I'm looking into easy fixture solutions and was thinking about 3D printed fixtures. Would that be possible. I'm wondering if I could make some fixture arms, or even some standoffs, or if needed some complex fixtures. That being said, what filament would work well for both precision and accuracy as well as durability. PLA and ABS look like good candidates. Or am I wasting my time?
My goal is for the operators to not have any chances to make mistakes through fixturing and programming.
My current printing setup is a Formlabs Form2 SLA printer. I'm currently in the process of putting together a case for a Raise3D Pro2 FDM printer. Different technologies but bigger build volume.
I also do all the designing and CAD work. This is hugely beneficial because i can design the fixtures with CMM programming in mind and not "engineering" in mind, if that makes any sense.
Thanks! This could be useful for us. Can you 3D print threads into a mold to add standoffs or clamps?
difficult answer: printing threads is actually kind of tricky. Especially if they are smaller threads. All of my stuff is vision so my fixturing is all M4. The issue that i've run into in the past in printing threads is shrinkage. While 3D printing is great you can't expect absolute dimensional accuracy. What i plan on trying next is to print the threads as they are modeled and then running a tap through them before i try to put some fixturing in there. Last time i tried to put a standoff into some printed threads they stripped.
so, take that for what you will. Maybe if the threads were bigger they would print a little better but i've only tried to print M4. Also, i think it depends on your printing technology. SLA printers have an incredible surface finish while the FDM type printers don't have so great of surface finish.
Another idea for threads will be to just model the hole as a through hole and tap it manually. << this may be the best idea and will likely what i do next.
difficult answer: printing threads is actually kind of tricky. Especially if they are smaller threads. All of my stuff is vision so my fixturing is all M4. The issue that i've run into in the past in printing threads is shrinkage. While 3D printing is great you can't expect absolute dimensional accuracy. What i plan on trying next is to print the threads as they are modeled and then running a tap through them before i try to put some fixturing in there. Last time i tried to put a standoff into some printed threads they stripped.
so, take that for what you will. Maybe if the threads were bigger they would print a little better but i've only tried to print M4. Also, i think it depends on your printing technology. SLA printers have an incredible surface finish while the FDM type printers don't have so great of surface finish.
Another idea for threads will be to just model the hole as a through hole and tap it manually. << this may be the best idea and will likely what i do next.
