Furrari build

[Furrari]

The engine cover.

Consensus at Knebworth was that the aluminium finish was the best for the engine cover raised casting bits but that the hybrid Merc/ Ferrari badge on the front half of the cover had to go.  The final decision will be made next week when I see Beemaman, but I am leaning towards a plinth with the car details on as this will save having to get the cover totally flat.

[Furrari]

Bad news.  Set back on the engine cover job.  I bought a cheap 3D printer which in fairness gave me a good print.  As I've tried to print bigger items its failings ( Chineese Engineering) have become apparent.

After many attempts to fix the problems it goes back tomorrow.

Good news.  The new one, a couple of generations later in design, is due for delivery today.  I hope to get the changes I discussed with Wayne done the week after Lotherton Hall and over to him for a coat of paint.

[Furrari]

Doing a bit of work around the back of The Furrari and I noticed a strange thing.  The diffuser wing is backwards.
Think of an aircraft wing.  The curved surface is at the top and the thicker part at the leading edge.  All this produces a laminar flow over the wing producing lift.  The diffuser wing has the thinner edge at the front.  This makes the required laminar flow stall producing turbulence.  No wonder the back of the car is always covered in muck.

The cheapo printer has been replaced with a much better one and I'm in the process of trying to make an extra diffuser wing but it's a very difficult job so time will tell if I can. ( it's a compound curve in fresh air)

Photos will be posted of the job if it works.  Non if it doesn't so I don't look a plonker.

[Furrari]

I'm running several jobs at once.  At the moment I'm printing a new diffuser wing.

I'm printing it in 2" sections so I can follow the shape of the existing wing, fix it together and send it for CF dipping.

This is the wing section I'm using.  Front to back its 4" and 1/2" thick.  It's attack angle will be about 30 degrees, a bit steep but it follows the angle of the existing wing.

The new printer produces a very good print but is pitifully slow, this 4" X 2" X 1/2 piece taking two hours to print.

[Furrari]

Four of the diffuser wing sections printed together.
One has lifted off the bed, not a problem on this occasion.  Eight hours to print this lot.  It takes twice this many to just do the centre section.

[Furrari]

I taped up the centre section of the existing diffuser wing and tried to clamp the new bits to it.
Oh bugger.  I have loads of G clamps ( as you do) but they are all too big to get between the existing wing and the body.

No problem if you have a 3D printer, you print some.  Found some on Thingiverse and printed 3 off.

[Dock Green]

I'm amazed they're strong enough. 3D printing seems like a solution to most things (except gaffer tape & WD40)!

[Furrari]

DC.   They're not particularly strong but you can control the strength by controlling the degree of infil.  You don't need them too strong as they are only holding the bits in place while you bond them together.  If the clamps exert too much pressure they will crush the other bits.
The agvantages are that they are very light, you can make them just the size you need so they don't get in the way and material costs are just pence.
Once you have the size you want saved you can print as many as you want.  Time is the biggest drawback but you can print them overnight.

Yes, you can print just about anything.  The Chineese are using extruded concrete to print houses.  The wing mirrors on the West Coast were printed before being finished for moulding.
I'm currently using ABS but there are many other materials such as wood fill, glow in the dark, flexible materials with different charactors.  You can get transparrent and metal finishes and more filament types are being added all the time.
Additive manufacturing is a very rapidly growing sector but at the moment it's only realy suited to one offs or small numbers.  The Americans are looking at part printing missiles and drones.

[Furrari]

DC.     Oh I forgot to say with regards to print strength.  The prints tend to fail by shearing along the layer lines so you can also control the strength by how you orientate the print in the printer.

For an old metal basher like me it's a new world.

[Furrari]

DC. Just had an email advert for a new printer.   Printers are now available 4m X 4m X 100m   Yes 330 feet long.  Won't fit in the garage so I didn't look up the price.  :-)

It can print at 2 Kg/hour.   Mine manages about 15gm/hour.   Your previous comment about being able to print anything seems to be right.

[Furrari]

Drawn up what will be the centre support for the new wing.  Although the final wing won't use them I'll print five so I can get the distance from the existing wing to the new one consistent on the final job.  I just haven't worked out how I'm going finally mount it yet.  I have a few ideas.  The beauty of 3D printing is if I don't like them they only cost pence to make and no effort at all.

A couple of views of the support.  It's 20mm wide, tapering to 6mm.  50mm tall by 50 mm deep.

[Furrari]

Just a pic of the five wing supports.  As I said earlier I expect only one of these to be used on the final job, the rest are just to set the wing height relative to the existing wing.

[kalifornia]

I don't know all this technology, next thing someone will be printing a wife off.

[Furrari]

Kal.   Replicas of people can already be printed,  it's just a case of how big your printer is.

Two Kals, what a frightening thought.  :-)

[Furrari]

I've started to bond the bits together.  Covered the centre of the existing wing in masking tape and put the wing sections on one at a time.  I've got a 3D doodle pen (£10.00 off eBay). Makes a good plastic equivalent of a tack weld ( it came with the pink filament.)

The second pic is better view of the new wing.

It's now been removed and the other face bonded.