Porsche Is 3D Printing Hard-To-Find Parts For The 959 And Other Classics (jalopnik.com) 82
Porsche Classic, Porsche's classic cars division, has turned to 3D printing obscure parts that people might need on occasion. From a report: They already have about 52,000 parts available, but for the truly arcane ones, it's cheaper to 3D print them than make the specialized tools to create them over again. In addition to that 959 lever, Porsche is also 3D printing eight other parts. They are made from steel and alloy and the plastics are made using an selective laser sintering printer, which Porsche describes as: "A process where the material is heated to just below melting point and the remaining energy is applied through a laser to fuse the plastic powder at a selected point." So there you have it! The next time something is busted on your 959 or 356, don't cry and abandon the car, stalled on the side of the road. Call up Porsche. They'll science something for you.
As a gear head - this is nirvana (Score:2)
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And as soon as metal printing is affordable, intellectual property laws will become the bane of your existence.
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And as soon as metal printing is affordable, intellectual property laws will become the bane of your existence.
They will be as successful as *AA at stopping music torrents. So not at all.
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Replicating a vehicle part will still have a significant cost, both in terms of actually making an accurate blueprint of the part, the time involved in 3d printing it, the cost of the required equipment and the cost of the raw materials. In many cases the 3d printed part might cost more than an original mass produced part, especially if that part is still being produced or the manufacturer has significant leftover stocks of it.
If the manufacturer has given up selling those parts, then they'd have a harder t
IP Laws (Score:2)
Depends.
If he would be trying to *sell* the parts for a profit on some eBay-liexpress-mazon website :
Yes, he would be probably infringing some patents and/or trademarks.
That's not different from current chinese crappy-cheap knock offs sold on the same site.
Except that the guy is probably located in a jurisdiction where enforcing IP rights would be easier for Porsche.
If he is building them himself to use them :
Nope fat chance. In most sane jurisdiction, 3D printing his own parts to repair a car would fall un
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You can already print them in plastic or wax and cast your own pretty easily.
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Yes, because casting aluminum, iron, and steel is "pretty easy"...
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Yes, and cast parts have the same strength as forged or machined parts.
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Yes, especially the ones cast by a random person in their back yard.
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SpaceX has been very successful 3-D printing metal. For example, their SuperDraco engines are entirely 3-D printed. From what I have read and heard, they are able to do things with 3-D printing that are impossible any other way, including changing the properties of the metal based on location. Heating something to the melting point isn't necessary for strength (i.e. see friction stir welding [wikipedia.org]). 3-D printing does not mean the parts are weak. [sciencemag.org]
3-D printed parts can be made lighter and contain far more complexity
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Not true for steel, as featured here on /. [slashdot.org] not long ago.
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That is no longer true. In fact, you can have better control over grain size with 3-D printing than you can with casting. Additionally, you can change the metal composition based on location. SpaceX, for example, makes extensive use of 3-D printing of its metal parts. Their SuperDraco rocket engine is entirely 3-D printed, for example. Here's an older Slashdot story [slashdot.org] where 3-D printed stainless steel more than doubles the strength.
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Now, the question for me is: as an owner of one of these cars, what would it cost to license the spare parts database so I can have a printing company of my choice make and finish the parts to my specifications?
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Also, Porsche charges astronomical licensing fees for anything associated with their brand. Just look at video games for example.. Many times you will see RUF cars instead of actual Porsches in games because they want too much for licensing.
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Actually, that's not the reason why. The reason was EA had an exclusive license to use Porsche in its games Need for Speed and Real Racing. Exclusive, as in no one else was allowed.
This agreement ended in 2016, after a 16 year exclusivity deal, which means you are now fr
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Yes, quite.
What we need next is some kind of machine that you can use to cur metal into shapes, perhaps using some kind of spinning tool and an x/y/z movable bed..
Oh way, its called a milling machine, and combined with a tig welder, you can replicate a LOT of things without the problems associated with the random-and-unpredictable finish and strength of 3d metal printing.
Metal printing will make 'easy' parts easy (remember, you have to come up with an accurate 3d model), and hard parts will still be hard.
Th
We also need a plastic part database (Score:2)
I have a 1972 Eldorado convertible. It doesn't have excessive plastic, but some parts, such as the molding next to the back seat, which also holds the latch for the parade boot, are showing their age (and then some: that part showed it by disintegrating when I tuned the latch).
Being able to print these would be a big deal. Cadillac isn't going to make any more, and it would be prohibitively expensive if they did. But if a straightforward ways mad to scan these, printing would be a truly desirable option.
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Re:Gay! (Score:4)
You only know about PLA and you apply that knowledge to everything that says "3D printed".
Fascinating.
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Because they didn't need them anymore.
German efficiency + implementing Japanese Lean methodology , if you don't need it anymore get rid of it as it will be wasting space.
For these older models, they don't need the space for a full production line. As most people will go to the Junk Yard to get the missing part. Offering 3d Printing of the part is probably the most affordable way to do it. As custom tooling a part will be wicked expensive.
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They didn't take it out back & blow it up, but machining tools don't last forever.
Some of them were probably used (with modifications) in subsequent model years, most of them just wore out & weren't replaced since they weren't making that exact part anymore. For the rest, molds and tooling takes up space or rust and the materials they're made out of can be recycled into new parts. There isn't a lot of money to be made in keeping tooling for a 30+ year old car that they only made about 300 of to be
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You can always sell old tooling to retro parts makers.
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There's a ridiculous amount of money in supporting hundreds of rare, valuable cars.
If there are thousands and millions of examples, you've got competition: Everyone and their brother will be making parts that compete with your own. Hundreds, though? That's a captive market and you can name your price.
Science is a verb now? (Score:2, Insightful)
Have we already gone full-on idiocracy [imdb.com]in just 12 years?
Blame Andy Wier. [Re:Science is a verb now?] (Score:2)
three-second youtube clip [youtube.com]
And here's Obama saying it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?... [youtube.com] (about 1 minute in. But he modifies the line to "going to science the heck out of this").
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Good point. This constant need to drag politics into every single discussion is beyond annoying.
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Science isn't about WHY. It's about WHY NOT. Why is so much of our science dangerous? Why not marry safe science if you love it so much. In fact, why not invent a special safety door that won't hit you on the butt on the way out, because you are fired. - Cave Johnson
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If you like it, you could pretend you don't understand.
356? (Score:2)
Aahh... no.
Porsche - or at least Porsche North America - got out of the 356 parts business around 2000, and sold all remaining NOS stock to Stoddard
Fortunately, I have all the weird and special bits and pieces for my 356c coupe- and there are some skilled artisans making 3rd party metal parts for what I'll have to replace eventually (door skins, etc)
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cue Tom Sellek : (Score:2)
But you will.
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You wouldn't download a car. But you will.
Cue Chairman Mao: A steel furnace in every home! [wikipedia.org]
Make fun of it, but this is the future of manufacturing. When 3D printing reaches the point where you can churn out the parts for whatever it is you need parts for locally, or just the make whole product at your local 3D printing shop from plans downloaded from the internet, it will upend the world of manufacturing as we know it in a big way. Never mind if we ever get to a point where you can 3D print your own AK-47 that can fire 30k rounds without the receiver breaking or the barrel exploding in your face
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3D printed a hand grenade? Where do you get the detonator and explosive from? The rest of it is just metal. It can simply be a tin can filled with nuts and bolts.
As soon as complex compounds can be assembled by a printer.... Well you're in Startrek's universe then [wikipedia.org]
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Where do you get the detonator and explosive from?
From the cabinet beneath your kitchen sink.
Or in your bathroom closet, where you keep your cleaning stuff.
Or a big jar of iodine crystals and a bottle of ammonia.
There are still a few minor "stability" issues with that last one.
the unabomber built pipe ones in his small shack (Score:2)
the unabomber built pipe ones in his small shack with no grid power
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Exactly. 3D printing doesn't really offer anything for bomb makers. Except for having them spend a lot of money for something that provides no tangible benefit.
and sintered metal isn't ever going to be as strong as forged for making guns.
Re:cue Tom Sellek : (Score:5, Informative)
....Never mind if we ever get to a point where you can 3D print your own AK-47 that can fire 30k rounds without the receiver breaking or the barrel exploding in your face like the original can or ... hand grenades? ... RPG's?
You could make small arms with conventional machine-shop tools. Why is this always an issue when people talk about 3d printing??? No-one is saying, "if you let people buy a hobby lathe, they could start turning out hand grenades and rifle barrels."
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"if you let people buy a hobby lathe, they could start turning out hand grenades and rifle barrels
So true. I bought a hobby lathe for use in scale modelling, and (even though I've never owned a gun) I now feel the irresistible urge to turn nothing but gun barrels. I am hackertourist, and I am an addict.
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You obviously aren't familiar with manufacture efficiencies. You will never be able to be as efficient as a manufacturing plant that churns out the same part every 5 seconds from cheap raw materials.
3D printing is, and always will be for specialized parts in limited quantities. If it is a large enough market, they will makes molds and dies so they can produce the part faster and cheaper. It's called economies of scale.
3d pirate bay (Score:1)
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https://www.thingiverse.com/th... [thingiverse.com]
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This is a little more practical maybe. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/... [wikipedia.org]
Isn't it engineering" (Score:2)
They'll science something for you.
This sounds more like engineering than science -- 3d printers and laser heating sounds more like an application of engineering than science.
Finally!!! (Score:4, Insightful)
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As a Porsche owner and PCA member, I can verify that the prices are outrageous. My half shafts cost over $400 each, but I purchased the exact same items for a VW bus for $80 each. The OEM A/C slider knobs are $30 each, and the rubber sunroof seal is $120. The A/C compressor was $600 and was stamped Denso.
I have learned quite a bit, and have performed much of the maintenance myself. Rebuilt power steering was ridiculous, but I did my own for $80 worth of seals (still a ripoff for o-rings).
Specialised tools (Score:2)
Clearly the specialised tools existed at the time the car was manufactured, so why do these tools no longer exist? Were they destroyed?
Surely it would make sense to keep such things for production of classic parts, especially for a manufacturer like Porsche.
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parts. I.e. the parts that don't have extreme strength requirements, don't need to be uber precise, and don't need to be made of an alloy that 3D printers don't use...
Best (Score:1)