[amsat-bb] 3D printing and threaded inserts

[Curt Laumann]

Hi Paul,

Right!  This 3D printing enables so many different projects, is relatively
EASY and LOW COST !!!  To share some of the salient points for those not
too familiar with 3D printing:

A good-quality printer can be had for $250  (Ender3 is a VERY popular
printer)
Parts the size of your fist cost about $1 to $2  (roughly speaking)
As Paul noted, there are materials which nicely survive UV and heat.  You
could print PETG parts for outside, or in the heat of your car.
Parts take between an hour and a day to print, depending on size,
complexity and density.
FreeCAD software is really, really a nice match to what we do in amateur
radio.  A couple of hams here in Tucson love it, and it is very nicely
suited to making ham radio widgets :)
Cura software (also free) is used to take the output of FreeCAD and create
"gcode" which drives the 3D printer.

The heat insert tool that Paul referred to in his previous email can be
seen at the link below:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B078K72615/?coliid=I1K4DNMRZKIRXN&colid=2BL2OM2F3I95L&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it


As for material, I get filament made by eSun which prints very nicely.  I
use PLA+ for stuff indoors, and PETG for outdoor products.

Fun Fact:  I print 27 whistles in a batch (takes 23 hours), add split
rings, and give them away as gifts.  They're about a dime each.

Another Fun Fact:  "Thingiverse" contains 1000's of projects that can be
printed.

All of this information is well known to avid 3D printer people, and I'm
sure others can chime in with their perspective / ideas / product
recommendations.

BOTTOM LINE:  If you like to build stuff, ANY stuff, and are willing to
learn a very minor amount of software, the payoff is very very high!

Curt / K7ZOO
Tucson AZ

On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 9:05 PM Paul Andrews <w2hro.fn20 at gmail.com> wrote:

> Curt,
>
> Nice presentation.  I also started 3D printing in May and recently
> discovered heated brass inserts.  These items can really expand the range
> of possibilities.  I have designed a folding satellite dish with 3D printed
> parts and waterjet cut aluminum.  We recently improved the strength of a
> few parts using the brass inserts for M3 bolts.
>
> A standard soldering iron works nicely but you can achieve better accuracy
> using a soldering iron tip specially designed to install the inserts.
>
> What plastic are you printing?  I found that PETG is easy to print, UV
> stable and will hold up in summer heat outdoors.
>
> 73 - Paul - W2HRO
>
> On Wed, Sep 2, 2020 at 10:39 PM Curt Laumann via AMSAT-BB <
> amsat-bb at amsat.org> wrote:
>
>> Hi All,
>>
>> To support my interest in building amateur radio equipment I recently dove
>> into 3D printing.  I'm sure many are aware of the technique below, but
>> still others might find it interesting.
>>
>> *You can easily install threaded brass inserts into 3D printed parts,
>> making them very robust and useful.*  Feel free to view the PDF file at
>> the
>> link below for a brief introduction to this technique.
>>
>> Curt / K7ZOO
>> Tucson AZ
>>
>>
>> https://drive.google.com/file/d/1Pk_TxQrJCwZ3NnAyDzvdfZ9ijtQBwNNq/view?usp=sharing
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>