Need Help with Thesis Project (Building Scale Parts)

[RedEarth Innovations]

Mods: Please move this as you see fit, any help is appreciated. (I am not currently selling anything, and If I do I will purchase a vendor star, and update this post.)

I am going back to school to finish up working on my Masters Degree in Industrial Design and I need your help/ advice.

I have done some searching and find a lot of posts about 3D printers (additive manufacturing) and a lot of people talking about how they are cool, but too expensive to own. It just so happens that I recently ordered a 3d printer for work, that I am able to use to help finish my thesis.

My thesis is based on Designing parts and selling the files and/or finished parts. Without getting too in depth, I need a project to insert into my thesis to prove the concept would work, and I love working with my crawler, so this wold make for a great area to work with. The caveat to this is that the model I design cannot already be in place, and the end product has to be customizable based on each users needs, but can be completely new ideas as well.

Example 1: A standard bed rack to hold various parts might include (hi lift, fire extinguisher, etc. but may be different for next person.)
Example 2: I want a car seat for my kids. (scale kids of course)

So having said that; here are a few questions:
1.) Are there any companies that offer 3d Printed parts that are customizable per user? In other words can you call up any vendor on this site and tell them you want a 3D printed part that has certain specs and have the file and/or parts sent to you. (must be 3d printed, handmade does not count)

2.) What items can you see working as a customizable part? (seats, engine/ tranny (motor covers), etc?)

3.) Would you be interested in this if it were available?

4.) Are there parts that are standard that you would buy if available instead of making, and what are they? (fire extinguishers, shovels, welders, etc)

Im sure there are many more questions I will have and I will add them here as I remember all of them. If you have any questions, please feel free to ask.

Thank you for your time!
Adam Carter

[Matias del Rio]

Hi Adam.

Your proposal sounds interesting, but I have a question I would like to clarify before asking for parts and pieces. Which material are you pretending to use for printing? 3D printers offer a wide range of materials from solid but fragile ones, to plastics like an axial axle housing.

If the material of choice is the second one, I think it´s a good idea to design

- axle hop ups, panhard bar support, third link support, Winch support, etc .... I think it´s a good idea becouse it can be a bolt-on piece and can be full of scale details...

- Tranmission housings: Sometime ago I saw a guy made a wheely king trany housing that was similar to an axial housing. small volume and was able to mount the motor very low.

Another interesting Item IMAO are scale engines. many models are either very small or very large, so a customizable scale engine may be a good idea.

My two cents. Good luck on this project. Sounds very intersting to me.
I'll be watching the progress.

[RedEarth Innovations]

Thank you for your reply, To answer your question.

The machine I purchased is a filament type, so the options currently would be PLA (Corn based biodegradable) and ABS. I prefer ABS for this type of product.

The good thing about my concept is that you, the consumer could purchase the file and have it printed on your own however many times and by whom you choose from somewhere that specializes in special materials (This option would cost more (similar to tooling dollars), but you could print enough to make up the cost in the long run, or you can purchase pre-printed parts in ABS.

Hope that is somewhat of a clear explination.
Thank you,
Adam

[Matias del Rio]

Exactly what I want to know.

I think it´s a great initiative making ABS hop ups for vehicles. Can´t wait to see your models.
BTW, Is there a chance of sending my own 3D models in a specific format (dwg, 3DS, etc....) for getting a quote for printing them?? In my country, companies who gives this kid of service just don`t care if you need anything under 100 copies..... to bad, so I think it`s not a bad idea to get the them from you, don`t you think?

[RedEarth Innovations]

I will incorporate uploading your own files at a later date, but to start with I will not be able to print any outside files until I can prove the original concept, but in theory yes, I would be willing to do individual print jobs upon request and ship them to you.