sport - "Cali" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, Cali top 1998 318ti Sport - "Max" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior, S52 1997 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Schwartz II/Schwartz sport interior 1995 318ti Active - "Blanca" Alpineweib III/Schwartz leather interior Other Current Bimmers: 2006 530i / 2000 2.3L Z3 / 1997 1.9L Z3 / 1999 540it 1997 318ti Sport - "Huera" - RIP 1995 318ti Active - RIP 1995 318ti Sport - "Tiny" Sold 1994 325i Sedan - "Jade" - Sold 1991 318ic - "Bert" - Sold 1985 635csi sold 1984 533i "Max" Sold 1984 318i sold BMWCCA #160411 SUPPORT 318ti.org! CLICK THE LINK ABOVE! Hosting a forum like this is not free. 318ti.org is one of the best BMW forums on the web because it is member supported, not vendor supported. The cost to become a Supporter is a nominal $10.00... A YEAR! DO IT! NOW! Last edited by BlackBMWs; 02-25-2015 at 09:56 AM. | | | 02-25-2015, 03:58 PM | #14 | Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Location: Bethlehem, PA Posts: 1,106 | Very awesome, I cant wait to work on these. I will let you know when I get the package. Just dropped some serious money on 2 better quality calipers, higher quality nozzles for the printer, and some nylon filament so we get the best quality part made. I will keep everyone updated on this as we move forward. __________________ Check out our new website! https://soltechsolutionsllc.com/ Green Your Decor with the Aspect! Shop for the Grow Light Used by Interior Designers, Growers & People Like You! | | | 02-25-2015, 05:24 PM | #15 | Senior Member Join Date: Mar 2011 Location: Westminster,Maryland Posts: 159 | Count me in on the Cali- top motor gears. | | | | | Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests) | | Posting Rules | You may not post new threads You may not post replies You may not post attachments You may not edit your posts HTML code is Off | | | |