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5391
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10/1/2013
Location
Davis, CA
US
JM485
8/16/2019 10:25pm
8/16/2019 10:25pm
Edited Date/Time
8/19/2019 9:50pm
To the honorable members of the VBT, I bid your time and consideration. . .
I've decided to start a small side business that will combine two of my favorite things, moto and 3d printing, called 3DP Moto. To start things off, we'll be offering fully custom brake cable guides for all bikes that will be made to order. The website will guide you through the purchasing process, but essentially I will just need the make, model, and year of the bike as well as the desired text. I currently can do any modern bike, however old bikes can be done as well, it just may take a bit longer as I need to locate a stock part to measure for fitment.
I'm also open to any other ideas or projects you guys may have in mind. I can offer full CAD and engineering services, as well as help determine if 3d printing is a viable option for whatever application you have in mind. Whether its prototype parts or replacement pieces for discontinued bikes I'd be more than happy to discuss the project and see if what I can provide would be a good option for you.
Check out the site and let me know what you think, I've never built a website before so I kind of learned as I went, but overall I'm happy with how it came out. There is also a bit of info about the 3d printing process and what can be expected of 3d printed parts. Obviously I can't go into nearly the depth that it would take to cover the entire range of what 3d printing is, but this should provide enough of an overview to form a solid understanding of the process and what it takes for a part to go from concept to reality:
https://www.3dpmoto.com/
You can also find it on IG @3dpmoto, where I'll be posting updates on parts I'm working on as well as whatever else comes up in the process.
I've decided to start a small side business that will combine two of my favorite things, moto and 3d printing, called 3DP Moto. To start things off, we'll be offering fully custom brake cable guides for all bikes that will be made to order. The website will guide you through the purchasing process, but essentially I will just need the make, model, and year of the bike as well as the desired text. I currently can do any modern bike, however old bikes can be done as well, it just may take a bit longer as I need to locate a stock part to measure for fitment.
I'm also open to any other ideas or projects you guys may have in mind. I can offer full CAD and engineering services, as well as help determine if 3d printing is a viable option for whatever application you have in mind. Whether its prototype parts or replacement pieces for discontinued bikes I'd be more than happy to discuss the project and see if what I can provide would be a good option for you.
Check out the site and let me know what you think, I've never built a website before so I kind of learned as I went, but overall I'm happy with how it came out. There is also a bit of info about the 3d printing process and what can be expected of 3d printed parts. Obviously I can't go into nearly the depth that it would take to cover the entire range of what 3d printing is, but this should provide enough of an overview to form a solid understanding of the process and what it takes for a part to go from concept to reality:
https://www.3dpmoto.com/
You can also find it on IG @3dpmoto, where I'll be posting updates on parts I'm working on as well as whatever else comes up in the process.
The Shop
I'm curious how much that 3d printer set you back? I see a huge array of pricing as well as options. Did you know on places like thingverse you can PRINT your own upgrades for your printer like brackets to improve its functionality, accuracy and efficiency. Ive been reading about them for months there is SO MUCH to learn in order to make an educated purchase that fits your needs specifically.
What's the working area?
Reason I'm looking into one is to make some moto parts AND I want to get I to replicating old discontinued rc car products and improvements to current models as well.
I'd love to get my hands on a small AFFORDABLE CNC machine too for cutting g chassis from blank carbon fiber sheets, shock towers etc.
I dig the brake line routing part you put pics up of. I'll keep an eye on your site for future updates and parts.
On another note I'm moving back up to norcal (small tiny town outside of Stockton) for good and really looking for some riding buddies riding a lot of moto some trails too.....I cut my teeth at Carnegie back in 1986 and rode there till I moved down here. My dad started that place before but was even a park with some friends. Rode there about a year and a half ago it was awesome ripping up all my old hillclimbs.
type parts are formed on our mx bikes. How about chain guides, sliders and hard use items like that? Could you
form carbon fiber silencer cans? I'm interested. Thanks.
However, the carbon fiber printed element typically finishes matte and textured.
If you want that "factory built" carbon fiber and high gloss look you would still have to do a carbon fiber sheet overlay. The best way to do it would be to 3D print the silencer body in regular carbon powder, sanding, and then do a resin impregnated carbon sheet cover shaped in a vacuum bag. Maybe some light post-process polish depending on finish requirements.
I am experienced in arranging manufacturing processes on contract if you are interested
Do the opposite of Derek and you’ll be fine.
Working area for this printer is around 1 cubic foot. This can be increased to 2 cubic feet with the ZLT (T, as in Tall), however for the additional cost and lack of availability I just didn't see it as worth it for my intended use. I would imagine the RC market is salivating over these things, as long as you can get a reliable setting down that produces strongly bonded parts I don't see any reason why you couldn't produce some pretty hefty chassis parts with these. It's somewhat of a give/take world sometimes, I can print parts that look fantastic but have pretty crappy layer adhesion, while on the flip side I can print parts that look a little rough, but are strong as hell and fully bonded. The trick is finding that perfect balance of both, which is why I'm constantly testing and tuning (even as I type this I've got a test print going).
Shoot me a message when you move back up, I won't be riding Carnegie again for another few months but all the local tracks are fair game right now. It's been hot lately but tomorrow is looking like a great day.
Pit Row
First and foremost it would depend entirely on what the stock part was made from. In the case of a cable guide, I've found that the printed parts (printed from Polyethylene Terephthalate, or PETG for short) are much more rigid, but less ductile. What this basically boils down to is that the stock part will deform quite a bit before rupture but behave a bit like a wet noodle, while the printed part will retain it's shape much better under load but rupture under less deformation. My rule of thumb on these is if you crash and break the printed part, your stock one would have likely broken as well or become so deformed as to be useless. However, if anyone were to have issues with them I'd be happy to warranty them for the first year, if it somehow broke under normal riding conditions I will print you a new one ASAP and ship it out to you.
I've experimented a bit with other parts as well, but nothing I'm willing to put on anyone else's bike yet. I had a printed ignition cover on my bike for a couple months before it finally met its demise with a tree root sticking out on the side of the trail. I have no idea if the stock one would have held up any better or not, but the failure was enough for me to hold off on offering those until I refine the design a bit, possibly change material, and get a lot of testing time in under extreme conditions. As far as chain sliders and such, I think it could potentially work, however I just don't see the market for them. I think I would have a hard time matching the durability of companies like TM Designworks for current bikes as of now, however when I start dabbling into printing nylon that may change. I could see it potentially being an option for bikes with discontinued parts, but for bikes with these components readily available I just don't see it as being an improvement.
Things like silencer cans that see a lot of heat probably aren't a great fit more the type of printing I can do. The plastic just won't hold up to that type of environment unfortunately. There are metal 3d printers out there though, I'm just about $50,000 short of being able to afford one!
As a comment, I think your market would be rich in the older market- late 80's/ 90's and such. "Trick " parts are rare and
expensive. Frame protectors for example. Or front/rear brake master cylinder guards. I often have to buy these out
of Europe. Would love to see someone make hubs for these bikes and fork guard parts.
For anyone who has messaged or tried to message me through the PM system here, I will always respond if I see it but the system is sketchy at best. Please email me at 3dpmoto@gmail.com to make sure I get your message, I don't want to leave anyone hanging!
Colintrax: For now this will remain the only printer in my arsenal. This is just a side business for me and I doubt I'll be generating the revenue necessary to live in the extremely reasonably priced bay area housing market any time soon with it, so I'll be keeping my day job. If it ever got to the point where I couldn't keep up with orders I'd consider adding another, but I'm starting slow here.
Texas: I'm not familiar with the Simmons covers, I'm thinking those may be before my time. However, I'd be very interested in making things like frame and reservoir guards for older bikes, that's exactly the type of thing that I think this company could excel at since they would be one-off custom parts.
Power: I can tell you firsthand that finding a shop to make single prototype parts is extremely hard, and if you can do things competitively in low quantities I think you'd have a real winner. I'd love to get into the CNC stuff but it's just too cost prohibitive for me at this stage in my life. I've designed a few extension setups for hillclimb bikes and we're constantly battling the issue of machining availability, it's just too expensive to have single sets machined.
If anyone else has any questions or ideas please do not hesitate to shoot me an email! There are no dumb ideas, if the idea just doesn't fit the 3d printing process I can definitely let you know and maybe point you to a manufacturing technique that would be more appropriate, but if you don't ask neither of us will know! It doesn't need to be moto related either, if you want something for your sport bike, custom car, anything really just ask away. That's the great thing about this process, there are so many possibilities and options.
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