3d printing of arcade parts

[chubsta]

Just browsing the for sale threads and in phils outrun one it mentions a gear is dodgy. This got me thinking about whether we are getting to the point where many hard to find parts will be easily replaced by stuff made with a 3d printer.

Stuff like star wars controllers should be easy enough I reckon.

Has anyone tried this sort of thing yet, could be a good business opportunity I reckon...

 

[RGP]

The infamous "B gear" on Outrun - yeah, if we can find a printer that can work with a plyable enough substance that is very tough when it hardens this should be fine.

The B gear takes a fair bit of a pounding much like the two tensioning springs that re-center the steering wheel.

Years of being slammed from one side to the other will crack that thing.

Naturally we'd be interested in some repro spares.

 

[chubsta]

I figure if you can make a gun with a 3d printer then the finished products hold be hard enough!

I'm not sure how the whole 3d printing thing works in terms of planning what will be printed, I guess you wold need some way of getting a detailed plan of the item. I may pick up a printer later in the year to mess around with as they are getting cheaper now

 

[RGP]

There's a whole CAD world devoted to 3D printing, apparently you design in a 3D cad system and then export to something which generates the printing language - you can get extremely detailed.

Not to stray O/T you could design a gun that disintegrates to powder after the first shot leaving no trace of a weapon - zip gun kind of thing. The propellant and shockwave could be used to shatter deliberate fault lines while still allowing the projectile to eject in a straight line.

Very surprised some nutjob hasn't done it yet.

 

[tb lilley]

The gears have already been printed:

Link

 

[silverfox0786]

we should buy a community REPRAP

every one chip in for one and then the great thing about the REPRAP is it can reprint its own parts to build another and we could print one for every donator

 

[RGP]

we should buy a community REPRAP

every one chip in for one and then the great thing about the REPRAP is it can reprint its own parts to build another and we could print one for every donator

That's scary replicator technology right there sir - next the BORG will descend on us!

 

[JohnnyChaos]

I can print and replicate stuff at work. They use it as training for the apprentices.

 

[Jodo]

I've got a repro 3D printed 14 tooth gear for the Star Wars Yoke fitted; it's nice and smooth and has been working great; the jury is still out on how long it will last but then you just make more

 

[cmonkey]

I've got 3D printed gears C and D for my Out Run. The finish isn't anywhere near as good as the originals but who cares as I don't spend a great deal of time staring at them.

 

[RGP]

I've got 3D printed gears C and D for my Out Run. The finish isn't anywhere near as good as the originals but who cares as I don't spend a great deal of time staring at them.

And that's exactly the right attitude to have - we'd all like absolute exact duplicates but survival of the game will mean sacrifice of original parts for newer reproductions in a lot of cases.

There is no Michelin star guide for cabs and nobody's going to say "Nice outrun, shame the C & D gears are 3D printed".

Will it deter potential resale price - "Its fully working" is still "fully working" even if a new part is in there.

Nobody complains that the monitor has been repaired or the PCB or that new pots have been fitted to accelerator and brake etc - its fully working.

Of course we all want to avoid LCD's for as long as possible - given the kind of usage we give machines - even with "event usage" its still only around 1% of the usage an OP gave a machine in a year so a good quality, burn free tube with a recently rebuilt monitor should certainly last our lives out.

Thumbs up to 3D printing!