Back in March, a small aircraft in the UK lost engine power while coming in for a landing and crashed. The aircraft was a total loss, but thankfully, the pilot suffered only minor injuries. According to the recently released report by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch, we now know a failed 3D printed part is […]
PAHT-CF part printed at 45 degrees, with reinforcing bolt, post-failure. (Credit: Functional Print Friday, YouTube) The good part about FDM 3D printing is that there are so many different filament types and parameters to choose from. This is also the bad part, as it can often be hard to tell what impact a change has. […]
ABS is a durable material that can be 3D printed, but requires a 100° C build surface. The print bed of [Pat]’s Bambu Lab A1 Mini is unable to get that hot, which means he can not print ABS…or can he? By fiddling a few settings, he prints ABS no problem with only a 60° […]
Sometimes, a hack solves a big problem. Sometimes, it’s just to deal with something that kind of bugs you. This hack from [Dillan Stock] is in the latter category, replacing an ugly, redundant downspout with an elegant 3D printed pipe. As [Dillan] so introspectively notes, this was not something that absolutely required a 3D print, […]
What does it take to make decent tires for your projects? According to this 3D printed tire torture test, it’s actually pretty easy — it’s more a question of how well they work when you’re done. For the test, [Excessive Overkill] made four different sets of shoes for his RC test vehicle. First up was […]
Crashing one’s bike is a childhood rite of passage, one that can teach valuable lessons in applied physics. Assuming the kid is properly protected and the crash is fairly tame, scrapes and bruises are exchanged for the wisdom to avoid sand and gravel patches, and how to avoid a ballistic dismount by not applying the […]
It would be really hard to go through a typical day in the developed world without running across something made from ABS plastic. It’s literally all over the place, from toothbrush handles to refrigerator interiors to car dashboards to computer keyboards. Many houses are plumbed with pipes extruded from ABS, and it lives in rolls next […]