making parts

[Guest clipper randy]

have any members  been using 3D ptinters or CNc to  make parts such as  masts , yards   on a large scale ?  can it be  done in a3D printer with correct tapers ?

[thibaultron]

That depends on the scale you are thinking of. Thought, in general, you would need to 3D print in plastic, and that brings in issues of failure of the plastic, over time due to the tension from the rigging. The fine detail plastics are brittle and quite weak, in thin sections.

[HSM]

I have a 3D printer (Anycubic Photon) and use it for making multiple complex parts (propellers, anchors, davits, lifeboats, etc... for a scratchbuilt ocean liner I am working on). but for masts and spars you are better off with wood. The 3D parts are amazingly detailed and look awesome when properly processed, but they are still plastic. Making correct tapers, etc... is certainly possible, but you have to have a good 3D modeling package and know how to use it.

[wefalck]

Plastic is not plastic. The plastics used in extrusion printing are probably too soft for masts and yards. The UV-curing resin technique uses acrylics, which is much stiffer, but as Ron already noted, also more brittle, particulary in thin sections. I don't it is necessarily the ideal material for small masts and yards. In more stable sizes the printing cost would be probably prohibitive.

 

Another aspect to consider is that 3D-printers lack the fourth axis, i.e. the one by which the part produced is rotated. You will have the digitation steps on the part, which is unavoidable in this technique, though the thicknesses of printing layers are being reduced as the technique evolves. One could perhaps 'grow' the spars vertically from their support.

 

CNC-milling could be interesting option, provided that the mill has a fourth axis, that is a CNC-dividing head and matching tailstock. Working on long slender parts is always a challenge and one would need some sort of steady to support the part during machining. That is not a problem to configure for a conventional milling machine (see below),

Milling operation on a mast made from steel rod

 

but is more involved on a CNC machine, as you would need to constantly adjust the height of the steady. One could do the process semi-automatically by stopping after each run, adjust the steady, and then start the next run.

Edited February 18, 2020 by wefalck