*Ace* Posted February 13, 2018 Report Share Posted February 13, 2018 (edited) Might be worth while to look into casting them using silicone molds. http://www.theengineerguy.com/OOMOO-25.html There are some good urethane plastics out there too which might be good candidates to fill the molds with. https://www.smooth-on.com/products/epoxacast-655-101-hardener/ How far down the rabbit hole do you want to go is the question you need to ask yourself. Has anyone tried contacting F2 directly to see if the sell replacement parts? Shooting them emails now to see what comes back.... Edited February 13, 2018 by *Ace* 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 Had a response from the North American distributor which is Mordiff Distribution. http://mordiff-distribution.com/?page_id=30 The response is: "Unfortunately no, I do not have availability for any parts for heels. You can order new heels at www.yyzcanuck.com in Canada or www.donek.com in the US" Waiting to hear back from F2 International. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 45 minutes ago, *Ace* said: Had a response from the North American distributor which is Mordiff Distribution. http://mordiff-distribution.com/?page_id=30 The response is: "Unfortunately no, I do not have availability for any parts for heels. You can order new heels at www.yyzcanuck.com in Canada or www.donek.com in the US" Waiting to hear back from F2 International. Interesting - their response makes sense to me: no money in selling these parts I imagine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corey Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 A friend had some custom motor mounts cast in aluminum for a weird project car. He supplied them with the pattern made of plywood and modeling clay, they made a sand-mold from that and cast the parts. He needed to drill holes and such, but said it was surprisingly low cost. Something like $40 for the two pieces, which he then needed to drill to finish. You could use original Bomber or F2 arms for the pattern. Maybe this is an option? The machining afterwards needs to be pretty high quality, probably a bit above what could be done by the average person with a drill press. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted February 14, 2018 Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 Probably easiest to machine them from stock from the get-go instead of dealing with casting. Just the finishing operations from casting would cost more than the entire machining operation. Another advantage of machining is more freedom of materials. For small parts the cost would be low for a reasonable batch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 14, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2018 13 minutes ago, erazz said: Probably easiest to machine them from stock from the get-go instead of dealing with casting. Just the finishing operations from casting would cost more than the entire machining operation. Another advantage of machining is more freedom of materials. For small parts the cost would be low for a reasonable batch. I looked into machining. Pretty expensive (for a one-off) i’m not looking to do a big batch. Right now the 3d printed options seem best. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 So with all the engineers on here, nobody has tried to 3d print these in nylon or petg yet? I sold my pair to someone that needed parts, but it couldn't take more than an hour to model one and another couple to print. Actually Tom likes the polycarbonate as the strongest material right now: 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 Who said nobody tried to print it? Maybe nobody has successfully printed it Long story short it's not strong enough when printing it with an FDM printer. I haven't given up but haven't succeeded yet - hence the silence on the issue. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donek Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 Do you have a solid model? In general the reason printed parts are not strong enough is because people do not redesign them to be strong enough. If you copy the existing design, it will most likely fail, but if you design the part with appropriate dimensions for a 3d printed part, it might work. Unfortunately, you'll need a model of the entire mechanism to see how mods affect the function within the space available. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beckmann AG Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 Did you already post photos somewhere of the broken pieces? That would probably push the parts geeks over the edge of re-design bliss. Also, given the relatively low physical volume of each part, investment casting out of brass alloy might be cost effective for a small run. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted February 15, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) 12 hours ago, Donek said: Do you have a solid model? In general the reason printed parts are not strong enough is because people do not redesign them to be strong enough. If you copy the existing design, it will most likely fail, but if you design the part with appropriate dimensions for a 3d printed part, it might work. Unfortunately, you'll need a model of the entire mechanism to see how mods affect the function within the space available. Not yet. This is something I don’t know a lot about and have (zero) experience with but would like to learn. I have a bunch of other projects going on between work and other hobbies at the moment, but I’m interested in using this as an opportunity to learn (hopefully in the coming months). i figure if I can get one printed out of metal with the process I posted earlier that would (hopefully) be sufficient. Being able to make spares that aren’t any stronger than the original part would also be good, if not nearly as great. 12 hours ago, Beckmann AG said: Did you already post photos somewhere of the broken pieces? That would probably push the parts geeks over the edge of re-design bliss. Also, given the relatively low physical volume of each part, investment casting out of brass alloy might be cost effective for a small run. The central arm/lever snapped on the long side which seems pretty predictable. IIRC : same place all the others did. Edited February 15, 2018 by queequeg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 OK, I guess I know what I'm doing tonight.... (let me find my caliper :D) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nigelc Posted February 18, 2018 Report Share Posted February 18, 2018 If I was going to investment cast some I would try for stainless Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted February 28, 2018 Report Share Posted February 28, 2018 Just noticed that a library that I go to with my son has a 3d scanner. When my season is looking like it's officially over I'm going to take the parts over there and try and get some accurate scans. That should be able to produce a good CAD drawing and hopefully something I can take to a highly competent machine shop our industrial building leases space to. 1 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhiteHorse Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Same failure problem here. I've been studying YouTube for simple aluminum casting techniques. I think it will be possible given some experimentation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lowrider Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Lost wax process may be the safest if using sand. Less chance of having your mold explode if you were to use a wax model burried in the sand rather than having wet sand and a void with a model of your intended part. Full safety gear goggles gloves face shield etc. Not trying to scare you but molten metal and sand molds can pack a punch. Don't ask me how i know ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 Working on it... Geometry is surprisingly complex. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 So I contacted F2 via Facebook and they responded with a message to email someone in the company. I emailed the fellow and told him my issue and he said they only sell kits to replace the cables and handles and not the internal parts. So unless Bomber comes back and continues to offer the replacement parts there is no way to get replacements. Lost PLA(3D printed plastic) casting is a thing and may be worth while investigating once we have some scans and drawings complete. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 3, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 1 hour ago, *Ace* said: So I contacted F2 via Facebook and they responded with a message to email someone in the company. I emailed the fellow and told him my issue and he said they only sell kits to replace the cables and handles and not the internal parts. So unless Bomber comes back and continues to offer the replacement parts there is no way to get replacements. Lost PLA(3D printed plastic) casting is a thing and may be worth while investigating once we have some scans and drawings complete. That makes sense. I'm honestly pretty surprised they even sell the cables ... I doubt there's much money in it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 (edited) Getting there.... btw, doing this has given me an idea on how to do the internals. And that we could 3D print the soles as well Edited March 3, 2018 by erazz 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted March 3, 2018 Report Share Posted March 3, 2018 (edited) Oook.... Ere ya goo. Caveat here... There are some finicky parts in this model. I still need to polish it. Don't expect to plop these files in a 3D printer and get a functional heel. However, this should be a good base to create parts and to design an improved version. (which I intend to do... someday...) The zip file includes a Parasolid assembly to make importing into other CAD packages easier. Fintec Heel.zip Edited March 3, 2018 by erazz Fixed glaring fault in part 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
queequeg Posted March 4, 2018 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 1 hour ago, erazz said: Oook.... Ere ya goo. Caveat here... There are some finicky parts in this model. I still need to polish it. Don't expect to plop these files in a 3D printer and get a functional heel. However, this should be a good base to create parts and to design an improved version. (which I intend to do... someday...) The zip file includes a Parasolid assembly to make importing into other CAD packages easier. Fintec Heel.zip DUDE!! You are THE MAN!!!!! I owe you some beers! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
*Ace* Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 Holy cow @erazz that is truly awesome! Thanks for taking the time to do that. Great work and very interested to see your ideas for internals. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lonbordin Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 3 hours ago, erazz said: Another dining room table conscripted in the battle against groom! Well done sir, well done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JRAZZ Posted March 4, 2018 Report Share Posted March 4, 2018 27 minutes ago, lonbordin said: Another dining room table conscripted in the battle against groom! Well done sir, well done. My wife is... understanding. (or very very weary) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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