This week’s selection is a 3D printed bicycle kit by Stephan Schürmann / ColorFabb.
This startling 3D model might not be believed at first, but it indeed works. It’s a collection of nine 3D printed parts that serve mostly as connectors for standard metal tubes, which, when assembled properly, form the frame for a bicycle.
Here we can see how the parts fit together to make a frame. You’ll also need to separately provide for other bike elements, such as wheels, tires, grips, chain, etc, but this is a very good start to actually 3D printing a bike at home!
ColorFabb commissioned the design of this piece to demonstrate the capabilities of their 3D printer, the Ultimaker Original. They’ve had to make some modifications to make this project successful, however:
We have printed the parts with XT-CF20 on an Ultimaker Original Plus with a 0.8 Nozzle and 100% infill. Print slow (35mm/s) to get good layer bonding.
XT-CF20 is a carbon-fiber plastic filament the company has offered since February.
The 3D printed parts must be glued to the metal tubes, as you can see, but the process of gluing is quite interesting. This design includes customized inlets to accept glue squirted from a syringe. Inside the 3D printed parts hidden channels guide the glue to the correct locations. This is brilliant 3D print design!
You may be skeptical of this design, but here we can see a brave volunteer riding a bike produced in this way. It does work – and you can now literally print a bike at home. Or most of it, anyway.
Via YouMagine
