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Great looking prints there Dan! I tell ya, I got an FDM printer but I often look at the resin printers and think I ought to upgrade. FDM is just so darn easy and convenient. Turn it on and go. No clean up needed afterwards.
Your links don't work (or didn't work for me).
Am I to understand these will be used as patterns in casting???
And lastly, are you aware of the print repository on the forum?? You can contribute and download files for you own use.
Hey, it is a small thing, but I found out the insulating pins Ross Track uses are 3d printed by Dave Hikel (I was giving feedback on them). Not a big thing, but interesting.
insulating pins Ross Track uses are 3d printed
I never thought of doing that .... never purchase them again!!
I have to agree with BillYo414 above, Facebook links in original post don't work.
Chuck
@BillYo414 posted:Am I to understand these will be used as patterns in casting???
And lastly, are you aware of the print repository on the forum?? You can contribute and download files for you own use.
Yes, we'll use these for the casting process. I'll check out repository. These are for clients so I can't post them but others I will.
I would be very interested in seeing how the casting part works. Mainly because of the size. I only ever poured iron but it was on castings 5-180 tons. I've always been curious about the other end of the spectrum.
Bill
As to casting, there are castable resins. That are formulated to be burned out of an investment.
Thanks Alan! I will check this out. I assumed the PLA was burned out.
the resin or PLA IS burned away; however these materials tend to leave more residue in the investment that causes issues with the mold.
that is why jewelry makers use WAX; Wax burns away completely. The castable resin is more wax like.
@AlanRail posted:the resin or PLA IS burned away; however these materials tend to leave more residue in the investment that causes issues with the mold.
that is why jewelry makers use WAX; Wax burns away completely. The castable resin is more wax like.
Correct. These parts will be for the mold and then we shoot waxes for the castings
Interesting. I didn't know there was the intermediate step there. We used to do lost foam and then wood patterns. Never messed with the investment castings.
I bought a special resin that "should" allow us to 3D print then use directly for the casting process, skipping the mold/wax process. We'll see how well it turns out.
Neat....maybe Dan can down the road produce some US&S H-5 style searchlight signals in O scale for us ex Wabash territory modelers......LOL!
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@railroad-guy posted:These are for clients so I can't post them but others I will.
Shoot me an email when you are ready Dan... and, I'll set you up.
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@railroad-guy posted:After seeing the fantastic results from Serge Y. Lebel and Sarah Griessenböck I made the plunge and bought the Elegoo Saturn and built a home made curing box. We shall see but I suspect great things from this.
One part is an O scale journal box for the SDL39 project and the other is a signal box cover in S scale. These will be prototypes for the brass castings.
Can anyone else smell this picture? I use a full respirator and can still smell this stuff sometimes.
never have smelled the resin have smelled the alcohol used to clean the excess resin from the print.
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@TheRambles posted:Can anyone else smell this picture? I use a full respirator and can still smell this stuff sometimes.
I use Water Washable Rapid Resin. Almost no smell and no IPA.
Yeah Alan, easy to print if you want the basic shape......BUT, if you want all the details i.e. the lettering on the case door, and all the inyticacies of the H-5 signal, it might not be so darned easy. If I wanted the basic shape, I could make that out of styrene, I want a detailed version of the real thing in O scale, not a Lionel looking signal. If BLMA could do the H-2 signal in HO, why can't someone do that in O scale? This is 2021, not 1950! We should ask for, and expect more out of model manufacturers. Sorry to get maybe off topic on Dan's thread.
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@R Nelson posted:Yeah Alan, easy to print if you want the basic shape......BUT, if you want all the details i.e. the lettering on the case door, and all the inyticacies of the H-5 signal, it might not be so darned easy.
Pretty sure you're not getting the lettering on the case door on any scale model. What's that thing, 1 or 2 feet high at the most? That's 1/4 to 1/2 inch high in O scale for the entire case.
As Magic said that was a quick model based on a couple of photos. If you have more detailed dimensions (in decimal not fractions) of the various parts and the lettering, I can do wonders.
Without more detailed information, the best I can do is that model I showed.
I don't know that the model I made's dimensions are correct!
I just Guessed!
@Magicland posted:Pretty sure you're not getting the lettering on the case door on any scale model. What's that thing, 1 or 2 feet high at the most? That's 1/4 to 1/2 inch high in O scale for the entire case.
Look at the bearings I posted. You can read the numbers and HYATT. I ran another test at a higher resolution with even better results.
I fully get your gist Alan. From what I gather, using a 3D camera to photograph things, really helps pop the details for this type of work. Regarding the fine details.....the BLMA HO scale, H-2 signals actually have the lettering on the signal housing. Remarkable detail, needing really good magnifiers to see! B.T.W., I have a H-5 dwarf signal at home, along with a H-2 dwarf. Neat signals, BUT heavy!
RN- remember those HS drafting courses (I'm old).
What I like is a Front View, Side View(s) and Top View (scaled and dimensioned) along with a 3/4 view to make an accurate 3D model.
Usually I have a photo and I try to just scale it.
and if there are bottom details then a bottom view too.
@railroad-guy (Dan) What are you using to make your molds from these prints? I'm trying to catch up as fast as possible with all this. FYI: I'm using the Elegoo Mercury Plus wash and cure machine. Here's what I've been CADing the last couple of days...
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@railroad-guy posted:Look at the bearings I posted. You can read the numbers and HYATT. I ran another test at a higher resolution with even better results.
The text on those bearings IRL is a lot larger than the text on that signal. Having attempted printing build plates, I know what will and what won't print via most standard resin printers.
@A. Wells posted:@railroad-guy (Dan) What are you using to make your molds from these prints? I'm trying to catch up as fast as possible with all this. FYI: I'm using the Elegoo Mercury Plus wash and cure machine. Here's what I've been CADing the last couple of days...
Glenn, my friend who actually does that part, uses some high end rubber compound, red I believe. Here is DECO end for C&O and some B&O 1937 boxcars. Rich Yoder did a brass car with this end a while ago but it was never done by anyone else. This would fit an InterMountain car and possibly Atlas.
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Alan, yes I do! I took drafting in HS, lots of fun, I like drafting class. We had a real oddball of a teacher, (Major Altum) and yes, his first name was Major, who walked around the classroom with a toothpick in his mouth. If he saw a mistake, he would get your attention with a very loud and annoying, "what's the malfunction". One day, a classmate brought in toothpicks for everyone. It took almost the whole hour for the teacher to catch on. My older sister, used to call him "The great bird of paradise", yes he kind of resembled an egret!!
When I get the chance, I will take some photos of the H-5 signal. I have it out in the garage, and need to clean it up, and repaint it. Been going to do that since spring, but as usual, been busy with other things. Story of my life, it seems.
@AlanRail posted:RN- remember those HS drafting courses (I'm old).
What I like is a Front View, Side View(s) and Top View (scaled and dimensioned) along with a 3/4 view to make an accurate 3D model.
Usually I have a photo and I try to just scale it.
and if there are bottom details then a bottom view too.
@railroad-guy (Dan) - And more detail this evening...
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I would be careful about demanding that someone else produce the model you want.
I would imagine that once the data set for HO is done, all you need to do is change the scale factor - but the original programmer might wish to be compensated for his/her work.
A copyright is a unique adaptation of an idea. A good example is a photo of a train signal; that photo is capable of being copyrighted.
The photo is not the idea itself. The idea of a train signal is not copyrightable.
So if you make an "exact" 1/4" scale model of an existing train signal, is that copyright-able??. Since the model is not unique being a copy, it is not copyright-able. The difference between the photo and the model is what else is around the signal in the photo. If the photo is taken at a unique orientation that is not a copy from another photo it is copyrightable.
So could the signal manufacturer claim your 1/4" model infringes? Yes, but only if their signal is unique and has been copyrighted. (Patents are whole different issue.) Which is why toy train manufacturers that make models of existing engines with unique markings must pay to use those original copyrighted designs on their scale models.
Further, if I take your 1/4" scale signal model and make my own model of your signal model, I have not infringed because you do not have or could ever have a copyright on your scale model of an existing signal. Your signal model is NOT unique.
Yes, but if you use my software to do it and I can prove it, you may be in for an expensive experience! Same with duplicating my photos or text.
@AlanRail posted:A copyright is a unique adaptation of an idea. A good example is a photo of a train signal; that photo is capable of being copyrighted.
The photo is not the idea itself. The idea of a train signal is not copyrightable.
So if you make an "exact" 1/4" scale model of an existing train signal, is that copyright-able??. Since the model is not unique being a copy, it is not copyright-able. The difference between the photo and the model is what else is around the signal in the photo. If the photo is taken at a unique orientation that is not a copy from another photo it is copyrightable.
So could the signal manufacturer claim your 1/4" model infringes? Yes, but only if their signal is unique and has been copyrighted. (Patents are whole different issue.) Which is why toy train manufacturers that make models of existing engines with unique markings must pay to use those original copyrighted designs on their scale models.
Further, if I take your 1/4" scale signal model and make my own model of your signal model, I have not infringed because you do not have or could ever have a copyright on your scale model of an existing signal. Your signal model is NOT unique.
Not sure I agree, technically if I create a model of a real train signal for modelers and attempt to sell it, the maker of the real thing could go after me (I doubt they would bother, but technically I think they could) for the image of the design,which they own. On the other hand if I made a train signal free lanced, not based on any prototype, no one could sue me on the grounds that it was a train signal, it has to be specific. A photo of a train signal is staged in a certain way it is a copyrighted image; on the other hand if I take a picture of that train signal that looks the same as a picture someone else took, my picture is my own copyrighted image s since I didn't use his. It gets fuzzy if I digitize his picture, use photoshop to have someone climbing the signal put into the picture, that could be considered a violation , because I didn't have the right to use the original image. If I was doing that for the purpose of satire, though, or protest or parody or something, it would be fair use). Edward Hopper's "Night Hawks", a painting of depression era people sitting at a coffee shop late at night, has had many parodies of it done, where for example they have famous people like Bogart and Marilyn Monroe sitting there and they are legal
If someone wrote code that allowed producing an HO signal and I modified it to print out a 1/4" scale model but used their code, it would be a violation of copyright, unless the person who coded it put it in the public domain. Simply modifying the scale would not be considered a new copyrightable work, would still be in violation. On the other hand, if you significantly change the code, to add details,make it represent something else, it may be considered enough of an improvement to be your copyright, but that is kind of gray area.
@bob2 posted:Yes, but if you use my software to do it and I can prove it, you may be in for an expensive experience! Same with duplicating my photos or text.
That was in part what I was stating - software and code created by an individual is subject to copyright. Analogous to photos....
If you make a unique train signal that is not taken from a actual signal; like one with a triangular face; then yes you would own a copyright in that unique interpretation of a signal design.
Of course who would want to pay for that!.
Using someone else's software to design a signal does not give the software owner any rights at all to your signal design. That would be like saying that a camera manufacturer owns a copyright in all pictures taken by one of its cameras.
The medium does not control the message... ask FaceBook.
However, to have a copyright the message must be in a medium.