Someone has 3D printed the front facade for their garage — but is this a good idea?
Reddit contributor Sad-Government645 posted images of a project to 3D print a decorative facade for their garage. The pieces were 3D printed in ASA, and then backfilled with Styrofoam. The pieces were then glued adjacent to each other on the front of the garage.
If you think this would be a large project, you’d be correct. According to Sad-Government645, approximately 30kg of ASA material was used to print all the pieces, which took over a year to complete. Each piece took about an hour to print, followed by filling with Styrofoam.
ASA might be a good choice for this material, as it is strong and resilient. It also has an advantage over ABS in that it is impervious to UV exposure. ABS and many other plastics break down when exposed to UV rays, but ASA does not.
The Styrofoam would add some structural stability to the pieces, as well as offer some insulating properties.
Some commenters were concerned with the flammability of this configuration. ASA is flammable, and Styrofoam can also be flammable. Did Sad-Government645 just install a dangerous facade?
Possibly, if the Styrofoam was not fireproof. It turns out that Styrofoam is commonly used in building projects, and it almost always has a fire retardant in the mix.
The other concern raised was the efficiency of this project. 3D printing dozens of these parts over the course of a year is an enormous amount of work, and quite expensive: 30kg of ASA could cost around US$600 or even more.
An alternative approach might have been to 3D print a mold and then cast the ASA into parts. This would have been far faster, and quite a bit less expensive: ASA pellets could have been used instead of pricey ASA filament.
Regardless, Sad-Government645 completed the project, and said the images were after six months of outdoor exposure. It looks quite good, but should you do a project like this?
Just because you have a 3D printer doesn’t mean you should 3D print everything. If you have a hammer, everything isn’t a nail. The best approach is to consider different ways to achieve the goal, and select the one that meets your cost, speed, or functional needs.
That is, unless your goal is to have fun with your 3D printer.
Via Reddit
