Anybody want to print something?

rosso

New Member
#1
Hello everyone,

I wanted to see if somebody is interested in printing something for me (I would pay you of course). Planning on ordering my printer next month once I have the funds, but needed some custom brackets/adapters made before it arrives. Bought a kayak rack for my car, and it doesn't fit very well with my factory cross bars. Dimensions are about 3.25" wide, 0.75" tall and 5.625" long. I have it modeled in AutoCAD Inventor 2013 and can send it if necessary. Angled picture below.

Thanks,
Ross
 

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rosso

New Member
#3
Well......it's been quite a while since I've had the parts printed so I figured I would share the final results and my experience. First off, big thanks to Ray for printing these off for me! They came out better than I expected, and he got them turned around nice and quick for me.

So......it all started when I bought a roof rack for my car (2012 Subaru WRX) so I could start kayaking. The kayak holders said that it fit square crossbars, and factory oval crossbars (which Subaru uses). I was expecting adapters, but when it arrived it was just a square slot running down the middle. It sit ok on the rack, but could still shift around.....which means it would cause scratching and dents.

To prevent any damage to the roof rack, I figured a 3D printed adapter would be the best solution. Ray tried an infill, but the print ended up breaking. So we went with a hollow shell that I could fill with fiberglass resin to strengthen. Thankfully, he sent along the failed print that I could experiment with. First attempt at filling with resin resulted in it oozing out the sides and onto the plate. So for the two good ones, I applied Bondo to the outside to seal them up to prevent resin from seeping out again. Mixed just enough to fill half way and let sit for a couple hours. Mixed some more resin to fill to the top, and let them sit overnight. Once they were filled and hardened, I sanded down the Bondo and smoothed them out. Since they were going to be sandwiched in between the crossbars and the kayak rack (and barely be seen), I didn't bother to do multiple coats of Bondo and make them perfectly smooth.....one coat and sanding was good enough. Below are the pictures of the parts throughout the process.

First up is the picture of the freshly printed parts (courtesy of Ray).


Next is a picture of how they fit on the cross bar when I first received them before filling with resin. They were a perfect fit to the crossbar, and also fit in the slot in the kayak carrier. As you can see, the two shapes didn't do a very good job of mating together. But I still wanted to use those kayak racks since they fold flat when not in use.


Next is a pic of how the resin oozed out of the spare part.
 

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rosso

New Member
#5
The next couple pictures show them finished with black paint. I wrapped my crossbars with black vinyl to get rid of the silver look and blend in with the car. I also wrapped the adapters in black vinyl, but didn't take any pictures of them wrapped.
 

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rosso

New Member
#6
Last one is of the car with the kayak mounted (without the adapters) on the day I got the kayak. Nerve-wracking ride home.....but made it OK.


Since I filled the adapters with fiberglass resin, these things are as solid as a brick! They could easily handle a substantial amount of weight and hold up just fine. The kayak is probably about 45 pounds, and I haven't had any issues the couple of times I've used them. What's even better, is they do exactly what I wanted....keep the kayak racks in place and prevent them from wiggling/shifting around. If you need a more solid part, I would highly recommend going the route of filling them with fiberglass resin.
 

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#7
Glad to hear everything worked out! Since then I've been making my own filament and made a few tweaks to the extruder and now print quality has improved dramatically (ie walls would be smooth and leakproof now, the floor is still a grid so not quite sealed down there...)

Let me know if I can be of help again in the future, and thanks for the positive remarks!
 
#8
I really appreciated the kayak mount post. Most of my 3d printing projects have involved 100% 3d printed stuff and have ignored all of the other materials out there, wood, glass, tile, fabric, etc. This project integrated other materials such as Bondo and resin to produce a great finished product. I think that this type of integration can really expand the usefulness of 3d printing. Thanks for posting.
 

rosso

New Member
#9
I completely agree with you.....It's a huge benefit to be able to make custom parts at home that can provide a solution to a problem. I didn't want to go with the factory kayak rack since it couldn't fold in half when not in use. So the best solution was to make some adapters. And like you said using other materials such as the resin and Bondo gave me a stronger product.


@Ray...glad to hear everything's running great now! Are you just making your own PLA, or are you doing other materials too? If I need anything else printed I'll let you know for sure. I just ordered a printer but won't have it until February.