Reinventing weep hole covers

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by Magnet18

Definitely a money pit, but much less of a BOAT and more of a BOAH (break out another hundred )
If you're comparing side by side with the Airstream, you won't even notice

If the price gets up there with my Argosy then I better be producing a LOT of prints and selling them for a profit!

I found mine too be more of a tinkering time pit to be honest, a couple hundred for an upgrade, and a few months tinkering with it

Pretty much what I figure this one will be as well.

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by WayneG

Thanks

So far the polycarbonate is doing OK for the black covers on the cockpit windows. I cant find PC in silver or grey for the other windows and may have to go to PET. Both are high temp and even at 150F neither should warp when outdoors. The head temp on the printer is above 150C which is over 300F.
As for the acetone smoothing, I think that only works with ABS. These covers are simple enough that some sanding with a belt sander should be all they need. You can always use a heat gun to give them a shine (carefully)

Wayne, I will be starting out with PETG so if you want me to try printing one I can give it a try once mines up and running.

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Wayne, I will be starting out with PETG so if you want me to try printing one I can give it a try once mines up and running.

I have done some covers in black PETG, but the generic config code is giving me rough edges. I am actually back to printing something else in PETG now. I may try and find a better optimized config for these devices.

One problem with the PETG is it is more brittle than the PC, but my design with pegs should not have a problem with breakage

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by WayneG

I have done some covers in black PETG, but the generic config code is giving me rough edges. I am actually back to printing something else in PETG now. I may try and find a better optimized config for these devices.

One problem with the PETG is it is more brittle than the PC, but my design with pegs should not have a problem with breakage

A friend of mine uses Prusa printers to fabricate repair parts (in PETG) for a manufacturing facility that he works at. He mentioned that he could send me config files for the PETG for the Prusa printers. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for but if they would help I'll see about getting copies of the files.

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

A friend of mine uses Prusa printers to fabricate repair parts (in PETG) for a manufacturing facility that he works at. He mentioned that he could send me config files for the PETG for the Prusa printers. I'm not sure if that's what you're looking for but if they would help I'll see about getting copies of the files.

It does not hurt to try

[bkahler]

Ok, got a file from him. It is apparently settings for the Simplify3D cad software. Unfortunately I don't currently own Simplify3D and I'm not sure if I will be purchasing it.

If you're using Simplify3D I'll be happy to forward the file to you.

Brad

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Ok, got a file from him. It is apparently settings for the Simplify3D cad software. Unfortunately I don't currently own Simplify3D and I'm not sure if I will be purchasing it.

If you're using Simplify3D I'll be happy to forward the file to you.

Brad

That wont work for me either, I am still using design cad 3d max 2018. The config files for various filaments can be found online.

PRUSA has a discussion board with lots of people sharing what they know.
https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/


I am trying to get my head back into working on the rear weep hole covers in 3d cad, but the treatment meds are sneaky and slowly start dragging down your ability to concentrate, kinda like too much beer, but without the fun of it.
Add to that, they just scheduled me for a GI scoping (from both ends) on Thursday, and I am staring at this gallon jug of joy , and I am planning the fastest route to the bathroom from all points in the house.
https://vimeo.com/172951856

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by WayneG

That wont work for me either, I am still using design cad 3d max 2018. The config files for various filaments can be found online.

PRUSA has a discussion board with lots of people sharing what they know.
https://shop.prusa3d.com/forum/


I am trying to get my head back into working on the rear weep hole covers in 3d cad, but the treatment meds are sneaky and slowly start dragging down your ability to concentrate, kinda like too much beer, but without the fun of it.
Add to that, they just scheduled me for a GI scoping (from both ends) on Thursday, and I am staring at this gallon jug of joy , and I am planning the fastest route to the bathroom from all points in the house.
https://vimeo.com/172951856

Maybe you should get one of those old TV trays so you can set a laptop on and just kinda hang out in the bathroom for a while

[WayneG]

Or maybe I could print a 3d part to.... aw never mind
Today I went to take a cast of the front window trim to see what it looks like.
I used some model clay with a scrap of aluminum as a backing.
I used kitchen plastic wrap against the window trim to make for easy release and pressed the clay to get an impression.


Not a perfect photo but you can see the slot and the rivet in the distance.
The ridge on the right of the photo is the upper lip of the window trim and the left drop off is the body molding under the window.
You can make out some of the curve or angle that the weep hole cover needs to fit.


The wrinkles are from the plastic wrap, It was 30 deg. with a wind chill in the 20's, so I did not try for perfection.

When it gets warmer, I will try it on the rear window slots

[WayneG]

Back to work on the Cab weep hole covers.
I started from scratch to redo the 3D cad files. It is 10x faster than my first try, and fewer errors, but still not perfect.
I have a dozen covers here on my desk, in various plastics, printer settings and so on. None are perfect, but so far it looks like polycarbonate is the best.
Here are my cad prints.
This one is the flat bottom cover:


This is the bottom view of the angle bottom cover

This is the top view of the angle bottom cover

So far my main problems are strings in the vent holes. (Again, this may be a feature, and not an error)

On my last visit out to the MH, I am noticing that each slot has a slightly different angle from zero degrees to maybe 7 degrees? It may not be possible to get a perfect fit without filing the covers to fit. The one shown above is 7 deg.


The STL files are here:

No Angle: http://theouterlimits.ws/projects/3dPrinting/WeepHoleCovers/photos/WHC-CAB-V022-1.stl
Seven Deg. Angle: http://theouterlimits.ws/projects/3dPrinting/WeepHoleCovers/photos/WHC-CAB-V022A-1.stl

[WayneG]

Starting on the rear covers, here is a blank before hollowing it out.
Someone pointed out that the best way to make a 3d part is like you would on a milling machine, start with a solid piece and then cut away what you dont need. if you try adding solids together, you can end up with more surface errors.

[bkahler]

The Prusa 3D printer arrived today. Now begins the long uphill battle to figure out how to build and use it!

Brad

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

The Prusa 3D printer arrived today. Now begins the long uphill battle to figure out how to build and use it!

Brad

Take your time assembling it, you need to convert your brain to metric mode.
Once it is assembled, calibration should be easy and you can do simple prints to start the learning curve

[bkahler]

Originally Posted by WayneG

Take your time assembling it, you need to convert your brain to metric mode.
Once it is assembled, calibration should be easy and you can do simple prints to start the learning curve

I'm not a fan of the metric system so it will be a challenge which probably won't help any

I'm waiting on a Wheeler 553556 torque screwdriver, once it arrives I'll start assembly. The other challenge will be trying to find a place to actually do the assembly. At the moment every flat surface that I have is covered with TR6 parts being assembled. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Brad

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

The other challenge will be trying to find a place to actually do the assembly. At the moment every flat surface that I have is covered with TR6 parts being assembled. I'm sure I'll figure something out.

Brad

Finding a free flat surface around here is about as common as finding a $100 bill on the ground
What I do is take one of my fold up tables from the camper, scoot stuff around in the room to fit it, and start my build.
My MMU2 multi filament unit is staying in the box until I get more progress with the weep hole covers.
Speaking of that, I was working on them in 3d cad since 3AM today and the computer crashed so bad that I had to do a hard reset. I did do a save just before that. Hopefully the data is still good.
I am finding that going from a drawing, to 3d cad, to stl, to gcode and to a 3d print, is like building a house of cards.
If you screw up one of the steps below your current progress, you need to go all the way back to the last working level and start again!

Good thing I am mostly retired.

[WayneG]

Here is todays progress on the rear window covers.
I still have some tweaking, and I have not tried to fit one to the MH yet

Cad images:

First 3D print of the above: (Note I did not use silver, because I was to lazy to remove the black PLA that I was using)




I used small holes to avoid having to put screen material inside.
I was thinking of decorating the outside of the covers with something like this: (No colors, just raised text)

[WayneG]

Worked up a 3D Airstream logo using Photoshop and the cad program

[bkahler]

Dang, that looks good! PETG?

[WayneG]

Originally Posted by bkahler

Dang, that looks good! PETG?

Naw, using PLA for now. It makes a more accurate print with less strings. I will go back to PETG once I debug the parts in PLA.
I was going to put these images on my server, but it is down, so I am uploading them.
1) Cab cover in black PLA
2) Cad of rear cover with AS name
3) Rear cover with AS name in grey PLA
4) Rear cover again in grey PLA


Note that even in PLA getting perfect detail is not yet accomplished.
i used .15mm layers, I may try with .10 layers.
The top of the Airstream name needs some work, because the layers started to wander

[Magnet18]

Looking awesome!