Tony Duell wrote:
And yes, 3D printing woudl allow you to make
repalcement handles for
DEC frontpanels, but if they break after a few operations (of a few
hundred operations), is there any real point? They might be OK for a
static dispaly, but I for one use my frontpanels. -tony
There are many different
3D printing processes using many different
materials. One of the more common is fused deposition modelling with
ABS plastic. This can be done with both commercial 3D printers and
hobby-grade 3D printers. The resulting pieces are not quite as robust as
molded ABS, but are still quite good. For a switch handle, I'd expect
them to last nearly as long as the original molded ones. Certainly they
aren't going to break after a few hundred operations.
It is, though
most of the colors in which they are available are quite
garish.
See:http://ultimachine.com/catalog/print-materials/pla/pla-3mm
for a representative sample.
So nothing suitable for DEC handles, I guess.
While the color choices available from stock for the hobby-grade
printers are fairly limited, plastics suppliers can produce custom ABS
filament in whatever color you need. Usually the minimum order for a
custom color is on the order of 5 kg, which is about 4800 cubic
centimeters, which I'd expect to be at least enough for 500 switch
handles. The cost for 5 kg is likely to be between $300 and $500. This
makes the materials cost per switch handle $1 or less.
People keep talking about sanding the printed object, but for ABS better
results are obtained by polishing with a very small amount of acetone.
Eric