Broke a soft top clip today...attempting a re-manufacture!

[curlcd]

I use a 4 year old printer.... truthfully the technology has not changed all that much so far.... from the first printers I saw 12 years ago at a regional manufacturing trade show. There are only a couple of different ways of doing it. photo cure resin with laser or IR, powder with binder, or fused deposition modeling (like yours)... there are some laser sintering processes as well. The real change is cost and accessibility.

The cool thing about 3D printing is it allows you to make parts and assemblies that could be manufactured NO other way. You can put in internal passages and features that could never be machined or cast.

Print 3D Models - 1200es Series 3D Printer | Dimension 3D Printers

We have one in France that can print metal parts.... it'll do 316 stainless with the precision of investment casting.... pretty awesome!

[colonelhogan44]

3-d printing has come quite a ways when it comes to affordable desktop printers (less than 3K)

Two years ago I paid 1800 bucks for a box of parts which I then spent two solid days assembling (18 hours each day) and an entire month tweaking and tuning to get good print quality. Now the same printer comes pre-assembled and tested for like 1200, while better solutions like the FormLabs printer are on the horizon.

I looked into making a run of injection moulded clips, but found I'd have to do too big of a run (I'd have tons of them left over 20 years from now) to make it worthwhile at the current demand.

Anyway, I've decided to sell a couple runs of clips in sets of three for $25 shipped. I'm doing it more to have my design get out there and help some folks out than to make money. By the time I spend the time prepping the printer, the materials to build and the gas going to the post office, I'll be pretty negative in my cost analysis.

I was pissed enough about having a broken clip to do a day of design work and tweaking and prototyping to get a replacement, so I'll share the love, at least for a few folks.

PM me if you're interested. If no one is, so be it.

[dustwatts]

I would be interested in a set of those AWESOME clips....

[miker476]

I am very interested. Mine are not broken, just don't hold the rod tight anymore. Please let me know if you will sale me 3 of them. And as a bonus, my Tracker is blue!!!

Thanks,
Mike

[colonelhogan44]

I decided it would be a good idea to do a full software and firmware upgrade on my printer, and it got a little messy. I'm working on getting it back up and running and tuned again, so as soon as the print quality is acceptable again, I'll make a run of 4 sets. I have heard that the center clip is slightly different than the side clips, which I will also investigate.

Hopefully I'll get everything sorted out by the end of the week.

[miker476]

OK...sounds good. Thanks!

[colonelhogan44]

I checked my tracker, and all three of the clips across the back tailgate appear to be the same.

After spinning my wheels trying to tune the machine with no avail, I rolled back the software updates halfway to get it functional again. I have a run of two clips being built as I type this.

I also sold my first set on Ebay for 45 bucks. Maybe I undercut myself on the pricing here!

[gopedxr7]

Thats amazing!

i recently broke both of my side clips for the side windows. think you are going to make any of those?

Alan

[colonelhogan44]

I am planning to make those, as one of my side window clips is broken as well.

HOWEVER, I currently have the top on (side windows held with zip ties) and don't plan to take it off until April. If someone wants to mail me a broken clip (both the broken pieces), I'll do it in the next few weeks, though!

I currently have a set of back tailgate clips on ebay, and will sell some here at a discount when I make another run sometime in the coming week. PM me if you want to get on the list.

[colonelhogan44]

I Finally finished all my applications for grad school and chased down my transcripts, so life is beginning to normalize again. I have one set available, and anticipate making another run either today or Tuesday.

I had a conversation with my business partner, and he wasn't too keen on them being sold for $25 a set, and as the machine they are built on is company property (which spent a solid week building from bags of components), I have to honor that.

New price: $40 shipped usps first class.

As these are prototypes, I'll do whatever I can to improve them if anyone experiences problems (which I don't anticipate). With that, I'll let this thread die. PM me if you're interested.