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I use a resin printer for pieces that need fine detail, and an fdm printer for pieces that need strength. A piece can be printed on the print bed, but that might make it very difficult to remove after printing. The first several layers of a print are exposed to uv light for about 40 seconds or...

I watched several videos recently by Ingot Joe. He printed in PLA and used an oil bound sand. He left the 3D print in the sand and used a blowtorch to melt out the PLA before pouring. It seemed to work. He also tried pouring molten metal directly on to the PLA, and as he says himself, "it did...

For the first time in years I didn't have to get up during the night to use the loo. I think it might be because I decided not to have bread with my meal last night, thats the first time I've gone without bread with a meal for many years. I will stay off bread for a while to see what occurs. I...

A trick to try with Design Spark when you want to mirror a part is this. Save the part as an STL, import it into a slicer programme, use the slicer to flip the STL and save the file as an STL again, import it into DS and it will try its best to convert it into a solid for you. Success not...

I have FreeCAD installed and find it fairly easy to use. It does have a confusing menu system, and there are features missing, like being able to add draft to text, but even my preferred cad programme, Designspark 5, sometimes fails to do that. DS5 is by far the easiest cad programme I've used...

I only discovered last night that DS5 will calculate the area and weight of a part if you tell it what material you are going to use. Vary handy if you are casting the part.

That's a very good idea! Did you coat the emblem with a clear coat after applying the epoxy?

Today I removed the fibreglass body from my A7. I started to build the body nearly 25 years ago. I had to struggle to undo some of the nuts and bolts, some I couldn't undo and had to chisel into the bodywork to release them. Most of the body parts are now sitting on my patio waiting for a...

I use Design Spark Mechanical for my CAD work. It has a few limitations, like, no mirror function and poor text design. I use version 5 which will import a STEP file, reluctantly! The newest version, 6, won't import STEP files so I switched back to 5. It exports few file formats, but will export...

Last night I had a thought. If I want more room in my garage/workshop, then I would have to reinstall a steel shelf unit I removed a few months ago to give me more room, it didn't. So, have a big move around of tool boxes to clear the wooden shelf unit. Take all the Austin Seven gubbins out of...

I found this on GOV.UK At Budget 2020, the government therefore announced that it would remove the entitlement to use red diesel and rebated biodiesel from most sectors from April 2022 to help meet its climate change and air quality targets. The tax changes will ensure that most users of red...

Rich, As to the price of diesel, have you looked for a supplier of red diesel? It's used on building sites and farms and has a much lower tax point if it isn't used to power a road going vehicle.

I didn't use a match plate for the cylinder head, but I will for the next try. The water core for the first head was made with fine sand and an expoxy resin used as a binder. It worked very well but I didn't have it located properly and I dislodged some green sand when I closed the mould. I have...

Hi PatJ. I should have included some pictures of my progress, sorry about that. I am trying out match plates for my latest pours. The new conrod. And the new flywheel. I am not sure if I have inserted the pictures properly. Lee

Thanks PatJ. I can't cast grey iron with my small electric foundry, so I will be sticking to aluminium and maybe a bit 'o brass later. Progress is slow because I am learning as I go along. I have now cast a different design of conrod that I think looks more in keeping with an open crank engine...

Hi GreenTwin, After my last post I realised that I had to make a choice as to which of the three forums to stay with that I was posting to. Model engine maker won, or lost, depending on your point of view. Lee

That is a lot of machining. But there would be just as much work involved in casting the part.

I decided that instead of reprinting my conrod pattern I would repair the pattern and print something else. That something else is the flywheel for the engine I am working on, it has two. I sliced the STL file in Cura5 for the Ender3, duplicated the pattern half to give me the two sides, and set...

I started both my Ender3 and Anycubic printing today, more attempts at getting a conrod I can use for casting. The Ender printed OK, a slight mishap I spotted early on where one of the prints was starting to lift from the bed. Because the nozzle was working on the other print I used some...

I separated the conrod from the base plate and cleaned them both up. I then glued the conrod back on the plate and filled any gaps. That was over a day ago and the conrod hasn't distorted. I think the initial distortion was caused by the paint, so I didn't paint it this time. I have 3d printed...