This is what I'm looking into. I need to get the parameters just right but it should achieve the right finish if I do...
Hello, a ferrarista member is looking for the piece you produced on the video. Can you tell me if you have a room for sale? cordially Gaëtan
Well I now have the first sample in hand from the new production process, and from the preliminary look I'm very impressed. The surface finish is in another league compared to anything I've tried before, even without any post-processing. Very excited to show everyone. I will probably take a bunch of pics of it both installed and uninstalled tomorrow. These new parts cost more to make (I'm still waiting for final quote numbers. The first was a free sample from the company to evaluate the process and part quality), but I think it's worth the extra cost. Look for a post in the next day or two with pics/details.
I'll put up real pics tomorrow, but here's a teaser pic. This is before any post-processing, so it can only improve from here. It's already pretty much good to install. Very excited to make more parts with this process... Image Unavailable, Please Login
Alright so I had a chance to fit up the new window switch bezel, and it looks awesome! Take a look at these pics. This is with NO post processing at all, and I do think some post processing work could make these look even a little bit better than they already do. There are technically still some striations in the surface of the part but with this new process they are so closely packed and so shallow that you can't see them unless you stick the part right up against your face. It really is an order of magnitude better than anything I've tried before. I am going to run this bezel in my car as-is, as it looks like a factory part to me and doesn't stick out in any way. The interesting thing is that the OEM plastic (see passenger side bezel pic for what OEM plastic looks like) is actually not a very good match for the OEM switch. The OEM plastic is too shiny and too dark, and sticks out against the lighter color, more matte finish switch. The new driver's side bezel I made matches the OEM switch colors much better, and actually looks more "correct" than the OEM injection molded parts ever did. This week I need to get a final quote on how much these things cost to make and then I'll probably order a batch of them. I've already had several people reach out to me on PM, so if you think you're interested in these please reach out to me. The next thing I'm going to reverse engineer is simple: the passenger side window switch bezel. After that I think I'm moving on to maybe the ash tray/ash tray surround, as several people have PM'ed me saying that the ash tray door and surround often crack. Let me know if there's a plastic part that commonly breaks on these cars (not just 348s either, any Ferrari) and I will look into reproducing it. This new process produces extremely high quality parts with excellent material properties. If the plastic part you need is normally hidden, there are also some more exotic plastics that aren't black that can be used in special applications (I need to keep researching these). So far this has been a fairly time consuming, on and off project for me over the last year and a half or so, but I'm finally seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. This newest stuff is better than OEM I think, and it's really been a great learning experience for me to figure out how to reverse engineer and fabricate reproduction parts to help this community. I hope I can continue to grow my parts list so that we can stop being frustrated by the lack of plastic availability for our cars. -Kris P.S. I realize that the rightmost switch appears to sit slightly "popped out" of the bezel when it's installed in the door. This has always been the case in my car, as a previous owner ran some stereo cabling too close behind it and it always wants to push on the back of the switch assembly. In any other scenario the rightmost switch would sit flush, as seen in the pic where the bezel/switches are not yet installed in the door. Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
Those OEM switches are what's called "as mold" they are not coated. But, the trims where soft touch coated which fails. As far as Ferrari goes - the as mold parts ended a long time ago. 355's and up where all parts coated with soft touch. The resolution on these parts are much better but they are also simple, flat geometry. I'd be interested to see it on a more 3D part.
Finally finished modeling the ash tray door. This one was much trickier than I expected (the feature tree on the CAD model goes on forever...) but it turned out great. Next up is the Ash tray bottom, which has the surround part that often breaks. I'll just keep chugging away until I get every plastic part on the 348 modeled in ultra-fine detail. On another front, I ordered one of those window switch bezels to be printed in metal, so we'll see how that turns out. The black plastic one I installed a month or two ago is working out great, but I'm interested to do some experimenting with metals to see what the quality is. It would be really cool to offer 348 parts in metal as an upgrade... Image Unavailable, Please Login Image Unavailable, Please Login
I need the piece that surrounds the ashtray door, as mine broke. Is this the same part you are referring to here?
Hey Mike - we repair those just as we do 355's which is illustrated here: http://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/348-355-sponsored-bradan/526414-free-diy-ferrari-f355-ashtray-repair-sticky-rx.html
Yes that's the very next part I'll be modeling. The material I'm printing these replacement parts in is both stronger and, crucially, much more ductile than the original plastic (while being nearly as stiff), meaning that it should fix the breakage problems that people are seeing. That's really the beauty of this process. As printing becomes more advanced and the materials palette opens up more I can just print parts in finer resolution, with better surface quality, and with stronger materials. Ultimately I'd like to offer the whole palette of 348 interior parts for manufacturing on demand, in different materials/colors. Exciting times we live in!
I should add that if you need this stuff soon it looks like StickyRX does really good work based on pics/testimonials I've seen on here. I'd be really interested to see how well his Ferrari interior coatings work on the 3D printed parts I've been making. Then you'd have a brand new part with a perfect match coating...
It all depends on the material but I see no issue. The biggest issue is the time needed to prime the parts / sand and repeat to have a perfect surface finish. With injection molded parts, the surface is already very smooth.
hello Very very nice 3D work I love the quality of drawings. can you please take a loo and say what you think on this subject with a light difference, we talk about plstic injection here: https://www.ferrarichat.com/forum/threads/what-do-you-think-about-making-new-plastic-inside-parts.563865/
Really great work here guys. I have a kit 3D printer I like to dabble around with , but the finish on these parts with no processing is top notch! Just make sure you paint the finished pieces or coat them if they're ABS. ABS will UV degrade and microcrack quickly if not protected or under stress.
Great work. In my field (dentistry) there is a whole revolution going on with digital technology involving optical scanning, cad cam and 3D printing. Optical scanners, intraoral and desktop are rapidly becoming the standard of care to reproduce 3D structures to exacting specs. Have you looked into scanning these parts?