rossm Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 If I have a master is there an inexpensive service in the UK to replicate it with a 3D printer? TIA Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ali62 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 Ross, You will need a 3D cad file to get it printed. A master will not help other than to measure and produce a drawing from. If you just want to replicate a part that you have made, depending what you need it for and how many, resin casting would be possibly the quickest and cheapest option. PM me if you would like a few things cast, we can see if I can help from there. cheers Ali Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shar2 Posted April 15, 2015 Share Posted April 15, 2015 The only way to produce a file from a master would be to use a 3D scanner. As Ali has stated you really need a cad drawing saved usually as an stl file. We have a scanner and printer at the uni I work at. Unfortunately I'm signed off sick at the moment so can't help out. Hopefully I'll be back at work in a month or so, then if you still need help you can send me the master and I can work on it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 Thanks for the replies - I better explain a bit more... The item in question is a mounting ring for a bayonet fit lens hood for my camera. It is made of ABS (or nylon?) or similar so not possible to cast (it needs to flex). It has broken due to being dropped and I can cobble together a visual repair but the inability to glue to the type of plastic involved makes it too weak to use. I guess I could come up with drawings by measuring as it is basically a series of circles with cut-outs but the original manufacturer will not release theirs. I'm not sure of the legalities but as it's for a repair I can't see why there would be a problem about a one-off copy. It's not a desperate thing as I have purchased a filter mounting ring designed for one of the square filter systems and I can adapt this so the hood can be attached to it and then to the lens by screw fitting into the filter thread. It's just that having seen a potential way to repair it to original bayonet spec I thought I'd investigate. Ross Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Giorgio N Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I may be wrong, but considering the time needed to create the CAD file and the cost of the printing, you may find it's cheaper to buy an original spare part Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SPerx Posted April 16, 2015 Share Posted April 16, 2015 I agree with Giogio above. In addition I suspect that the plastic commonly used in 3D printers would prove to be too brittle at the thickness of a lens hood. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rossm Posted April 16, 2015 Author Share Posted April 16, 2015 I may be wrong, but considering the time needed to create the CAD file and the cost of the printing, you may find it's cheaper to buy an original spare part Not available new and £70 plus on fleabay I agree with Giogio above. In addition I suspect that the plastic commonly used in 3D printers would prove to be too brittle at the thickness of a lens hood. It's only the mounting ring to attach the metal hood to the lens, but if the plastic is brittle then it probably would break as it clicked into place as the original has some allowance to flex built in. Plan A at the moment is to go with the modification to make it a screw in hood but I'm interested to know the ins and outs of Plan B - obviously not as easy as I thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crankycraftsman Posted July 31, 2019 Share Posted July 31, 2019 Giorgio is correct, the time involved in creating a Cadd file (stl) then having it printed would cost more then £70. I would just buy the one on Ebay. I know I'm a retired Cadd Design Engineer and have a 3D printer, prints in resin though. Like I said it ain't cheap and takes knowledge and the correct software to create a part. Ron G Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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