Snap on aprons

[xcnick]

5years ago I drew up some aprons with clips and tabs and printed at Shapeways with great success. I did not realize how lucky I was until I recently tried to understand what I did.

More of a 3D print topic than slot car, but, I found the clips and tabs are details that not everyone can print. The compound curve of the bank turn is something not everyone can print. If you know about 3D printing take my file and give it a shot.

[NDRacer]

These look great. I know nothing about 3D printing, but I'd certainly be interested in purchasing some if there was a way of doing so.

[xcnick]

Check if your Library prints 3D. They need to print it like this so the road surface is the smoothest. At worst the clips will not work, but one can trim them off and just use double stick tape. See what machine they have and report back.



If I sell on Shapeways it would be twenty bucks each, twenty five if you want black. I have printed at maker xyx at half the price but they can't do it properly, wasted money. (I wrote to print in this configuration, but they didn't and the roadbed had steps.)

My library is free, but it is crazy to ask a librarian who studied the dewey decimal system to be an expert at slicing software. I was lucky to have a guy who was interested in working with me, but it closed down before we got a decent print.

[NDRacer]

Ah, okay. A tad uneconomical at those sorts of prices, even though it seems a much more elegant solution for ever-changing layouts than attaching cork, foam, MDF or similar each time. Surprised AFX have never (to my knowledge) released border pieces of any kind.

[xcnick]

Elegant is high praise.

AFX has aprons for the chicane and hairpin. I like their design of notching the track so the assembly lays flat.

Libraries are now printing for free. This game changer makes aprons affordable. Most importantly one can make an apron for any track piece. I stand in line for the printer with real ten year olds printing LEGO parts where I quietly whisper, “you know, LEGO was not the best toy of my childhood.”

I don't want to make a hobby of 3D printing. However seeing all the failures I have tried to learn what is important for this to work. We don't just need a drawing, but a G-code. This is the software that tells the printer how to print. If we have a good one, the librarian doesn't have to be an expert at 3D prints.

In my dreams we all go to the library and once we get a good print, share the G-code with the rest of us. A G-code is only good for one brand of machine, so we would collect a variety of G-codes.

Injection molding would be the way to sell these, but there are so many track pieces one could not invest in all of them. I personally think 3D printing is overused as exemplified by all the 3D face shields now being printed. Here is a charity who 3D printed at first, but immediately invested in injection molding and now makes them at $2.50 a piece instead of ten times this.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/20000-face-shields-project

[SlotCat]

Ah, okay. A tad uneconomical at those sorts of prices, even though it seems a much more elegant solution for ever-changing layouts than attaching cork, foam, MDF or similar each time. Surprised AFX have never (to my knowledge) released border pieces of any kind.

X2, agreed! Why doesn't AFX sell skid aprons for all of their turns/radius? I'd buy them!

Xcnick, great idea and thanks for sharing!