I'm rebuilding the leaky loader control valve on my 580C. I got stuck removing the plastic gland nut and didn't want to butcher it up using the wrong hand tools(It's the machinist in me). So I was going to CNC mill a custom castle nut tool then decided that would take too long. I decided to see if a plastic printed 3D tool would hold up. It took me 15 minutes to draw it as a solid model after taking some basic measurements with a pair of dial calipers. The printer took about 80 minutes to print it. I was shocked at how strong the plastic is. Very accurate too. I had to hit the teeth with a couple of passes of the file to knock the crumbs off from the printing process. The gland was stuck pretty good and I did not shear any of the teeth off. Worked like a charm. Next, I'm going to rebuild the sloppy loader linkages that move the bucket and loader spools. After drilling and reaming the holes I will install IGUS polymer bearings and plug the grease zerks with a threaded plug. It will run dry forever with no maintenance. Anything I need to look out for on this rebuild that is not mentioned in the manual? I'm going to replace 100% of the soft parts. Steve
I have seen and read some very creative things on HEF. This has to be one of the best yet. Thanks for sharing it.
What type of printer do you have? Cost of printer? Self taught or schooling?
This is an absolute first. Every single 3D printed thing that I've seen posted anywhere has been some useless thing that could have been purchased for less than the cost of the plastic to print it. Finally something useful !! Joe H
Joe Friday, This was printed on a Mojo Stratasys system. It uses ABS plastic. New(not sure if it's still in production or not) is around $6,000 plus ongoing material costs. A friend printed it for me. I don't own one. The one I use at work is a Makerbot that does not have much for strength or reliability. So it's basically for prototyping and show and tell stuff. The 3D printer market changes by the day in terms of technology being invented. There is an aerospace company in my town that could print this in different steel alloys(laser and powdered metal). The machine was close to 1 million dollars. If you are interested in this technology I would use an online print service and pay as you go: https://www.3dhubs.com/3d-printing/#3dp-processes They print in most materials including steel and nylon. Some community colleges and universities provide printing services too. I'm a machinist(manual and CNC) and welder that went back to school to become a shop teacher over 20 years ago. I currently teach computer aided design(CAD), machining, and welding at a youth correctional facility. I also teach an evening welding class at a community college. This was drawn using Rhino CAD. https://www.rhino3d.com/ I was formally taught AutoCAD back when it was first released around 1982. I've had lots of classes since then on many different platforms(Solidworks, ProE, SketchUp). If you are not afraid of computers you could teach yourself easily. To get started there are a lot of free CAD programs out there that have self-paced tutorials. Just like the HEF forum, there are many CAD user forums that are a wealth of knowledge. YouTube is great also. https://www.easyrender.com/3d-rendering/best-free-3d-modeling-software Steve
Thanks for awakening us to some actual possibilities of the technology. Also thanks for working with young people and possibly opening their eyes to another path in life.
DH, Great use of technology. Dang you, you’ve added another item to my bucket list! At least you disclosed to $$ of printers so that’s out . But, so much is tied to CAD- CNC machines, plasma cutter tables, etc. Thanks for the link regarding software. Playing with that on dark, wet, winter nights might be interesting. (Old dog/new tricks kinda thing) And, like John said, it’s great that you’re able to pass your knowledge and skills on to the youth. Darryl
Could a 3D printer create this gear on this tachometer drive ? It was used on thousands of Case industrial and farm tractors. CNH now wants $474.00 for the complete drive. The used supply is diminishing every day.
Darryl, The good news is you don't need to buy the equipment. You can send you solid model CAD file to an online printing service that I mentioned in post #5. That way you could try a variety of materials if you wanted to. Steve
Tinkerer, The short answer is yes. Most printers are capable of +/- a few thousands of an inch. I checked my printed tool above it it was within .003 or less on every dimension. At school, I had a student make basic straight cut gears that worked in a "do nothing" gear train. How do they attach the Helical gear to the steel? Press fit? Did the old ones wear out? Most gears are still being manufactured on a gear hobbing machine. But now many live tooling CNC lathes can machine gears with special gear software. My only concern would be if it came apart in the engine how much damage would it cause? Since it's just a tach even if the gear was not perfect it would probably wear in against a steel camshaft? Not much torque spinning a tach cable. I would have to do some research to see if engine oil/heat would affect the plastic. It sounds like a possible class project... Steve
John, Thank you for your kind words. It's rewarding to see their successes. A few weeks ago we had an AWS weld certifier come into the facility for our weld test day. 16 students tested in dual shield MIG and 7018 stick on 3/8" or 1" plate. This is a butt joint groove weld with a backing strip. Most were in the flat 1G position(beginners) and some in the vertical up 3G. 15 out of 16 received their AWS weld certification card! We normally don't have that high of a pass rate. It's a tough crowd. With some of these guys, the only thing they have used a tool for was to commit a crime. The vast majority have had no experience making or fixing things. Steve
That is a sacrificial fiber gear it wears out so no damage is to done to the camshaft that drives it. I guess that is why there is a shortage of new ones available. If I remember correctly it is pressed on the shaft. If not, it may be pined. The tachometer puts very little strain on the gear unless the cable gets dry from a lack of lubrication. I commend you on the outstanding success of so many students. It is a direct reflection on you ! Awesome ! Keep up the good work.
Well my thoughts on this would be if even one third of the "students" go on to use this knowledge in a productive way it's better than what they were doing in the past!
Just my 0.02c I have used ABS and PLA plastics in a oil filled drive shaft to replace a RPM gauge drive. This was a drive rod with a gear that just span and told the gauge the RPM. Still working to this day. I have table feed gears inside my horizontal mill that are 3d printer for the Automatic feed. That should be made of brass. Melting Temp was at 220.c but friction may come into play depending on the speed it's driven. Not sure inside an engine whether I would be 100% comfortable with it. I have printed MANY custom gears and many drives for odd ball lathes oner the years and never had any problems other than slight noice increase over the old gears. I would suggest printing as a solid not as 20% fill or similar, but I would think they would work. Fusion 360 makes a simple -ish job of designing / making helical gears.
I have seen some pretty impressive specs on a few of the nylon filaments, haven't used them myself but that's what I'd be leaning towards if it were me.
Case had a tool for that listed in the repair manual but only had four tangs on it. The tool you designed and made looks great.
Coy, I saw that tool in the repair manual, but the part number didn't work in the Case parts store. So I figured it was obsolete, which gave me the idea to make my own. My thought was 4 tangs would probably break off so I went with 8 for the added strength. Steve
Good work
Hi, This seems to be the cool material with some heavy equipment. let me know if you are open for discussions. We are company providing solutions with 3d walkthrough services to some mega projects client.
That's a great tool, would have taken me a week to do it on the milling machine
Thanks. Machining it was my back up plan if it broke. The 3D printer tool did hold up on reassembly. Steve
Hey bud, would you be willing to share the 3D file? I'm in process of rebuilding mine and came on here to see what others may have done to get that goofy nut out, never thought to print one, I was going to mill one.
I also was wondering if you would be willing to share the 3d file. I own and use solidworks and I run a cnc machine shop at home. I was going to go down the same path soon for the valve on my dozer. I appreciate you becoming a teacher and trying to teach and re-direct at least some of our youth to some useful skills. I wish I could somehow get into that
I would think there is a company that could make the gear for this. There are a few plastic gear makers that come up with a search. Maybe the new gear could be epoxied on in place of the old gear after you remove the old one. A rebuild service for your old one maybe?
Eric a1cnc and bkj110, What type of file extension do you want? I use Rhino, but can export to most file types. Steve
I can use a .step file. That will come right into solidworks and from there I can use my cam software to will it out. I REALLY need to fix the live tooling on my lathe and then I could make it on one machine...
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So does any one have the CAD drawing of this part? Even the flat print of it?
Outlaw, Message me privately on here with your email and I will send you my original CAD file. Let me know the file extension type you want.