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#1
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Fully 3D Printed Ti frame - what’s the impact here?
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/RUu...ibextid=WC7FNe
I’m curious how these bikes ride from a material perspective, are the more comparable to carbon layup bikes vs round tube ti bikes? Is this something that could drastically change the metal bike marketplace? |
#2
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3d printing in general is a great way to create things outside the boundaries of traditional bike tubing.
It's also a great way to build prototypes - it's so easy to change shapes, print again, and see how the new thing fits or feels. Strength of 3d printed titanium is quite good too. Its downside is the cost to produce, especially at high quantity. There are usually cheaper and faster ways to build in quantity. I suspect 3d printed titanium will be used only on boutique, low volume frames for a long time. |
#3
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Yang Yang says:
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#4
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ok but does Yang Yang have to shout?
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#5
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Now this is weird.
3d printing is great for small production runs. In large scale production, there is almost always a cheaper way to build - like investing in hydroform tooling, or using castings, etc. Chinese companies usually live by large scale production. I don't see how this adds up. |
#6
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3d printing short, limited runs saves on the tooling and molds that would otherwise make up for speed/delivery on mass produced numbers
3D printing, great for concepts, prototypes, and one off works. Then use the models you have to make the molds for mass produced products rather than investing hand over fist for tooling and molds up front. Overall, it really expedites the first few iteration turn around process. |
#7
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Quote:
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#8
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1.5 KG is 20% heavier than welded using some 3D printed parts. Tubing is lighter than 3D printed tubing. I also wonder once the material is heat treated after printing whether it will be as straight as a welded and aligned frame
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#9
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I was in a manufacturing facility of one of the larger aerospace manufacturers about a year ago. They were using 3d printed titanium hydraulic manifold for one of the military applications. The life of the parts were exceeding the machined pieces by 2x and were easier for them to produce. Additive manufacturing is in its infancy and industry is still figuring out how to apply it in most cases. It will change the way things are done sooner rather than later.
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#10
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Theoretically because you can print scaffolds and armatures within tunes you could make thinner, lighter, and stronger parts. If you’ve ever 3d printed anything though, it takes forever. It’s more like a dot matrix printer than a laserjet or offset press. There may be quicker industrial scale printers but I can’t imagine it being quicker than extruding a tube.
I’ve seen a lot of custom builders 3d print the hard parts i.e. the junctions at bottom brackets, disc drop out mounts, seat tube clusters etc. they say it’s higher tech and allows for higher precision which is both true but it also struck me as kind of cheating as it takes the craft out of it. At that point you’re just straight cutting tubes and welding them. I do wonder if a fully titanium frame would ride differently though or hold up differently. I don’t doubt they are strong enough but just as you can do a million things to steel to turn it from building columns to samurai swords, surely a drawn tube must behave differently even if it’s the same alloy? Last edited by mattscq; 05-01-2024 at 07:20 AM. |
#11
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Welding causes a lot of problems, for ti bikes distortion and contamination are both constant headaches.
3D printing whole frames may help with these problems although it might not and it might just have its own problems we aren’t fully aware of.
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please don't take anything I say personally, I am an idiot. |
#12
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Quote:
Now they have quite a mess to clean up. https://aviationweek.com/mro/supply-...s-gtf-problems |
#13
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I'm not convinced the economics tie out here, even for a PRC-based firm. The bicycle industry != aerospace.
There's also the issue of surface composition. 3D printed ti has a very rough surface texture compared to tubing, and I am not sure if polished finishes are possible. On bikes that mix 3d printed elements with tubing, bead-blasted or painted finishes are typical. The look is what I would call "industrial" - check out the lugs on the Atherton ti-carbon bikes, or Bastion, and imagine that surface texture over the entire bike. |
#14
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I think 3d printing of complete bikes will become common in the next decade or two, but I'm not sure titanium is going to be the material that drives that growth.
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Instagram - DannAdore Bicycles |
#15
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I agree, I'd say it'll be sooner that decades but pricing will come down and yada yada. Everytime 3d printing comes up, I'd like to see some brand (let's say Specialized) places 3d printers in stores so that if/when a proprietary part breaks, the shop can just print out a new one.
Der. hanger? Headset top cap? jockey wheel? sure, just print it up to specialized specs. Stem too long? Too short? Sure just print it up to specialized specs.
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"I used to be with it. Then they changed what it was. Now, what I'm with isn't it, and whats it is weird and scary." -Abe Simpson |
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