multisystem wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:51 am
Slipard wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 9:32 am
Question: maybe is it an overlook from me, but I didn't see if the case, when ordered from the Multisystem site, was 3D printed or factory molded; which one is it?
That's a great question, Initially the enclosure will need to be 3D printed, it's just the most sensible option until we can see if a tooled design is even a viable thing to do. Tooling would be quite expensive for an enclosure of this size and that also means it's fixed (we would have to decide on Option A or B for tooling). With 3D printing you can at least make changes or improvements without needing to change tooling.
It would be great to hear if people are happy with a 3D printed enclosure, I think it looks quite good in a matte finish, it's strong and I have tuned the quality for best print time/cost so it should be a viable option to print/sell without costing too much.
aberu wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:16 pm
Was the 3d printable case designed with injection molding in mind?
Exactly the opposite, I always design for the 3D printing process first, especially it it's going to be printed on FDM machines as they have even more limitations that SLS does not.
Some designers make the mistake of designing a moulded case, then expect it to be able to be FDM or SLA 3D printed for prototypes, that's not a good path even with powder based SLS Nylon 3D printing. It should be designed for the process you intend to use, even if it's only for prototypes.
It has been designed so that it could evolve into an injection moulded design if needed, but that's not always the best route for open source hardware projects as you still get much more flexibility and freedom with 3D printing. Especially at the moment when a component / connector may have to change due to shortages or obsolescence, if that does not fit your moulded case it's going to stop production.
aberu wrote: ↑Mon Sep 13, 2021 5:16 pm
In my opinion, some aspects of the design would unnecessarily increase tooling costs, I've reviewed the STL's a bit for fun... It looks like you would need a couple slides to accommodate the vents and openings from multiple angles, but I could be wrong. I'm not an expert, just work in plastics and see it from sort of that perspective.
The 3D printed design currently has no draught angles for moulding and many of the wall thickness choices are specifically for the standard 0.4mm FDM nozzle size, so they produce strong walls and solid infill where needed. If it was changed to moulding lots of these things would be changed for the moulding process and to limit mould cooling problems and defects etc.
I do this with most projects, for example below is a product we recently started as 3D printed (Left of the image - it's specifically designed to 3D print quickly), then the design was altered to produce a 3D enclosure that was going to be tooled, this could be 3D printed (middle image) but it was just to prove the models were ready to be tooled. - Then the finished tooled case is on the Right.
Pippa_3D_to_mould_stages.jpg
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