a 3d printed object in metal!

[Randy]

Over the christmas holidays I got fired-up by Chris's posts on the makerbot...I didn't got out and buy one but I did give google sketchup and shapeways (www.shapeways.com) a try and designed this very complex (sarcasm) brace: http://www.shapeways.com/model/77738/simplereinforcement12.html.

And then it arrived in the mail today and looks just it should. So here's a picture of it on it's own, and then with it's twin brother on my helicopter. Of course, did the heli really need it? Probably not..but it was fun making it anyway.

You'll notce it's slightly bumpy but besides that it feels like normal stainless steel to me. It cost $25 including the shipping but it took almost a month to reach me here in tokyo.

[Wayne]

I thought it would be cool to have a maker bot for all sorts of small custom parts one may need to design for certain projects but that's a fine looking piece you have there. I will have to keep Shapeways in mind. Sounds like a fair price for that work.

[Jack Crossfire]

Someday someone with a 3 week turnaround time to burn needs to find out how strong printed metal is. Not sure it would withstand helicopter vibration very long under a load. Can't wait for printed carbon fiber.

[Jeff]

wow that is very cool. you should try a part made out of ABS, it might be strong enough for most applications, and apparently far cheaper!

[Knuckles904]

Thats an eco 8 isnt it? Geez I want to try giving mine some "autonomous enhancements" but its so darn hard and expensive to find parts for them. Incredible heli tho, and yours looks nicely blinged out

[Randy]

It's an Eco8 alright! Starts at less than $150 but as you say, the upgrades cost a fortune. Well done for recognising it from the pic. For me the upgrades were just about trying to get the vibration down so that it doesn't throw off the accelerometer + gyros..so far limited success but hoping some Analog Devices gyros + accelerometers will get me over the hump. If not, I'm afraid I may need to move over to the Quadcopter crowd.

[Jani Hirvinen]

Randy you should make one that has a bit like triangle shape. Hook up it on those two screws behind motor and then front. Would give a better support for that area and especially for whole "nose" area.