986 Forum - The Community for Porsche Boxster & Cayman Owners - View Single Post

Nine8Six · 01-11-2014, 05:31 AM

Yes a 3D printer can achieve the same shape and tolerance. Given it's a commercial high grade 3d printer of course :/ $20,000 (and up)

The hobby type printer won't provide the tolerance required for a gear type part. Unless stability is not a concern then 'maybe' it could be done (e.g. large gear, fewer teeth).

Another common problem is finding a durable composite in a filament format for the gear material.

The gears and pretty much all others (fasteners, nuts screws, etc) on those German cars is of "DIN standard". All very easy to find if you are looking at replacing with aftermarket gears.

To my knowledge 3D printers are only good for rapid prototyping. If for a simple 2D shaped part (e.g. gear) I trust a laser cutting machine being able to cope better with tolerances than melted plastic layers.

01-11-2014, 05:31 AM	#2
Nine8Six Registered User Join Date: Sep 2013 Location: Montreal, QC. (currently expat to Shanghai) Posts: 3,249	Yes a 3D printer can achieve the same shape and tolerance. Given it's a commercial high grade 3d printer of course :/ $20,000 (and up) The hobby type printer won't provide the tolerance required for a gear type part. Unless stability is not a concern then 'maybe' it could be done (e.g. large gear, fewer teeth). Another common problem is finding a durable composite in a filament format for the gear material. The gears and pretty much all others (fasteners, nuts screws, etc) on those German cars is of "DIN standard". All very easy to find if you are looking at replacing with aftermarket gears. To my knowledge 3D printers are only good for rapid prototyping. If for a simple 2D shaped part (e.g. gear) I trust a laser cutting machine being able to cope better with tolerances than melted plastic layers. __________________ ______________________________ '97 Boxster base model 2.5L, Guards Red/Tan leather, with a new but old Alpine am/fm radio.