3D Printing Replacement Parts On LulzBot TAZ Systems
August 13, 2016 | By Don Musilli | In Blog
Four years ago we started to experiment with 3D printing. Our first printers were MakerBot printers. With more filaments coming onto the market everyday we elected to start using the LulzBot TAZ printers as they were designed to print all the materials that were currently available for FDM and FFF 3D printers. Our success with these printers lead us to contact Aleph Objects and ask if we could be a reseller for their product line. Today we carry the TAZ Mini and new TAZ 6 award wining 3D Printers and are convinced the Open Source process is the best way to continue to accelerate the innovation cycles for 3D Printers.
In the past year a number of new filaments have been introduced that have allowed us to make actual working replacement parts that can be used in the original design and performance requirements for a specific application. Taulman’s new Nylon Alloy, ABS-Polycarbonate, Carbon Fiber, Graphene and some of the newer hybrid ABS type filaments are just some of the materials that can make a part that can take the stress and heat just like the original.
The Cura software that is designed specifically to work with the LulzBot TAZ printers offers most of the settings you will need to create and print the parts for your customers. We are located in Florida so many of the parts we make as replacements are located on boats, cars and other equipment that is subjected to high temperatures, blazing sun and moisture. To date we have been able to effectively produce parts to replace original components that have failed and either no longer available or expensive and difficult to find. Some are printed on Taulman’s Nylon Alloy materials and some using the Proto-Pasta ABS-Polycarbonate filament. Some of these parts are in applications where they are used several times a day and they are currently in their sixth or seventh month of use with no failures.
We do not have a viable scanner so all of our parts are designed on Solidworks or other Cad based 3D modeling software. It is easy to create prototypes from PLA and then tweak the designs until they are a perfect match replacement for the original. Once we have confirmation from our customers that the printed part fits perfectly we then select one of the above mentioned tough materials and print the usable part.
LiteWorld also makes its own enclosures that are designed to completely enclose any of the TAZ 3D Printers offering 360 degree viewing with our all plexiglass LPE units with two large access doors. Not only will the units keep small hands away from the hot ends and build platforms but also provide a ” Library Quiet” environment so you can actually print right next to you bed if you so desire.
For more information on our products, training programs and limited production capabilities please go to our website at: https://www.liteworldllc.com or call us at 941-999-8200.
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