3D printing for boats

[Efisio]

Originally Posted by paul.devalier

...
I cannot think of a single plastic or metal part on my boat that hobbyist 3d printing would be viable for but certainly if it is or soon becomes it that would be wonderful.
...

Wood and metal are much more noble than plastic but each material has the right application. 3D printers and filaments have improved a lot over the last ten years and range of application consequently become wider.
If I was a boat dealer I would probably invest on it.

[Efisio]

Originally Posted by SlinksLaptop

...
ASA filament is my go-to now, as it is UV resistant.
Printed so far:
-Cockpit table (printed in ABS and painted with a rattle can as a first test, seeing barely noticeable sag after 8 months)
-Binnacle
-Mast boot
-Various mounts for solar panel, jetboil, etc.
-Air scoops
-Solar powered vent
-Enclosures for pypilot, rudder sensor & other electronics
-Bimini rail clamps (those did fail, too much load. replaced with stainless steel)


No failures besides bimini mounts, but it's only been less than a year, so we'll see.

I'll look for the ASA filament... thanks... Printing is such satisfying, the aesthetic Is often better than other DIY solutions.
Somehow ecologic! The only solutions for my ladder was to buy a complete new one ...if it's still existing.

[Efisio]

Originally Posted by barnab

You can try FreeCAD, which is open source and free: https://www.freecad.org/



I use it and found it not too hard to learn (still learning thou) and good enough for the vast majority of my projects.

Tinkercad is also a chiuse. We a bit of patience you can reach complex models.
It would be interesting to share our 3D files or at least the design concepts

[s/v Jedi]

I have been 3D printing for a while, documenting it on the s/v Jedi page on Facebook.

There are countless items you can make for any boat. But yes, you need to be able to print the so-called engineering materials. The primary ones for a boat:

Outdoor, above decks:

- ASA as the #1 UV resistant material. It feels like King Starboard
- PC, polycarbonate, like your hatch lenses etc.
- PETG, which about any printer can print.
- TPU, a flexible urethane rubber. Yes, you can print gaskets, shock absorbers and hinges that bend. I intend to print a collar for around the piston of a rigid boom vang, to limit how low the boom can go.

Inside, cabins, galley etc.:

- ABS like Lego for about anything.
- PETG for where flex is needed. For example, I am printing a mounting system for new hull liner, which needs to bend into the hull shape. This is great for that.

Engine room:

- Nylon for temperature resistance. Nylon can become very strong and stiff when a reinforcing glass fiber or carbon fiber filler is added.
- fiber reinforced PET

Some of these aren’t easy to print. You need at least a semi professional printer and a filament drier. But that doesn’t need to break the bank: I bought a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon with automatic material swap system and an Eibos Polyphemus dryer. Including a stack of parts/spares and materials you can stay below $2k.

I am new to this so I didn’t print every material yet. I used PLA, PETG, PC, ABS and ASA and even with these there’s a learning curve. But I have every material at hand to try as I progress.

The difficult part is the CAD software. I think Autodesk Fusion is the best option. You can get a 3-year free account for non-commercial use. There are many training videos available. In one week I make so much progress that I can’t make myself modify last weeks models and rather redo them the right way, only to find next week I’m still an idiot

Pictures show prototyping in white ABS or orange PLA and production printing in grey ASA.I used a lot of PC for upgrading the printer and material storage (printing pods to hold desiccant to keep filament dry… I am in humid Florida)

The Schaefer T-track, end stops and car are all printed. The track just to test the other parts and as a cutting tool in the software. Those little end stops cost $8-$12 from Schaefer and fall apart in a year or so. These ASA replacements cost $0.12 each and should last much longer!
We have this track on our toe rail so mooring lines chafe on them and I got sick of chafing gear… these replace that. Then I didn’t want to slide from the end as other cars are in the way so I made it two parts with a sliding dovetail. Then a friction fit end stop to keep it in place, which the prototype showed wasn’t enough so I added a lock pin all the way through

Now working on new outlets for the new hull lining

[kayakerChuck]

I have an Ender 5 and use it for all sorts of silly boat things. Most of my modeling is done in Fusion 360.

I've made lots of custom mounting brackets and gussets for things. Nothing important or structural, but I've printed mounting brackets for my fishing rod holders, microphone holders, caps to fill the space left when I removed a deck fill fitting, etc.

I also use it to make prototypes for "real" parts. I can print a part for a few cents, fit it, test it, and modify until I'm happy with the function and look. I can then make it from a different material. If I'm dealing with a shop, I can hand them a functional model and send them the files. (A friend will usually work with my file. I real shop will usually use my stuff as a starting point & make their own model & file, then make the part.)

[Efisio]

Yep! Prototyping Is an important plus of the 3d printing.
Beside the attention in the design of the part, there'll be always some small or big design mistakes to rectify with a second print.

When I tested the ladder I faced and assembly issue on the middle step that required a reprint and then trying to close the ladder the lower step was too height...reprinted

Therefore, it's quite risky to buy a print on a shop without a preliminar test in house

But when the model is ready and tested then you can reprint after ages in few minutes...

[Efisio]

Originally Posted by s/v Jedi

I have been 3D printing for a while, documenting it on the s/v Jedi page on Facebook.


Outdoor, above decks:

- ASA as the #1 UV resistant material. It feels like King Starboard
- PC, polycarbonate, like your hatch lenses etc.
- PETG, which about any printer can print.
- TPU, a flexible urethane rubber. Yes, you can print gaskets, shock absorbers and hinges that bend. I intend to print a collar for around the piston of a rigid boom vang, to limit how low the boom can go.

Inside, cabins, galley etc.:

- ABS like Lego for about anything.
- PETG for where flex is needed. For example, I am printing a mounting system for new hull liner, which needs to bend into the hull shape. This is great for that.

Engine room:

- Nylon for temperature resistance. Nylon can become very strong and stiff when a reinforcing glass fiber or carbon fiber filler is added.
- fiber reinforced PET

Great work and thanks for material cathegorization! As I said ideas/models sharing is very interesting. Beside the fairing blocks, I would like to solve an issues in the bunkering piping, adding a Y fitting at the tanks inlet otherwise second tank takes ages to refill compared to tank 1. Resistence to gasoline should be ok also for PLA according to the web

[Sysunday]

Trough the years I’ve had many projects printed. Mostly in PA12, sometimes glass filled PA12 and sometimes PEEK.
I impregnate the PA under vacuum with two component silica nanocoating.
I have many navigation lights, a super lightweight 2000gr wind vane and many housings for low friction sheave blocks:

[vpbarkley]

I use AutoDesk Fusion 360 which costs around $500 per year for a full license. This is an amazingly capable, professional grade product. There are a million lessons and tips on YouTube for learning Fusion. It is cloud based.

I have a Prusa printer. These are very reliable printers. The next printer I buy will be fully enclosed and capable of printing advanced materials. For marine fittings you need a filament with UV stability, not PLA. PLA is relatively strong but also brittle.

Filaments containing glass or carbon fibers are generally stiffer but are not stronger than filament w/o fibers. Also filaments containing fibers are very abrasive and require a hardened nozzle.

Unfortunately, 3D printed items are not fully dense, so they are generally not immune to water infiltration. Home 3D printers are ideal for prototyping and proof of concept. Once your design is perfected you can send your CAD files to a manufacturer.

[mdhanlon]

I'm planning on a two year sabbatical on our Lagoon 450 and will be taking my Prusa XL (bought for this purpose). After reading this post, I need to purchase quite a bit more ASA but plan on having a suite of PLA, PETG, ASA, PC and PA12 CF on board. The PLA will be mostly for cosmetic items, while PETG will be the workhorse for indoor items. PC and PA12 for truly functional parts and ASA for outdoor parts.

[coldfish]

I've used mine for back plates in tight areas (carbon fiber) as well as a lot of bilge line fittings (old boat has lots of hard-lines and new bilge lines that needed to be rerouted for electric motor install.

I've gotta say, it's handy, BUT.... cost wise, I'm really not sure. I've spent a lot of time screwing around with cad apps and trying to get prints to work, that time has a cost. Then there's printer (mine was about 700) and all the supplies for it, which add up quickly. The occassional replacement head or whatever, another hundred bucks here and there.

It's cool and fun to learn, and if you have an old boat like mine, it's handy to be able to print up some stuff that might be impossible to find, but at this point, I wish I'd just made a relationship with a carpenter and a welder.

If you're a nerdy techie like me, with able to justify this as a business expense, it's a fun ride. If not.... maybe some good woodworking tools are faster and more attractive on a boat.

[Capt.Don]

Following. Would love to share models too.

I’ve just started down this path. To start I plan on printing covers for the common bus bar, shunt,…. I like the idea of Jedi’s track end caps - mine are disintegrating!

Perhaps dedicated sub-forum, similar to the sewing forum?.

[Looking4Neptune]

Has anyone tried Snapmaker? It claims to be a 3d printer, CnC and laser etcher. I have been told that good 3d printer heads need to be very light to be fast but that CnC machines need very high strength and trying to do both results in a compromise that is not good for either purpose. But I don’t have any experience. It does seem like having the CnC capability for cutting wood and plastic as well as 3d printing would be very useful on a boat. The laser etching would be nice too.

[charliepsycho]

Yup, I have one on board. Indispensable!
Apart from the usual mounts, clips, spacers and things that you could do with a piece of wood and some patience with a chisel (Subtractive manufacturing!) I now print blocks (with internal stainless bearings and straps) which are actually strong enough for the anti-jibe sheets and various small jobs. I have not actually broken one yet, but I'm getting braver and braver with them! All the stress is actually on the stainless, the 3d printing is really just the cheeks, sheave and guides in the block.
My favorite has been the outboard throttle cable housings, for both Yamaha 15hp and Mariner 25hp. They just disintegrate in the sun... About 20p of plastic instead of £150 online (and unavailable in the tropics!)
I print everything in ABS and have a lot of silica gel to keep the spools dry!

[Nightcrawler]

I'm probably too old to learn something this complex. However, someone (sorry I do not remember the Captain's name) brought me a couple of clamshell vent covers they had made on a printer. Frankly, because the plastic had just a bit of give in it, they weren't so likely to snap due to brittle material, like the originals, when installing. They were wonderful.