Anyone else here into 3d printing?

FDChappie

FDChappie

Well-known member
I got a Bambu Labs P1P printer for Christmas and am learning how to use it for making usable parts. So seeing how the dust boots on my newer tie rod ends were crumbling, I decided to take a stab at printing 95A durometer TPU (thermoplastic urethane). I designed the boot in TinkerCAD which took about 30 min and printing took 12 min the boot used 9 grams of a 1000 gram spool that cost 9.95 delivered.
The first attempt is a winner. Tried attaching the file. Let me know if it works for you.
 
Looks like the system won't allow that file type, so I posted it here. https://makerworld.com/en/models/1825689-tie-rod-end-dust-boot 20250924_204128.jpg
 
Feels about the same as the old oem rubber one. TPU is available in a bunch of different durometers with is a measure of hardness. That is the second TPU print I've done. The part was printed using a 95A durometer filament which is medium hardness.
 
Needed a 2" x 7" filler hose. That stuff is $40 per foot and rots out in no time. Urethane aught to out last me. Used about $1 in filament and no 50mi round trip to the store.
Hose.png
 
Winchested said:
Is it soft enough to conform to the fill neck and tank connection?
Click to expand...
Did a pressure test with it yesterday on a 2" hose barb and it held pressure with no soap bubbles. I did need to make the hose clamp good and tight.

I did make an error in printing. There is a setting to align the layer start/end points and it was on. This caused a small, indented line down the interior of the hose. The random setting would prevent this. I had it on for the previous project and thought it was still on. This hose did print on the first try.
 
Got the new hose installed yesterday, what a dirty nasty job. Everything sealed up fine. We'll see how it holds up. The Gates hose that was in there had a hole in the liner.

Discovered that you can get access to the tank hose clamp from back by the bumper with a 5/16 socket on a couple of extensions. The clamp needs to be on top of the hose.
 
Been using 3d printing for last 30 years for prototyping and now for medical device manufacturing using DMP titanium.
"3d printing comes in all shapes and sizes, no pun intended, many processes and materials. The best for mechanical performance and accuracy is SLS which is a sintering process. I like some of the processes but overall they are not cost effective for manufacturing inexpensive peanut parts. Fun to learn the process and skill set on them but not for commercialization.
To test the TPU cut an piece of the filament and toss it in some pump premium fuel for a few weeks.
 
Robert Kenney said:
Been using 3d printing for last 30 years for prototyping and now for medical device manufacturing using DMP titanium.
"3d printing comes in all shapes and sizes, no pun intended, many processes and materials. The best for mechanical performance and accuracy is SLS which is a sintering process. I like some of the processes but overall they are not cost effective for manufacturing inexpensive peanut parts. Fun to learn the process and skill set on them but not for commercialization.
To test the TPU cut an piece of the filament and toss it in some pump premium fuel for a few weeks.
Click to expand...
Small world. I used to make titanium powder for 3d printing. Also made the equipment to make the powder. Ever seen a 250kw plasma torch?

The tpu hose is installed. We'll see how it holds up.
 
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