Are we at the point of printing reliable mechanical parts?

[Iain]

So, one of the things i'd like is to do a proper Baldwin A1A truck; are we at the point where i could possibly print the major components and they'd stand up to wear?

[ednadolski]

Others will know better than me, tho I'd think some of the ABS-like resins should be up to light-duty use.  Besides, if something wears out, you can always re-print it

Ed

[Missaberoad]

You could easily print a gear tower and truck side frames and use the gears/wheelsets from a donor locomotive. Briggs models did this with a number of his projects.

Frames could be 3d printed, investment cast or cnc machined. An existing locomotive could be used as well with the new gear towers or frame modifications correcting wheelbase issues.

[robert3985]

I'm pretty happy with the strength of the Anycubic ABS-Like Resin Pro...also its ability to print details and low shrinkage.  However, it's been replaced by a newer version Anycubic ABS-Like Resin Pro 2, which is even more durable, and the black color has been improved so that it's much more opaque than the last version...although I generally use grey for everything.

I've got UP caboose trucks planned for the near future, and I'll be printing them in the second version after I use up all of my first version of ABS-Like Resin Pro.

For truck sideframes on engines, I wouldn't hesitate to use it.  For stuff such as gears & U-joints...I'd give it at try, but my experience level with such things in the 3D printing world is virtually zero.  Detail parts are where I'm at at the moment.

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Sumner]

I designed and printed gears for the 2nd generation of Bachmann's DDA40X using Siraya Tech's Sonic Grey resin to replace the broken white gears. 



I haven't run them a lot but so far they haven't broken.  I shocked them by going back and forth between forward and reverse at speed and ran the locos for a couple hours.  Long term?  Have no idea how they would last  I won't run these locos much so for my needs they will probably be fine and I printed extras if I do need to replace them at some point.  I put the print files up on thingiverse and you can find the links and more info on installing them here....

https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Locos-1/page-9.html

.... I asked for feedback but haven't received any but know they have been downloaded a number of times.  I put off trying to design gears for a long time but then after a couple hours learning more about them and using Fusion 360 with the free GF Gear Generator add-on designed the gears in about 30 minutes and they printed and worked the first time (love Fusion 360).

The couple locos I put these in also had broken frame isolators so made some of those....




...  and info an links here for anyone needing them  .....

https://1fatgmc.com/RailRoad/Locos-1/page-10.html

I have a couple 1st gen DDA40X'S with broken gears and haven't looked to see if the 2nd gen will work, kind of doubt it.  If not maybe at some point I'll get around to those also. 

Sumner

[Jesse6669]

Did you print the shaft holes then ream them with the 1/16" bit?  Because a couple of them look off-center.  That's going to be an issue unless there's a lot of play in the mechanism.
Whenever I've printed gears (for my T-scale mechanisms), I print a shaft hole (or at least pilot hole) to keep the gear centered on the axle.

[Sumner]

Did you print the shaft holes then ream them with the 1/16" bit?  Because a couple of them look off-center.

Yes the shaft holes were in the print.  The off center might look that way due to how they are laying or the angle of the camera.  They were reamed out...



.... with three different sized bits  I printed extra and any I didn't like the fit on the axle made it into the trash.

Sumner

[GGNInNScale]

I printed a bunch of Atlas and Kato frame isolators.  I dropped one on the floor, and could not find it.  So, I went to TinkerCad and had 50 pieces in about an hour...  I used standard AnyCubic gray resin.

[Dave V]

My gut would have said "yes" to the title of the thread but I'm glad to see proof!