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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11182 is a reply to message #11180 ] Sun, 28 March 2010 14:12 UTC |
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Great stuff!
Nice to see it actually works. Is the metal wheel also printed ? it looks like it is.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11186 is a reply to message #11180 ] Sun, 28 March 2010 16:12 UTC |
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Incredible!
This must be the oscillating cylinder type engine? Did you polish the surfaces of cylinder and manifold before running it? Is the piston printed too?
Not sure if printing a boiler is a good idea though, those things can do damage.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11189 is a reply to message #11186 ] Sun, 28 March 2010 20:52 UTC |
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yes.
everything except the carbon fibre shafts, and the spring are printed
the mating surface between the pedestal and the cylinder required approx 10 seconds of rubbing together with light pressure, by hand to make the surfaces smooth enought to work quite well. also a little bit of lubricating oil helps to with movement and sealing.
when it comes time to print a boiler. it will be tested thoroughly before i use it, and will not be available for anyone else to use as a safety precaution.
but having said that. it will have a max of 15psi and will be very small volume, i am confident that i can make it work. the biggest hurdle at this point will be the thermal mass of the stainless steel compared to the volume.
cheers
a
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11190 is a reply to message #11180 ] Sun, 28 March 2010 22:42 UTC |
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That is absolutely fantastic! Well done.
Have you considered making it double acting? A two cylinder double acting engine would be sweet. I'd buy one 
Great work!
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11200 is a reply to message #11180 ] Mon, 29 March 2010 09:19 UTC |
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mark.
i was going to draw up a twincyl double acting ocilating, as i have a set of plans for one...but....
i decided to rush through the little single because of the time restraint on the alumide and to test the waters on a few possible design problems that may occur when printing instead of machining.
tony.
printing a set of cases is an option.... just not a good one!
especially when i have a perfectly good set of cases sitting next to your workbench waiting to be machined 
... a good machinist is always in high demand..
i heard a rumor people will wait for years for tony to machine parts for them....
... and yes he is THAT! good with a lathe and mill.
cheers
a
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11212 is a reply to message #11180 ] Mon, 29 March 2010 18:29 UTC |
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wow,
Excellent idea, how well is the alumide holding up? It seems like its porous enough that wear would be a serious issue,
Way cool!
Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
Check out http://JakeDrews.Com and http://WondrousWidgets.Com for more designs by Jake!
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11216 is a reply to message #11212 ] Mon, 29 March 2010 19:53 UTC |
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I would consider thin polished brass plates for the scratching area. That would make the engine not 100% printed, but it (and generous amount of lard) will extend its lifetime.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11219 is a reply to message #11217 ] Mon, 29 March 2010 22:28 UTC |
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EOS page says "Thermally stressed housings" in Alumide applications and "Parts withstand high-temperature painting and metal coating" in PA 2200 properties, so I would take info with a grain of salt (experiment and see what happens). The materials section need a check anyway, Grey one is listed as ABS in some texts and as Polycabonate in the properties panel.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11221 is a reply to message #11219 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 00:54 UTC |
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hmm, well, its definitely not polycarb
Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam
Check out http://JakeDrews.Com and http://WondrousWidgets.Com for more designs by Jake!
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11222 is a reply to message #11180 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 07:03 UTC |
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the alumide apears to be holding up ok.
when it was listed by shapeways it had a temp max of 140c
the seal between the faces does not need to be perfect.
although the better it is the more efficient the steam engine will be.
i am already working on some improvements for the next version.
improvements on the efficiecny, and maybe a little styling excersise.
along with the boiler project.
has anyone tried printing tubes??.. like long thin straws.
would be nice if i could link the boiler and engine with printed tubes??
cheers
a
[Updated on: Tue, 30 March 2010 07:14 UTC]
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11223 is a reply to message #11180 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 07:53 UTC |
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Printed steam tubes??
That is excellently weird.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11227 is a reply to message #11180 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 12:15 UTC |
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Hello, I was just wondering about the Alumide material that you had your
model made from, I can't seem to find it on the Material page or as a print option.
Is it under a different name? (it looks a different substrate from all the others).
Cheers.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11240 is a reply to message #11180 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 16:52 UTC |
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@ virtox,
Thanks for letting me know. It looks like a nice material, do you know why it was discontinued?.
Cheers.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11241 is a reply to message #11180 ] Tue, 30 March 2010 16:57 UTC |
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It was a test run to see how popular it would be to see if they did want to add it. I watched the video, amazing. Makes me wish I had the time to do something like this.
The Mad Moder
michael@shapeways.com
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11274 is a reply to message #11180 ] Wed, 31 March 2010 08:56 UTC |
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thanks for all the good feedback guys.
virtox
there is a vid attached to the first post
as for printing tubes..
i was discussing this with tones3-d at work today. he has printed some models with long holes in them to pass electrical wiring.
i was thinking around the 2mm ID is about minimum before cleaning out the residual powder becomes to painfull.
but tones might have more to say on this topic??
ykw4eva
it didnt take that long... there was a few hours of drawing.. but that included me learning my way around solidworks..
the assembly time blew out to about an hour and a half... but that included lots of looking and thinking and replacing the original printed shafts with carbon fibre.
after a few mods to the drawings i should be able to put one together in about 20-30mins
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11305 is a reply to message #11180 ] Thu, 01 April 2010 06:03 UTC |
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Ado:
I reckon your printed steam tubes will be fine; just don't put too many bends in them!!
There are 3 long cavities in my Twin Rig Base Plate
http://www.shapeways.com/model/72937/baseplate_for_stereo_3_ d_twin_rig_camera.html
The range from 3.5 mm diameter, 64 mm long (and curved), to 8 mm diameter, 130 mm long. They were filled with un-sintered nylon powder; quite firmly packed, but it came out easily by poking with spring wire and blowing with compressed air. All up it took about 15 minutes, and the thinnest one was no more difficult than the widest.
The 8 mm hole takes AAAA batteries; these were a bit too snug for comfort until I made an 8 mm D-bit and reamed the hole out. What came out was still just un-sintered powder; it just needed a pretty firm scrape to remove the last of it.
You could fire the boiler with gel fuel ... simple and safe. It's available from camping stores and good catering suppliers.
Tony.
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11345 is a reply to message #11180 ] Thu, 01 April 2010 22:54 UTC |
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Virtox,
Compressed air alone did not seem to be enough to clean out all the un-sintered nylon powder from the holes. Ado suggested using pieces of guitar string to assist, as this will be more flexible than the spring wire I have used.
I think the temperature limits on WS&F relate to "when it becomes susceptible to distortion by force", not "when it starts to collapse under it own weight". I am actually amazed by the strength of this material.
Collaborative project?? count me IN
Tony
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11398 is a reply to message #11345 ] Sat, 03 April 2010 19:37 UTC |
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| tones3-d wrote on Thu, 01 April 2010 22:54 |
I think the temperature limits on WS&F relate to "when it becomes susceptible to distortion by force", not "when it starts to collapse under it own weight". I am actually amazed by the strength of this material.
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I'm not sure what the 80C limit is all about. To dye my parts I put them in boiling water for periods of 20 minutes and I don't think the parts are affected in any way (apart from the colour change!).
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11426 is a reply to message #11180 ] Sun, 04 April 2010 23:59 UTC |
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was thinking of using about 2mm wall thickness for steam tubes... dont want porosity to be to much of an issue.
am looking forward to trying out the gel fuel
callaborative project??...sounds good to me
a
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11431 is a reply to message #11398 ] Mon, 05 April 2010 07:04 UTC |
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Tomz:
I also have dyed parts at or near 100ºC , with no noticeable distortion.
My question is: will the material distort if we bend, compress, stretch or twist it while it is at that high temperature.
Tony
[Updated on: Mon, 05 April 2010 07:48 UTC]
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| Re: alumide steam engine [message #11432 is a reply to message #11431 ] Mon, 05 April 2010 07:48 UTC |
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I actually used regular hot tap water, to bend some thin parts of my model back into shape (WSF). So I thing boiling water works even better 
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