Dalsnibba

fucking hell Rob, cheer up.

Hmm, I can't get there before they shut, don't suppose anyone in the area could pop in and buy that saw?

I'll pay for it when I pick it up later, if so.

More testing:

Pinstriped by hand will look amazing.

Very cool.

How come you just went for thin lines ? I seem to remebemer some talk about it wrapping half the tube?

Just a test, not decided on that part yet.

Re cable clips, SLS (powder) machines ain't so good at making robust parts - I would go for ABS via an FDM (filament) machine. Resolution is maybe .25mm at best so it'll be grainy (or wiry rather than grainy), but you can clean it up by hand.

You won't be able to get them injection moulded though, it'd cost you 20-30k for the tooling at least!

Happy to help if you need a CAD monkey.

I printed parts very similar to these clamps (using FDM) for a project a few years ago and all of them broke after a few miles riding. I think SLS is the way to go.

Or you could do something fancy with an Onjet Connex and its dual material magic...

Sure, but what material were you using? Filament ABS is the go-to stuff for any functional prototyping, where I work at least. But then again we're not experts in 3d printing.

ABS, admittedly the printer/print settings weren't set up as well as they could have been but I don't think that made too much different.

PLA is harder/more brittle than ABS but I think Neil used Nylon (or a variant of) for the clamps.

1:30 in this video shows it's elasticity (apologies for the horrendous music/production quality, it was the first link I clicked)
http://digits2widgets.com/3DNylon.html

That's impressive stuff actually. TBH we use Shapeways more than we use our own printers, it's cheaper even factoring the shipping cost to the other side of the world.

And woeful focus- sox:

robs damn saw looks quality. ahhh the joys of tool porn..

If any "CAD Monkeys" as referenced up-thread would like a crack at redesigning these with a latch/grab-hands type closure then please step forward.

The overall diameter can now be measured precisely, the two circular ones are fine but the oval one needs to be ever so slightly longer - with paint, and the copper terminal strips plus the thin rubber weather proofing seal.

Glad to see that my damn saw did the trick.

Oh, and an FDM print is a teriible idea for this. Way too brittle.
And the resoloution is whack.

^ it's as much about the material and the layup as it is about the process. You can say it's a terrible idea if you like but I prototype stuff for a living!

Dammit how soon do you need these parts? I will be kinda busy for the next 2-3 weeks so I might not be your man here.

I prototype stuff for a living too. For a pretty damn big company that spends millions a year on keeping up to date with the latest RP tech. And that is just a small part of our R&D process.
The only thing FDM is used for is when our all of our SLS and SLA machines are running at capacity, and it is the only method availble to get the part in the timescale needed... but it normally breaks after about 5 minutes of testing, so it's a bit pointless really.

It's just my opinion though. But I'd like to think that after working with the stuff for almost 10 years, I have a fair amount of experience to ground my opinion upon......

But whatever, i doubt a rapid prototyping dick swinging contest is gonna help Dammit figure out the best way of manufacturing his connectors.

i doubt a rapid prototyping dick swinging contest

You've changed. :)

So this plastic clamp just has to accept a thin wire/wires at the top point that then splits to the conductive paint and keep it all neat and in contact and weather sealed? Have I got this right?

Bingo

cool. Amazing how complicated a simple component can get!

So this plastic clamp just has to accept a thin wire/wires at the top point that then splits to the conductive paint and keep it all neat and in contact and weather sealed? Have I got this right?

And ideally the n+1 prototype will feature a recess where the connecting will happen, some sort of plug to seal it,
keeping the lines of the frame clean ?