Customize Your Ride with 3D Car Parts By Max Swahn
3D printing is a hot topic for sure. From automotive to aerospace, medical to food – 3D printing is transforming industry. The applications are not only diverse, but the technology and accessibility to this technology is rapidly changing. A great deal of attention is paid to large commercial applications, but the news is just as exciting for the ‘everyday user’.
A very unique, individual application of this technology is described in my blog: 3D Printing: The New Super Hero.
A bald eagle named Beauty received a plastic prosthetic beak created on a 3D printer. This application was for just one bird, but the potential is endless.
And with so many different materials now being used, we are really only limited by our imaginations.
I’ve previously explored the possibility of producing individualized food items using an at home 3D printer: 3D Printing a Custom Protein Bar: Not That Crazy After All.
Both of these examples demonstrate the possibilities of using food and plastics at the individual consumer level.
Other materials that excite me are metal and carbon fiber.
Why?
Cars Believe it or not, 3D printed cars are a reality.
This technology can be applied toward producing complete cars (concept cars for now with an eye toward mass production), restorations like Elvis’ BMW 507, or custom car parts for the individual consumer. Using carbon fiber reinforced filaments offer stronger, sturdier and lighter weight parts than commonly used polymer materials.
It is exciting to think about customizing a car at home.
Whether it is designing and producing interior parts like door trims, air vents, instrument clusters and shifters; or exterior parts like air diffusers, spoilers, grills, exhausts or even the outer shell, custom car parts can help you express your personalized vision for your ride.
There has been an influx of carbon fiber 3D printers over the last few years, and each seems to offer a unique pathway to producing highperformance parts. All3DP offers a wealth of information in their 2019 buyer’s guide about carbon 3D printers and carbon fiber 3D printer filaments for both the industrial sector and ‘professional consumers’.
So, even if you don’t have your own at-home printer, you will likely be able to custom create your own designs and have them printed at your local auto shop.
HOW COOL IS THAT
