C-100F door coming to life

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Superduper

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Eric,

Fantastic job, as always. I can't even begin to fathom the amount of hours invested in making the file, I also use the same software but you've far eclipsed anything that I've tried to make up. About the deck door, I'm sure there's dozens of opinions but here's my 2 cents:

The deck door will never be an original, it will always be a replacement because, well, it IS in fact a replacement. The texture of the originals finish likely couldn't ever be reproduced accurately on a 3D hobby printer today, perhaps someday, but not today. But you know what, if I had a C100 that was missing a door or had a broken non-functional door, I would be ecstatic to have an attractive fully functional replacement. To me, it wouldn't even have to be 100% identical, as long as it looked proper and was functional. That means that it could be designed slightly different to accommodate a 3D printed method so that a clear fitting piece of plexiglass could be installed for the window. For example, the clear window is impossible to print to my understanding with todays materials. All the "clear" pre-printed filaments I'm aware of will print cloudy or translucent at best. Then the print process itself results in a "texture" that is not smooth as glass. If the print material could be made clear, it would still require sanding and polishing to remove all texture and given all the complex (tiny) curves, angles, etc in the sample depicted above, I doubt that it would be practical or possible. So an example of a "modified" door might involve adding a small perimeter frame so that a flat clear piece of plexiglass could be fitted onto it and the bottom portion of the door where the clear part hooks onto could be printed without the rectangular openings and raised enough so that a piece of aluminum could be affixed to be flush with the design. This would be a more practical method of making a replacement so that the door fits and functions properly and has a clear glass, yet still look attractive although not 100% identical. Still, even with such changes, I doubt the average Joe could tell that it was a replacement and not original.

Or.... while the clear glass like the one above isn't really possible yet to "print" a ready-made reproduction, there is another possible alternative to 3D printing. This would be making it by "molding" the glass. Clear lucite or other pour mold materials already exists that can make perfectly clear parts. The only thing necessary is to create a working mold and acquire the mold making tools including a vacuum degassing chamber (since any bubbles in a clear part would instantly be obvious). An original could be used to make the mold to create new ones. This method (making the glass), combined with the 3D printed door might be the ideal way to create a reproduction door. But I have to ask, how much would something like this be worth and is there enough interest to make it. happen? With Erics file, a commercial 3D print service could have that door delivered to the house in a week (production and shipping time included), but as the door is fairly large, it would be fairly costly (I would need to upload it to the print service for them to quote). (Eric, email me the file if you wish me to get a quote just to see what it would cost to print that sucker). Then there is the glass portion... again, another added cost.
 

caution

Member (SA)
Norm that was what I was trying to describe, I'd cut a rectangle for the window and add some sort of slot or flange to attach some clear plexi. Sure the edges (and maybe the lower part if you don't use trim) aren't clear but may look good enough.

You're right about printing clear. Harry and I came to that assessment in his C-100F tray thread. I suggested printing a negative of the window as two halves to do what you suggest with the mold and vacuum pump but that's a bit of messing around and won't ever be super flat anyway.

Thanks for offering to check, who knows, they have way nicer printers that can do more complex parts like the Formlabs and Polyjet 3D, maybe prices have come down...
 

Superduper

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Staff member
caution said:
....., I suggested printing a negative of the window as two halves to do what you suggest with the mold and vacuum pump but that's a bit of messing around and won't ever be super flat ...
No, because a printed part doesn’t have a smooth as glass texture, a “printed” mold will cause any part cast from that mold to mirror that texture, whether it’s alligator skin or sandblasted or a wavy hair texture, whatever. Thus the casted part will then need after treatment (sanding, polishing) which because it’s not a simple flat piece, the whole reason to begin with for casting rather than printing, it would only be practical to create a mold from an original (hopefully perfect blemish free example) as that will yield a part casted from it to also have a smooth finish right out of the mold. BTW, molds are usually made of soft silicone material rather than a hard plastic which allows it to peeled off of the cast past. Lastly, a cast part will be a perfect clone of the original down to tolerances and any blemishes. For this reason alone, it’s far better to use an original to create the casting mold. Although the 3D rendering looks correct, the fitment is critical to allow the glass to snap in and hold as there is a slight interference fit. Too tight and something snaps or will be a bugger to remove. Too loose and it simply won’t hold. Even 3D printing has some tolerance errors which will vary from machine to machine. This will require trial and adjustments for a perfect fit for that machine. I know that parts I’ve had printed and measured with a mic arrived with some difference in sizing. For example, a part specifying 3.1mm might measure 3.06mm.
 

Superduper

Moderator
Staff member
An order has been placed for a prototype sample from a commercial 3D print service to test fit and function. Eric will hopefully report on it when he gets it. Unfortunately, the printers seem to be busy so it may take a couple of weeks. Stay tuned.
 

trippy1313

Member (SA)
Wow. Simply, and well, very not simply, amazing. Looks incredible the detail you've gone through Eric. I can't wait to see how this turns out.
 

caution

Member (SA)
Bracket complete! It needs a pair of springs, as does the door, so I can post the specs on those if anyone ends up getting the door printed and wants to make some.

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caution

Member (SA)
Thanks man!
Thought I'd add the cling since I did everything else. I managed to get a nice accurate shot of it by placing my phone behind the cling with a white screen, that avoided shadows from the front. Found the fonts and laid those in place (they used different letter-to-letter spacings) and vectorized the whole thing.
It's hard to see some of it without the construction lines on, but it looks cool either way!

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THAFUZZ

Member (SA)
caution said:
Thanks man!
Thought I'd add the cling since I did everything else. I managed to get a nice accurate shot of it by placing my phone behind the cling with a white screen, that avoided shadows from the front. Found the fonts and laid those in place (they used different letter-to-letter spacings) and vectorized the whole thing.
It's hard to see some of it without the construction lines on, but it looks cool either way!

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Fantastic work Brother!
 

caution

Member (SA)
The door arrived today! Although it's rough, it's close enough to know it's probably fine. The soft eject gears mesh, the window snaps on and locks into position properly, and the eject latch locks fine, although it scrapes a little because the surface finish is so rough.

As I was checking the bracket on the door in CAD, I saw a somewhat large gap between the hinge pins and the door. The left and right door pieces it goes into were too far apart by 1mm. It came down to the slight draft angle on the sides of the door to help it pop out of the mold. It's not much but it's enough to change the width of the door by a half millimeter per side depending on if you measure from the edge of the side, or the center of the side, where there is a slight peak. So, as expected, there was a little bit of play in the bracket. Already fixed.

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Transistorized

Member (SA)
:jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop: :jawdrop: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap: :clap:

Anyone else happy to be alive right now? You know what this means? With folks like Eric who are capable to achieving feats like this, ANY box that has survived this long can and WILL have a second chance at life.

I don't normally marvel too much over modern technology or the intelligence of man....but I must say.....I will make an exception for this.

WAY TO GO!!!! :bow: :bow: :bow: :bow:
 

MyOhMy

Member (SA)
I just can't imagine the amount of work that goes into something like this. This isn't 'just a deck door', it's a labour of love by an artist who cares. Every drawing I saw made me instantly think of the complexities of every elevation, angle, proportion, texture, curve, recess, profile and gawd knows what else. Just looking at at a drawing concentrates the mind intensely thinking of endless details and considerations, it's nothing less than awesome that you can contemplate something as complicated as this and actually manufacture the end product.



Absolutely incredible. :yes: :bow: :rock: :hooray:
 
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