One Heck Of a Project

Stoked to see where this project goes.

 

That is freaking genius!

 

My first print using ASA, just using recommended temp and speed settings. It didnt turn out too bad.

.8mm nozzle
.6mm layer height
.8mm line width
25% infill
I actually had to lower to temp to 235 °C probably becase of the ambient temps in the chamber being so warm I dont need to have the nozzle as hot which is a good thing

Some tweaking still needs to be done.

Also I quickly tried sanding, and wow, it's so much better than trying to sand PLA or PETG. They just melt under that friction heat, but ASA is actually sandable



Sanded quickly


I know it may not look good, but I'm running a nozzle thats 2 times larger than what's usually used. Also using layer heights 3 times higher than standard, so this is actually looking really good for those who may not understand 3d printing too well.

For example this is Carbon fiber PLA printed on the same printer with:
.4mm nozzle
.2mm layer height
.4mm line width
75% infill

You can barely see the layer lines. This is good for small high detail parts like this, but for the purpose of this project high detail isn't needed, speed is.

Speaking of speed the boat "Benchy" only took 34 minutes to print, which with normal settings (listed above) but 25% infill, Cura said would take 1 hour and 25 minutes so almost 3 times faster.

Also got the chamber set up as well, and oh boy she holds some heat.

I guess I can call it hot box now

 

Also for those of you with printers this video does a good job showing different filaments inside a car, and why I chose ASA.

 

Well, that’s pretty badass. Good luck!

 

Update!!

here's some renders

Almost done just have to do the cutout for the fuel door

Im excited

 

Coming along nicely!

 

Those look ****ing sweet!

 

Finnally cut out the gas door,

And some more renders:

 

Freaking awesome!

 

The longer I lurk on the forum the more confident I am that one could restart the world (in the event of an apocalyptic scenario) with the collective knowledge of this body of Toyota Tundra Enthusiasts. Well done, sir! Very freaking cool!

meanwhile, I’m over here in the last century…

 

No WAY!!!! That is sooooo coooollll! Nicely done. I like it when a plan comes together for someone!!!! Good On Ya!!!! For that.

 

Update: Finally getting the fenders cut and adding 1/2" alignment dowel holes

I should start printing the first piece of the front driver fender soon tonight.

 

She's still going even though the screen on my printer went white probably becase it's SO hot in the chamber



I already had a failed print last night because my Octo-Print crashed. I think due to the Raspberry Pi's CPU overheating



And yes for those wondering I just started building a Voron 2.4 350x350x350. The frame kit came Monday and motion parts are on the way. So this poor printer won't have to suffer too much longer

 

Welp, misson failed....

The thickness modifer I used the take the 2D mesh and make it a manifold 3D object intersects the model and I over-looked it so it doesn't sit flush on the real truck.


Back to the drawing board. This is easily fixable though.

On the bright side the bodylines match up well.

But this is the beauty of 3D printing I only used about 620 grams of filament so around $20 worth. Plus it requires no man power to prototype. So who's the real loser?

(My wallet)

This is a learning process for me and probably y'all too.

 

That's how it goes w a prototype. Making great progress though

 

The ingenuity here is awesome!

 

@RoasterOven any update on the proj?

 

So after almost a year, I finally got my new printer built a: Voron 2.4r2 350. This will help print parts faster and more efficiently (since im not using a printer regular cheaper Cartesian-style printer in a grow tent anymore).

Also I decided to possibly ditch ASA and use PETG, becase its a little cheaper, easier to come by in 3/5kg spools and prints ALOT easier with less chance of warping. PETG has excellent outdoor protection, considering I've had the TRD Pro grill backlit letters on my truck for over a year with no problems, other than a little yellowing from UV from the sun. But thats to be expected since it was clear/transparent PETG.

I might still be going with skinning it with a couple layers of fiberglass so as long as the filament I use doesn't melt in the sun (which PETG won't) like PLA it will be fine.

 

I had a eureka moment last night and fixed the problem with the parts being printed too thick, using a program called Autodesk Meshmixer I was able to thicken the 2D mesh to be just 3mm thick which is perfect for this application.


I have matched it up to my truck. Just didn't take pictures. BUT it fits good enough so when its time to fiberglass and do final fitment, stuff can be trimmed and sanded. It's way better than it was when it was thick and saves alot on filament and print time.

 

I was wondering about this thread, but I couldn't find it.
Glad you posted and update and that it's still moving forward.

 

Pretty awesome project! Subscribing.

 

Update: I got 3 pieces printed and melted together!

So far so good and it matches up fine. The front black piece needs a bit of cutting on the part the touches the truck other than that the 2 grey pieces sit flush to the body. (pictures tomorrow when there's light out.)

The inside of the fenders are just melted with a soldering gun, but ill use plastic weld or CA (superglue) on the visible side.

Passenger front fender:



Video of it printing: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/P_x6hd-_teQ

 

I should also mention that the black is the Final PETG material I'll be using the grey is just PLA I have just sitting around.

I'm just testing with random PLA I have laying around to using it as a fit test piece and probably testing the effects of resin on the PLA and PETG for the fiberglass encapsulation step

I only bought a 1kg spool of Polymaker Polylite PETG to test how it prints on my printer and dial in settings. I ended up using the whole spool dialing in the settings and printing the first part which took over 530g of filament due to the weird shape and the amount of support it has to print. that piece took 10 hours to print while the 3rd piece only took 2 ½ hours and only 300g because it has little to no over hangs.

given everything goes to plan, theoretically I could have a whole panel printed in 3 days (at least the front ones). (I have yet to cut and slice the Rear panels yet)

I have a BIG 5kg spool of Polymaker PETG on the way, and should be here by the end of the week.

by the way

$23 Polymaker PETG Filament 1.75mm 1kg Black 3D Printer Filament, PolyLite PETG 3D Printing Filament 1.75mm, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.03mm, Print with Most 3D Printers

Amazon have Polymaker filaments on sale right now a 1kg spool normally $21.99 is $17.59 just a FYI for other Printer owners

 

looks really good:

this is not the final position exactly, but gives me and y'all an idea.


There's a bit on the underside that needs to be shaved down but I'll probably do it after its fiber-glassed.

 

This is cool! I have to ask, and it was probably answered already but how did you get the Tundra body into CAD?

Also what is the capacity on your printer? I have a Prusa MK3S+ and I think I can only print like 8"x8"x9", not very big. Haven't dabbled in ASA or ABS yet as my machine isn't enclosed and it lives in the house. Mainly print with PETG and PC CF from Prusa.

 

This is awesome.