3D Printed Patterns

[greentwin]

I purchased a Prusa XL, I guess it was last year, and have been playing around with it a bit.
14" cubed print envelope, which is pretty generous.
I only have one printhead, but could add more in order to use different filament colors, or different filament material for each head.

I get updates from Prusa from time to time concerning new developments/methods using the Prusa XL multi-material/multi-head 3D printer.
The 3D printing hobby is getting really impressive, with some fantastic new trends, as follows:

1. Prusa's 3D model download page had some impressive models that can be downloaded and printed.
You can also open models in a 3D online viewer, and pan/tilt/zoom right on the screen.
The models that are beginning to appear on the share page are ever increasingly sophisticated, and the offerings will continue to get better with time in my opinion. There are already some fantastic offerings available.
The XL's 14" cubed print area really opens up a lot of possibilities for printing larger objects, such as a 1-piece pattern for the V-8 engine block. Optionally, you can print multiple small parts located all over the printbed, at the same time.

2. Prusa's XL printer is capable of printing multiple materials on the same model, which can give some interesting advantages such as printing the supports in a different material than the part itself, thus allowing low adhesion between the support and part, to allow the support to break off cleanly without leaving any marks on the printed part. Look closely at the first image, and you will see a crankshaft imbedded in the support material.

3. Multiple colors within the same part (you can do this with a single-head printer by changing the filament color during a print, making sure not to interrupt the continuity of the filament as it is being fed into the print head).

4. The implications of being able to use some of these pre-made 3D models as a starting point for building model engines cannot be understated.
I really think this is where the hobby is going, and the possibilities are mind boggling given that I think we are at the beginning of the 3D printing/3D modeling era.
When you consider that these models, such as the V-8 engine print, could be used in a lost PLA casting process, then things get very interesting very fast, especially considering that some have proven the lost-PLA method with superb results using gray iron.

Here are a few items I found today.
Note the engine crankshaft that is imbedded in the supports that can be cleanly removed, since they are a different material with a very low adhesion value.

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[greentwin]

A few models available on the Prusa website.

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[greentwin]

I have started printing all my patterns on a 3D printer, and have found a way to smooth the furface by buffing it.
I have given up on making wood patterns, and that is probably a good thing due to how much sawdust wood pattern making generates.

Dake engine patterns.

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[greentwin]

Printing flywheels patterns too.

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[cae2100]

Yea, I used 3d printed patterns a while after I got into casting for some time, but never really was happy with them and always thought the post processing on them just took as long as it took to make the wooden ones, but I didnt know how to do the stuff in wood, so used them. After learning how to do the stuff now, I havnt touched my 3d printers in probably 3 years now and they're just collecting dust now tbh. Ill probably dust them off one of these days to print out some wierd templates or something, but there's really nothing Ive seen that I really need tbh, lol.

I find that the wooden ones are far easier to pull from the sand and far easier to ram up too, but I have greensand and you have resin bonded sand too, which is like a sandstone when it sits up, so comparing grapes to watermelons and all... I think it all depends on the person's setup and what the capabilities they have really. I do also think that as loose piece patterns, 3d printed patterns really are a pain, but where they really shine is honestly on matchplates, where they cant slide or bounce around and are held firmly in place.

If it wasnt for the noise and sawdust, I probably would make a cnc router to make the patterns with, and Ive honestly considered it, but at that point, the tool to make the parts becomes the nonstop project instead and what you really wanted to make just becomes a side note really. I think that's the downside with 3d printers these days, we spend more time working on the things and fighting with it than we do making stuff, just to get it tuned enough to do what we want it to do, lol.

Anymore, I can honestly make a pattern up as fast as I can doodle it up on the computer and 3d print it, plus the post processing of scraping it or adding high build primer and waiting on finish to dry. A good example is the quirk router pattern, which took me around 4 hours all together going from rough cut block of cherry, carving and everything to get it exactly how I wanted it, all the way to coating it in shellac, which it would take at least double it just to 3d print the thing tbh, lol. There's also a big thing between a casting from 3d modeled and printed part, to a hand made part, which really shows imo.

[greentwin]

3D printed patterns have a lot of downsides to them, and the big thing is the surface finish, but one thing I really like about them is that I don't have to worry about the relative size of mating pieces.
With wood patterns, If I don't take off the measurements exactly, then the pattern can be too large or small.

Wood patterns are great if the part is not too intricate.

It is a mixed bag for sure, but I have gone the 3D printed pattern route.
The CNC routers are nice, but that is a lot of dust, noise, and wear and tear on parts.
I won't be going the CNC route; but they do make some nice patterns.

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