3D printing

Initial Fix

Initial Fix

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Initial Fix
I recently got a 3D printer, and after printing a bunch of stuff for my wife, I’m looking for airplane related gadgets to print.

I found a bunch of Bonanza stuff on BeechTalk. I’m wondering if anyone has found other useful things? Searching PoA didn’t turn up much
 
On a certificated airplane, I think you're limited to things like cup holders, headset hangers, and other interior odds and ends.
 
Camera mounts, tablet holders, organizers for whatever crap you have floating around in the baggage area.
You could do an artsy fartsy dipstick for the fuel tanks with the N number embossed.
Spark plug rack with numbered holes, the torque spec, and the firing order on it. Perhaps a spot for the spark plug socket.
Custom funnel to get oil from the stupid place where the drain is to someplace reasonable. Or, just a slip on extension for the quick drain that gets you outside the cowl. Bonus points if it snaps into place.

What kind of things did you find on Beachtalk?
 
On a Piper the cover over the floor air vent that rotate to air the airflow.
 
Capt. Geoffrey Thorpe said:
Camera mounts, tablet holders, organizers for whatever crap you have floating around in the baggage area.
You could do an artsy fartsy dipstick for the fuel tanks with the N number embossed.
Spark plug rack with numbered holes, the torque spec, and the firing order on it. Perhaps a spot for the spark plug socket.
Custom funnel to get oil from the stupid place where the drain is to someplace reasonable. Or, just a slip on extension for the quick drain that gets you outside the cowl. Bonus points if it snaps into place.

What kind of things did you find on Beachtalk?
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Absolutely! What I’m not finding (easily) are those gadgets

BT has yoke covers, helpers to reinstall seats, etc. it took a bit of digging to find those

I’m also just getting back into 3D cad. It’s not something I’ve need to do in awhile. The new fusion360 is pretty amazing to use
 
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Search on thingiverse. There's some aviation stuff over there as well.
 
OneCharlieTango said:
On a certificated airplane, I think you're limited to things like cup holders, headset hangers, and other interior odds and ends.
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The existing guidance draws the line at replacement of existing parts or items that are part of the type design. However there is a legal path via a major alteration to used 3D printing which a number of people currently use
 
My neighbor 3d printed me a little bracket to hold the Lightspeed ANR module rather than letting it dangle on the cord.
 
Initial Fix said:
Absolutely! What I’m not finding (easily) are those gadgets

BT has yoke covers, helpers to reinstall seats, etc. it took a bit of digging to find those

I’m also just getting back into 3D cad. It’s not something I’ve need to do in awhile. The new fusion360 is pretty amazing to use
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I just downloaded fusion. Never used cad software before. Any suggestions for learning the software?
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I just downloaded fusion. Never used cad software before. Any suggestions for learning the software?
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YouTube, if you try and figure it out on your own it could get very frustrating. I watched a lot of Lars Christensen when I was learning it. His stuff is several years (and Fusion revisions) old but the basics should still be good.


Learn how to sketch and get everything fully constrained, i.e no blue lined drawings. Learn how to use the parametric modeling in it also, that’s super useful. Those sentences probably don’t make sense now but they will if you get into it.

I also like this channel (@fusion360school), videos are short and to the point and cover some more advanced stuff.

 
Initial Fix said:
I recently got a 3D printer, and after printing a bunch of stuff for my wife, I’m looking for airplane related gadgets to print.

I found a bunch of Bonanza stuff on BeechTalk. I’m wondering if anyone has found other useful things? Searching PoA didn’t turn up much
Click to expand...
For stuff you are going to use in the plane, avoid printing in PLA. If (when) it gets hot in the plane it will likely soften, warp and become unusable. I’ve gotten good results with PETG, never used ABS or ASA but those are also supposed to be very heat tolerant.
 
Arm3 said:
For stuff you are going to use in the plane, avoid printing in PLA. If (when) it gets hot in the plane it will likely soften, warp and become unusable. I’ve gotten good results with PETG, never used ABS or ASA but those are also supposed to be very heat tolerant.
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PETG is also more UV resistant. I’ve had a few successful PETG prints so far.
 
Arm3 said:
For stuff you are going to use in the plane, avoid printing in PLA. If (when) it gets hot in the plane it will likely soften, warp and become unusable. I’ve gotten good results with PETG, never used ABS or ASA but those are also supposed to be very heat tolerant.
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Most of the plastic trim inside airplanes is thermoformed ABS.
 
Bell206 said:
The existing guidance draws the line at replacement of existing parts or items that are part of the type design. However there is a legal path via a major alteration to used 3D printing which a number of people currently use
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Here’s a great example of a part. In older bonanzas there is a mechanical nose gear down indicator located in the lower tunnel between the pilot and pax that gets beat up. Good luck finding one. So someone created a 3D one to print. I had found a serviceable one, but this will be high on my list if that ever breaks.
 
Initial Fix said:
Here’s a great example of a part.
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And if they followed the applicable guidance it would be a great example. If not, then it would be a great example of what not to do which does not seem to be listed in the linked info. The FAA is actually very pro-3D print and even puts on regular seminars how to legally incorporate it into maintenance, prevent mx, and other similar operations. So what would be a simple minor alteration or repair using conventional methods, tends to move to the major alteration or repair category when additive manufacturing, ie,. 3D print, is used. Bottomline its all about the conformity to the type design where the issue lies.
 
Tarheelpilot said:
I just downloaded fusion. Never used cad software before. Any suggestions for learning the software?
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I started using Fusion a few months ago due to recommendations from PoA'ers. It's been fantastic.
There's no getting around it though: the program has a learning curve and it's own nuances.
Online YouTube tutorials are widely available for nearly any task you wish to accomplish. GPT has been helpful answering questions as well and can write up concise or detailed steps to accomplish common tasks.
 
ArrowFlyer86 said:
I started using Fusion a few months ago due to recommendations from PoA'ers. It's been fantastic.
There's no getting around it though: the program has a learning curve and it's own nuances.
Online YouTube tutorials are widely available for nearly any task you wish to accomplish. GPT has been helpful answering questions as well and can write up concise or detailed steps to accomplish common tasks.
Click to expand...

I've been using Fusion 360 for a little over a year now and when I go back and look at some of my earlier designs, I think "What the heck were you doing!?". Seems like every time I do a new design, I learn a new trick or process that makes things easier.

For the OP:
Thingiverse
MakersWorld
Printables
Fusion360 and imagination
Not necessarily in that order.
 
Fusion is a lot like flying in that it takes very regular use to maintain proficiency. Every time I want to make something I have to relearn it.
 
Fusion360 requires constant online access. You could be locked out of your designs at any time when they decide to move the goalposts.
That's why I always recommend to the casual user to pick something that's fully offline, even if it means less features.
FreeCAD is something worth checking out.
 
AV8R_87 said:
Fusion360 requires constant online access. You could be locked out of your designs at any time when they decide to move the goalposts.
That's why I always recommend to the casual user to pick something that's fully offline, even if it means less features.
FreeCAD is something worth checking out.
Click to expand...

I was curious about this. I just turned off the WiFi on my laptop and opened up Fusion and it let me work. I'm sure there is an eventual "You haven't signed in in a certain amount of time, so now we're locking you out.." thing, but it at least let me open app up and so some stuff while offline for a little while.
 
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CJones said:
For the OP:
Thingiverse
MakersWorld
Printables
Fusion360 and imagination
Not necessarily in that order.
Click to expand...
All great sites I’ve perused for aviation gadgets. If my experience with BT holds as an example, I suspect folks are posting models to other aviation forums and not the bigger sites.
CJones said:
I've been using Fusion 360 for a little over a year now and when I go back and look at some of my earlier designs, I think "What the heck were you doing!?". Seems like every time I do a new design, I learn a new trick or process that makes things easier.

For the OP:
Thingiverse
MakersWorld
Printables
Fusion360 and imagination
Not necessarily in that order.
Click to expand...
All great sites I’ve searched for aviation gadgets. If my experience with BT holds as an example, I suspect folks are posting models to other aviation forums and not the bigger sites.
 
GeorgeC said:
I was looking at this the other day. I wonder when adaptive conformal lattice infill will trickle down to consumer printers...

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I have a "adaptive cubic" infill option in the slicer I use (OrcaSlicer). Probably not as in-depth as what you're thinking, but it does adapt to the space being filled rather than just doing a blanket "x% infill". It's not doing anything like actually reinforcing critical areas, though, which is what I assume you're thinking about?
 
I had an older crown on one tooth replaced. The dentist 3D printed it in the office. Printed it out, plopped it on, checked my bite, and was done. Fit like a champ, no need for constant adjustments to get it to fit.
 
CJones said:
I have a "adaptive cubic" infill option in the slicer I use (OrcaSlicer). Probably not as in-depth as what you're thinking, but it does adapt to the space being filled rather than just doing a blanket "x% infill". It's not doing anything like actually reinforcing critical areas, though, which is what I assume you're thinking about?
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I want it to take an FEM stress field and make space-filling trusses, where the mesh is denser near the skin and sparser as you move towards the middle. That is easy for me to say, because I'm not a mech-e...
 
Jim K said:
Fusion is a lot like flying in that it takes very regular use to maintain proficiency. Every time I want to make something I have to relearn it.
Click to expand...
One of the reasons I keep coming back to OpenSCAD. Coding skills are transferable .
 
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