A colleague was creating some 3D printed balloon cars to show his students an example of something you could use a 3D printer for in STEM/Physics classes. The car is a demonstration of Newtons 3rd Law of Motion. I had the thought that those would be good for me to have in the maker van to take to schools or events, so I kept printing after he did his couple (and he shared his files).
The car is a 2.5-3 hour print depending on layer height (0.3 vs 0.25). The wheels are only about 15 minutes. Both are printed in PLA, car on an Ultimaker 2+ and wheels on a tiny Snapmaker. We are using bamboo skewers for axles. Though that has pros & cons. One pro is you can sand if it doesn’t fit perfectly. The cons are it often doesn’t fit perfectly (skewers are not all the same size) and skewers are not often straight.
When making a vehicle with wheels, you have to decide on your axles first. That dictates the hole in the wheel and the way you are going to attach the axle to chassis. These cars have holes printed through them. Other car designs (like wooden ones) often use eye screws to hold axles.
I am wondering about making the car a little smaller… reduce print time and filament use. Though I would have to fix the hole size for axles
short video on YouTube https://youtube.com/shorts/g4UwZfBGhrU?feature=share )
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