Brian's City Goblin-06/Crate MotorTC #61

[Brian74]

Stuff like this… center console, CHMSL/dome light/rear view camera, air filter housing, various mounts & clamps… Heavy stuff I originally designed out of metal will be 3D printed out of lightweight polymer instead, finally on a printer big enough to print it.
Also makes me more confident to go straight to powdercoat soon as no welded mounting tabs will be needed.

 

[Brian74]

She’s printing!!!!
Hopefully will be printing big Goblin parts soon.

A center console with 2 cupholders would be quite nice.

 

[TravMac]

Now that's a pretty machine. Looking forward to the parts you make off it! I'm just getting my first printer after years of watching them get better and better. Now don't even know where to start!

 

[Brian74]

1st printer is done. It took me a few weeks to get the settings dialed in, but it is printing AMAZING in tolerance and multi material. I took a proven design and modified it to my liking using custom designed parts. I also solved a few design problems along the way and implemented designs of a few others.

End result; it performs exactly as I hoped.

I have 2 more printers left to build.

I never had any idea all this **** was gonna derail my Goblin build this far. Or consume my spare time to this extent… Then again… before I started this build, I’d never welded, bent sheet metal, knew **** about CAD, or 3D printing.

 

[SmsDetroit]

Well now that one is done get back on the goblin buddy

 

[SmsDetroit]

Time for your yearly update

 

[Brian74]

Time for your yearly update

Lol... Well, I did order the upgraded DF Goblin shifter last month. Work has been busy and stressful this past year. I am also still crawling out of this @#@&%^$&*@% 3D printing college PhD level self-taught rabbit hole, without regretting the opportunity costs I may have wasted elsewhere, lol. I am fluent in 2 versions of gcode; about to learn the third. This printer I have built and mostly designed is great, but not perfect. I am convinced that it is due to firmware limitations and lack of specific developer interest per my current application and standards. I am halfway through printer build number 2, which will be running on new Linux based firmware and using a much better amount of processing power, speed, and resonance compensation which is more tailored to the type of machines I am building. The hardware on this one is all Chinese-based, but of surprisingly good quality. If this printer delivers, I will build the next one just like it, retrofit the first one, and be done. Fingers crossed...

First up for the Goblin will still be a center console dimensional laser scan, followed by a 3 piece center console design (cupholders, charging port (perhaps a wireless charging pad), console storage box, and E-brake housing. I will also design a 3rd brake light, complete with integrated dome lamps, rear view camera and GPS antenna mount. I also want to redo my enclosed airbox design.

Trust me... I like 3D printing... But I like metal fabrication and building cars much better. To have the ability to efficiently laser scan, CAD design, 3D print, and fabricate metal will be even more fun. My goal is to get the printer **** figured out by the end of this summer and be back on my car project by fall.

I figured I'll start posting again when I get back to my build... Thanks for keeping me in mind.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Brian, good to hear from you. Guessing your Reserve time has also been taking a bite out of your available time too - thanks again for your service. Let the Desert Rats know if you need help with anything - we are just an IM away.

 

[Brian74]

Well, despite still working through getting 2 more large format 3D printers designed and built, I decided to design a car part. Got on the ole CAD and worked up a HMSL housing, with my rear view camera and dome light integrated. This will drop a huge bunch of weight in comparison to the metal design. Up next... I may redesign some tail lights. Still need to design an airbox, center console, and side panel mounts.

 

[Brian74]

Printer #2 is almost done. I wasted a lot of time on my choice of electronics hardware. This newest (Klipper-based) printer will be running a 64 bit ARM processor, which will fully handle all logic and instruction. The MCU will just handle movement commands. This will provide me with much better print quality and processing headroom; especially for resonance compensation.

Once I get this one tuned, I will retrofit printer #1 and build printer #3 to the same specs. This will allow me to print a rather large volume of the Goblin parts I design quickly and efficiently.

I hope to be done with this and back on the Goblin build by October when the weather cools off. I need to go out and do several laser scans of the Goblin to get some good dimensions.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Brian, nice work.

I recall when these were just an idea and frames! Hopefully you will get them fired up soon and ready for production. I'm thinking you might have some lingering print jobs that have been waiting on the completion of these?

Once you are ready and/or caught up, I'll be down to scan some parts and get them prototype printed - the designs will be yours if you like them. Looking at some speaker pods (overhead & dash), 'toe bubbles' (I can explain these) and a side pod design to house an intercooler heat exchanger or other.

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

BTW, Happy Birthday!

 

[Brian74]

Its been a while since I last posted... I have been working tirelessly on the R&D of these 3D printers. I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, as all 3 machines are now up and running and printing excellent quality parts. These are unique machines because of their large size, as nobody makes an obtainable machine this big with that is heat insulated with a heated chamber. The last step is to finalize my chamber heater design. This will provide a consistent heated environment for printing larger parts out of UV and heat resistant, high strength plastics that will be suitable for use on a vehicle. I am waiting on a few more custom parts to arrive, then it will be a matter of spending a weekend testing and tuning the printers to dial in the proper PID and chamber heating parameters. The immense advantage here is being able to quickly CAD design large/large batch lightweight parts that otherwise would need to be fabricated from metal; costly parts that would either add weight, require CNC machine, or welding... Simple mounts and clamps; up to full assemblies, such as airboxes, center consoles, light housings, speaker pods, dashboards...

First up are a few custom parts for my Goblin. I designed a relay mount board for my actuated fog lamps. Today I am CAD designing some simple snap-in-place wire loom clamps that will accommodate 5 wire loom sizes and all 3 tubing sizes. I will get started on my center console design soon.

 

[SmsDetroit]

Now get back to your build

 

[Desert Sasqwatch]

Brian has been building his Goblin longer than I have... He just has a lot more distractions to keep him busy! I only have grandkids as an excuse - and my resident accountant/boss.