3D printer to the rescue!

[Paul Taylor]

I was sorting some old wheels and found a pair with broken hubs.
A few minutes on the confuser and bam!
New wheels.

[Dave Rigotti]

PLA?

[Paul Taylor]

PLA?

PETG

[Paul Wescott]

I was sorting some old wheels and found a pair with broken hubs.
A few minutes on the confuser and bam!
New wheels.

Paul (great first name!) - I looked up your prior posts to see if you had described your experiences with 3D printing.  I ran across your post about 3D printing where you asked “What have you printed?” and absolutely zero people responded.  I am astounded by that non-response.  I would have expected a dozen or more.  Oh well.  A couple of years ago I went to a Monday night meeting of The Thunderbugs at Norm Furutani’s house in Gardena (Calif).  Norm’s son Brian, a brilliant and talented guy, brought for show and tell some 3D printed wheel assemblies he had produced.  The hubs were hard plastic but the tires were a different rubbery material.  The tires (yes the tires) had spiral-ish spokes for absorbing shocks.  They were shaped like something you might see on a Mars Rover.  2-part design, 2 different materials, 3D printed, very intriguing.

I do not have a 3D printer myself.  I have looked into it but it’s quite a deep rabbit hole.

What printer and/or software are you using?

Paul W.

[Paul Taylor]

Hey Paul
I’m using a Ender 3 Pro. For CAD software I use OnShape. It web based and free. I have done a number of this for my hobby’s and when it gets complicated I know a CAD guy that helps me out (aka my son)

There is a bunch of people 3D printing RC planes in sections. There is now a light weight PLA that they use.

The wheels you probably saw were probably printed using TPU. It’s a soft type of PLA. ABS can be used for harder structures but I’m a little hesitant due to the fumes of ABS. The printer is in my garage and don’t want to stink up the house. 🤣

It’s all pretty simple to use. I have printed handles, motor mounts for electrics, battery caps for my LiPos. Battery/ESC mounts, and my last big print was a cowl for my Vector. It came out just about as light as the balsa cowl. But I needed a little nose weight. 👍🏼

[Paul Taylor]

Here is the cowl I printed. My son drew it up on a break. 🤣

[Steve Dwyer]

Check this 3d build video.

[Steve Dwyer]

One of my boys said Dad it doesn't have to be made of balsa. here's his 3D version of the video flyer. It's flown by a camera mounted on the plane using a headset. The fuse is a carbon fiber stick.

[Paul Taylor]

Cool stuff.