FJ40 emblem on an 80?

[bhicks]

I finally got my 3-D printer fixed and was able to print the first test emblem. This is the modern "FJ" logo. The 40 series logo will be printed out on Monday. The FJ logo fits perfect but looks a little odd the way it sticks out. I'm gonna go back and make some changes to make it sit flush up against the grille so I wont attach the pics of it installed yet. Here's pics hot off the printer. When I have the final design done I will be printing the base in black and the letters in white. Here's what I have so far.

 

[G-Cat]

That is very cool.

 

[08720]

I look forward to seeing the picture with it fitting the contour. Any printing errors? I read sometimes people can come back to the printer and there is a big plastic mess sitting there. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Mike

 

[bhicks]

I look forward to seeing the picture with it fitting the contour. Any printing errors? I read sometimes people can come back to the printer and there is a big plastic mess sitting there. Thanks for taking the time to do this. Mike

The printing errors have been a NIGHTMARE. I had to send the machine back and get it entirely rebuilt. That set me back on getting this "little" project done. I have had a pile of unexpected issues. Once I got the original prototype done (pictured above) I realized after install that I really didn't like the gap between the emblem and the grille vent/slots thing. I decided to box it all in. that created a new issue. I no longer had a perfectly flat base to print on. My updated prototype wasn't sticking to the platform which caused it to warp. I then had to build a support and raft system to ensure the print didn't move or warp in any way during the printing process. I also ran into the issue of weak attachment points. The threaded tabs I built would snap off when you tiigtened the emblem onto the grille. I had to dramatically improve those. I also decided to add some locking tabs on the outside edges so that the emblem wasn't only mounted with the 3 little factory screws in the middle. It now mounts on the ends as well. It is actually so tight that I'm not even sure the factory screws are needed. The unpexpected issue I ran into this morning is removal. The tabs snap into place which prevents the emblem from coming off. Which means it wont come off for the fitment of the other emblem. I have the modern FJ emblem on their right now and would like to get the old school FJ40 emblem on their. I may have to cut the locking tabs off to get the emblem off. I don't really like that so I may go back to the drawing board and look for a better (removable) mounting option. Here's some pics as of this morning. I tried my best to make it look clean and factory.

 

[superstan26]

Fantastic job! I had heard good things about plasti printers, but had no idea that they were capable of such a quality looking product. Thanks for posting.

 

[bhicks]

Fantastic job! I had heard good things about plasti printers, but had no idea that they were capable of such a quality looking product. Thanks for posting.

It's funny you think that quality looks good. I printed that as a prototype in the lowest/fastest setting. It's running .3mm per layer. I can actually print in .01mm per layer which is as smooth as glass. That's 300 times finer than .3mm. The draw back is that the 6 hour print would take over 100 hours to print and that's not gonna happen. I will probably run the final prints in the medium .1mm-.15mm setting taking about 12 hours to print. I can just hit print before I go to bed and it should be done late the next morning. Now that the modern FJ font one is done, I'm going to focus on the old school FJ40 font now. Once I get perfect fitment and attachment from both designs then I will make one batch of maybe 5-10 each for others who want one. I can't make any more because they take a lot of set up and a LOT of cleanup (removing all the supports) and it's just not worth all the hassle. I will post again when both designs are 100% dialed in.

 

[Golgo13]

3D printers are fantastic! We use them for rapid prototypes at work all the time. You can knock down the roughness with sandpaper if you need and make a finished quality part with ease. Or, if you're printing with ABS, you can fume the part for a couple hours in acetone and get a nice, smooth surface.
There is a lot of info for this stuff on the web.

The badge looks great! Keep up the awesome work!

 

[bhicks]

3D printers are fantastic! We use them for rapid prototypes at work all the time. You can knock down the roughness with sandpaper if you need and make a finished quality part with ease. Or, if you're printing with ABS, you can fume the part for a couple hours in acetone and get a nice, smooth surface.
There is a lot of info for this stuff on the web.

The badge looks great! Keep up the awesome work!

Sanding on the white PLA looks awesome but when you sand the black PLA it looks horrible. It makes the surface smooth (which is nice) but it also changes the color to a foggy gray and not the dark black. I can easily sand down the white letters to be super smooth since they are white, but I realized if I just print at a higher resolution then I don't have to spend the time sanding. I did not know about the acetone technique with ABS. My current 3-D printer doesn't do ABS but I'm looking at buying one for my personal use and I plan to get one that can print both PLA and ABS.

 

[Golgo13]

You don't have to print in the colors you want. All the 3d print materials are paint-able.
Its a pain to sand, prep, mask, etc, but you can get really good results.
I just did some special wheel center caps and they came out really nice.

Plate-able ABS is also available if you can find a shop to do the chrome plating.

Another tip to cut down on print time is to make your parts as a shell instead of a full solid. 3mm is a sturdy thickness for stuff like this.
feel free to PM me if you want to discuss any ideas you have for other parts. I've seen some nice results from our equipment at work and am willing to share what I can.

This is where I learned about the shiny finish. Tried it and it works! It does make the plastic swell a little, so it might take some experimenting...
http://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/giving-3d-printed-parts-a-shiny-smooth-finish/

 

[bhicks]

You don't have to print in the colors you want. All the 3d print materials are paint-able.
Its a pain to sand, prep, mask, etc, but you can get really good results.
I just did some special wheel center caps and they came out really nice.

Plate-able ABS is also available if you can find a shop to do the chrome plating.

Another tip to cut down on print time is to make your parts as a shell instead of a full solid. 3mm is a sturdy thickness for stuff like this.
feel free to PM me if you want to discuss any ideas you have for other parts. I've seen some nice results from our equipment at work and am willing to share what I can.

This is where I learned about the shiny finish. Tried it and it works! It does make the plastic swell a little, so it might take some experimenting...
http://hackaday.com/2013/02/26/giving-3d-printed-parts-a-shiny-smooth-finish/

Cool. Thanks for the info.

 

[bhicks]

I finally got the FJ40 font emblem all finished up and printed. Here's some pics. In the pics you can see the raft and support system is rather complicated. I had to do that to make sure the print stuck to the printing surface and didn't warp in any way. It's a HUGE PITA to get all the supports off. You can also see I had to add a little truss system to also prevent warping. The 2 trusses will stay on their during shipping so it doesn't get warped at all during shipping. They just snap off once your ready to install. You may notice the huge amount of wasted material. In order to get this thing to print perfect every time I have almost doubled my amount of material. I'm getting close to $20 per emblem just in the PLA plastic.

 

[bhicks]

Here it is installed. It took about 10 minutes to install. I decided this time to just remove the grille. That means removing 5 screws and one tab. Takes about 1-2 minutes to do. It made it WAY easier to get to the screws that hold the factory emblem on. It also allowed me to work on installing the new emblem in the comfort of my warm house instead of my freezing garage.

 

[mickeyt]

Looks great. Now this will attach and cover the emblem and lock into the grill some how?

 

[bhicks]

At this point, I have quite a bit more time, money, and material into this thing then I originally planned. The PLA costs almost doubled on me, the 3-D printer repair costs have kicked my butt, and my "little" project has taken up a ton of my time. I'm not looking to make a profit of any kind on these but I would like to break even on my out of pocket expenses. I did the math and at $50 a piece (including shipping to the lower 48) I need to sell 15 of these. I really don't want to make more then needed since they are a pain to set up, print, and then remove all the raft/supports. 15 is were I need to be. If anyone is interested in buying one then please shoot me a PM. They will be made to order and each one takes a 24 hour window to print and clean up so you need to be patient. I already have 3 members who emailed me a while back who wanted one so at this point I will make 12 more. You can either choose the modern FJ font or the old school FJ40 font. It doesn't matter to me.

 

[mickeyt]

Beat me to it

 

[bhicks]

Looks great. Now this will attach and cover the emblem and lock into the grill some how?

Yes and no. It will replace the factory chrome emblem; not cover it. It does snap onto the factory grille and also uses the 3 factory holes and hardware. There is one MAJOR fact I almost forgot. At this point this will ONLY MOUNT ON A LX450 Grille. I don't have a LandCruiser grille to work off of. Edit: Actually, I don't even need the grille. I just need the emblem. If someone would loan me their 94-97 land cruiser emblem then I would be happy to modify these to fit. I would also toss in my emblem for free since they provided the factory landcruiser emblem for mock up. Your out of pocket cost would simply be to ship the emblem to me and pay to ship your emblem and mine back.

Edit: Here's a little pic of the tab that locks into the grille. You simply have to use a little force to push the little wedge shape past the back edge of the grille and it will snap into place. Pulling it back out isn't going to happen. You have to remove the grille and pinch the grille slot from the back side to allow the wedge/tab to be freed up and the emblem to be pulled back off. It was actually a lot easier then I had originally thought. The grille is made up of pretty thin plastic so it has quite a bit of give in it.

 

[08720]

I love it!

 

[Scottsire]

Do you know the acetone trick for smoothing out the printer marks?

 

[western flyer]

Looks really cool. Thanks for the hard work and dealing with the hassles. I can send you the badge off of my 97 LC; please PM me the details. Cheers, Jon

 

[bhicks]

Do you know the acetone trick for smoothing out the printer marks?

I have been looking into it but in most situations I have come across it's used with ABS plastic and not PLA plastic. I'm not sure if it will have different effects with the PLA. I need to spend more time looking into it. I also heard that it may cause slight warping to the parts. I don't really have any wiggle room for any warping. If you know any helpful info then please pass it my way.