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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2508
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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 Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 12:38 pm Post subject: 21st century technology provides missing Ghia part |
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When I first got my '67, it was missing one of the three small plastic clips that hold down the engine lid release cable. After many searches in TheSamba classifieds, and digging thru endless boxes of parts at swap meets, I pretty much gave up on ever finding one of these things.
At that point I decided that I'd have a replacement made by 3D printing it. I created a CAD model of the part in SolidWorks, then had a friend 'print' a couple of examples for me. The new part fit perfectly and is an exact match to the originals.
The CAD model
The middle clip is the 'printed' one
If anyone needs any of these clips, I'd be happy to provide the CAD model. You can then have the parts 'printed' by one of several companies that provide this service, such as Shapeways.
http://www.shapeways.com/
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone) |
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carl4x4
Samba Member
Joined: March 20, 2012
Posts: 679
Location: United Kingdom
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Northof49
Samba Member
Joined: July 22, 2013
Posts: 1759
Location: Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 1:44 pm Post subject: |
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Nice work. Cool to see technology come to our aid.
_________________
1958 Karmann Ghia owner |
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wcfvw69 
Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004
Posts: 13389
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:09 pm Post subject: |
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rcooled, how do they "print" the part? I'm clearly not educated in this technology. I love to hear more detail.
BTW, great job getting that little clip made!
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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cagey.jg
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2013
Posts: 93
Location: West Covina and Imperial, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:28 pm Post subject: |
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| wcfvw69 wrote: |
| rcooled, how do they "print" the part? ! |
It's a lot like the dot matrix printers from the 80's that printed images line by line. In this case, 3d printing "prints" (or lays down) a bit of plastic, one layer at a time until you've created the object you want. Check out this video
Link
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69 karmann ghia |
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O2COOLED
Samba Member
Joined: May 22, 2007
Posts: 452
Location: Pac NW
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 2:32 pm Post subject: |
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Excellent rcooled! Thanks! 
I thought of CD printing when I was looking to replace the hold down clip of my sun visor. I have plastic repros which are flimsy and did not last. Maybe you can include that in your to-do list?
_________________
"Sometimes people forget they signed up to a HELP & SHARE Forum not a pissing contest"
"At my age time is too short to respond to people with short minds"
Current: '69 Ghia Coupe
VW History:'63 Bug;'70 Bug;'73 412;'83 Rabbit;'86 Golf;'76 Fat Chick; 67 Ghia Coupe; '70 Bug |
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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2508
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 3:26 pm Post subject: |
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| wcfvw69 wrote: |
| ...how do they "print" the part? |
It's actually quite simple. The printer itself consists of a table that can move up & down in the 'Z' axis, and positioned above that, a printing head which is mounted on a mechanism that permits movement back & forth along the 'X' & 'Y' axes. All three axes movements are controlled by a computer.
To begin, a CAD file of the part is uploaded into the computer, and a suitable material is selected. This material is fed into the heated print head and quickly melts. The printer's software then 'reads' the CAD model that you've supplied, and directs the print head to start depositing very thin layers of material onto the table as it traces out a cross-section of the part. The table gradually moves downward in the 'Z' axis as the print head is moving back & forth in the 'X' & 'Y' axes. This combination of movements results in the part being built up, layer by layer, until it's fully formed.
This technology is currently most suited to forming plastic parts, but metal (even stainless steel) parts can be made using a variation that sinters powdered metal using a laser instead of depositing molten plastic.
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone)
Last edited by rcooled on Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:32 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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Samer1275
Samba Member
Joined: July 24, 2011
Posts: 205
Location: Jupiter, FL
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 4:45 pm Post subject: |
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Awesome job. I've been lazy and have not replaced my engine lid cable so I have to check to see if im missing these. I would like to take you up on the offer though just in case. Maybe it would be worth it for someone to find a good bulk price for printing a bunch of them at a time if there is interest.
Question, how did you get the dimensions for your model, caliper, blue light scan?
I'm a Mechanical Engineer but I don't do CAD. I do turbine aerodynamics.
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1969 Karmann Ghia Coupe |
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VWCOOL
Samba Member
Joined: June 02, 2006
Posts: 1821
Location: Down under
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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| freaking awesome! |
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squonk
Samba Member
Joined: August 13, 2011
Posts: 257
Location: Upstate New York
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 5:29 pm Post subject: |
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I think we'll see more of this as the technology continues to improve and more printing substrates become available. Last year, I built a 3D printer to keep me busy through the winter and to make the air vent knobs I was missing. Maybe we'll eventually have a file repository here with models for various parts that people can download and print.
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'71 Ghia cabriolet |
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wcfvw69
Samba Purist
Joined: June 10, 2004
Posts: 13389
Location: Arizona
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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| rcooled wrote: |
| wcfvw69 wrote: |
| ...how do they "print" the part? |
It's actually quite simple. The printer itself consists of a table that can move up & down in the 'Z' axis, and positioned above that, a printing head which is mounted on a mechanism that permits movement back & forth along the 'X' & 'Y' axes. All three axes movements are controlled by a computer.
To begin, a CAD file of the part is uploaded into the computer, and a suitable material is selected. This material is fed into the heated print head and quickly melts. The computer's software then 'reads' the CAD model that you've supplied, and directs the print head to start depositing very thin layers of material onto the table as it traces out a cross-section of the part. The table gradually moves downward in the 'Z' axis as the print head is moving back & forth in the 'X' & 'Y' axes. This combination of movements results in the part being built up, layer by layer, until it's fully formed.
This technology is currently most suited to forming plastic parts, but metal (even stainless steel) parts can be made using a variation that sinters powdered metal using a laser instead of depositing molten plastic. |
Thanks for the great explanation and to the other poster who shared the Youtube video.
This is such an amazing technology but it makes you wonder about the different plastics being used. The hardness, durability, etc.. There are so many little parts like you made that are NLA these days. As someone else mentioned, this may be a solution for a source of these parts that no big manufacture wants to gear up re-make due to not a huge demand.
_________________
Contact me at [email protected]
Follow me on instagram @sparxwerksllc
Decades of VW and VW parts restoration experience.
The Samba member since 2004.
**Now rebuilding throttle bodies for VW's and Porsche's**
**Restored German Bosch distributors for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored German Pierburg fuel pumps for sale or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche fuel pumps or I can restore yours**
**Restored Porsche distributors or I can restore yours** |
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sputnick60
Samba Moderator
Joined: July 22, 2007
Posts: 3916
Location: In Molinya Orbit
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 6:19 pm Post subject: |
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I've done these and can send the CAD files to any '66 fans who asked nicely. The beauty of these is that both LHD and RHD versions can be made up by flipping the drawing in software.
I used Shapeways to print a set in ABS. It wasn't too expensive. Before these can be chrome plated there still needs a lot of preparation. But this is a good starting point for what might be a worthwhile result. Since I want a RHD set this is the best solution.
Nicholas
_________________
'66 Karmann Ghia Cabriolet...
'65 Porsche 356C Coupe...
2005 Mecedes Benz C180 Kompressor Estate
Stop dead photo links! Post your photos to The Samba Gallery! |
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rcooled
Samba Member
Joined: September 20, 2008
Posts: 2508
Location: Santa Cruz, CA
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| Posted: Fri Aug 29, 2014 7:30 pm Post subject: |
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| Samer1275 wrote: |
I would like to take you up on the offer...
Maybe it would be worth it for someone to find a good bulk price for printing a bunch of them...
Question, how did you get the dimensions for your model, caliper, blue light scan? |
There's really not much economy of scale with 3D printing. You're basically just paying a set price for material and time on the printer. The operator knows exactly how much of each your part(s) will take, and you'll be charged accordingly.
That's one of 3D printing's strong points...you can buy small quantities of parts at reasonable prices. No huge part runs needed to justify tooling costs.
To get dimensions, I measured one of the clips I had with a digital caliper. If shoot me a PM w/e-mail, I'll send you the CAD file. BTW...I'm an ME too.
| wcfvw69 wrote: |
| This is such an amazing technology but it makes you wonder about the different plastics being used. The hardness, durability, etc.. |
There are quite a few different plastic materials available for a variety of applications, and more are being developed all the time. As the material choices increase, and resolution gets finer & finer, 3D printing will soon become a major player in the manufacturing world.
_________________
'63 Ragtop (current)
'65 Ghia coupe (totaled)
'67 Ghia convertible (current)
'69.5 Ghia convertible and
'62, '63, '65, '69 Bugs (all long gone) |
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danielsan
Samba Member
Joined: September 18, 2008
Posts: 802
Location: Carson City, NV
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 9:59 am Post subject: |
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Great thread -- really intriguing technology.
Does anyone have access to printer that could print something as large as dash pad or a knee pad?
If dashes can be made of fiberglass perhaps a dash could be printed out of a similar resin? I have an NOS dash that I trying to sell but it would be nice to have an autocad copy on file for Samba members. |
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KGCoupe
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 3580
Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 9:03 pm Post subject: |
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| I say we convince John to let us scan his entire Ghia - vintage speed supercharger and all - so that we can all just 3D print out our own entire clones of his car. |
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philermonic
Samba Member
Joined: November 09, 2010
Posts: 361
Location: Orange County, California
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| Posted: Sat Aug 30, 2014 10:24 pm Post subject: |
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| KGCoupe wrote: |
| I say we convince John to let us scan his entire Ghia - vintage speed supercharger and all - so that we can all just 3D print out our own entire clones of his car. |
As John himself would say "Brilliant" !
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"A camel is a horse designed by a Committee" |
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dcat917
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Joined: April 13, 2014
Posts: 185
Location: Greenville, SC
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John Moxon
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jpjohns
Samba Member
Joined: May 03, 2014
Posts: 882
Location: Harrisonburg, VA
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| Posted: Thu Sep 11, 2014 5:34 am Post subject: |
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3D printing is awesome technology. I work with guy that has one and designs parts for small companies on the side. Hopefully since the printer prices are coming down, more guys will jump on board and get some missing parts made that are hard to find. From what I understand, Solidworks is the hardest part of the puzzle.
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-Jared
"Scrapyards are for quitters" - Beetlenut (a Samba member) |
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