I am trying to make a good quality 3d printed lockdown bar. I know many people feel it is important not to skimp and get a custom steel one made for $150. And that seems perfectly reasonable to me. But for various reasons (including control of the design) I wanted to try to make my own before I gave up and ordered one.
Requirements:
-I have a custom cab I designed that is not quite full size. The lockdown bar is approximately 18inch across.
-It has to be strong and sturdy and feel good to the touch or whats the point. -
-I want it to look (and feel) like real Williams or Bally lockdown bar at least at a glance.
Requirements:
-I have a custom cab I designed that is not quite full size. The lockdown bar is approximately 18inch across.
-It has to be strong and sturdy and feel good to the touch or whats the point. -
-I want it to look (and feel) like real Williams or Bally lockdown bar at least at a glance.
My cabinet:
I considered a lot of different ways of making them out of wood and MDF. But getting the shape right seemed like a lot of trial and error and a ton of work. Metal fabrication isnt my thing. So 3d printed seems the best option. Frankly I expected to find plenty of them on Thingverse. But unless I have missed something I couldn't find any good 3d printed ones (or even bad ones really).
First I looked real lockdown bars and took some pics.
I roughed out the shape in Sketchup and after a few iterations I found something that looks right on my table and more importantly feels very good with your palms resting on it (or pushing it).
Then I made that top shape perfectly fit my cabinet like a box lid. Fits like a glove so it is strong an sturdy and you can push the table around until it tilts with confidence its not going to flex or break.
Because the LDB is 18 inches wide it wont fit on mine or many other printers. So I had to print it in at least 3 pieces. For my first test I did it in 3 sections of about 6 inch and then tried to glue the pieces with epoxy. I had alignment issues and messed that up and wound up with a very visible seam. But I decided to go ahead and use that one as a test piece for finishing techniques and reprint a second version.
For my second print I added alignment pins and used plain super glue gel rather than epoxy. Gluing was much easier and almost seamless. This is it glued (superglue gel) and sanded.
Now on to looks. Again I want it to look real at a glance, so steel metal looking ideally but shiny stainless paint looks ok at best on 3d printed objects. And as I understand it most metallic paints don't work well with a protective clear coat. So instead I am trying for a powder coated steel look. Or possibly carbon fiber wrap (see below).
On the first print (the one that I messed up gluing) I used sanding and Duplicolor automobile fillable sandable primer. Multiple, coats and sanding I finally got something sorta smooth.
Then I did 2 coats of glossy black, with sanding in between, then 2 coats of a black with metallic flecks in it and 2 clear coats.
Note the orange carbon fiber is NOT going to be used in the final. :-)
Wow. Pictures don't do it justice but it looks really good up close. Feels smooth and metal like. If it wasn't for the huge seams in the middle where I messed gluing I would be very happy with it.
I am working on the second version now and will follow up this post with the results.
Edit:Thanks xenonph for pointing out how to post images. Totally missed it!
Edited by Quinalt, 02 September 2019 - 07:56 PM.
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