Make replacement parts faster - with CAD or a 3D scan?

The results will surprise you (and aren't as clear-cut as you might think)!

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[stefansweerts]

What I like to do is to make a photo of the part. Use that as a background in CAD and trace it. If you scale the picture in CAD you will have all the dimensions in one go.

[LibertyEver]

The first lesson of this video is to avoid the proprietary licensing crap and use an open source 3D scanner.

Great concept for a video, as always, flawlessly executed for maximum educational value. Thank you.

We need resin printers without the toxic mess and the hassles of slopping chemicals, drying and post curing. This part would be very strong printed in ABS-like resin.

[JamesElise]

A cheaper (and much less toxic) option than scan spray is dry shampoo, it gives the same light powder finish (and smells a bit flowery..) and is massively cheaper.

[MarinusMakesStuff]

I prefer CAD over scanning every day. Unless you want to print an organic object like a plant, bone or ring. But beyond that, CAD! Especially because everything's parametric and you can adjust and sometimes even improve the original part.

[RoccosStuff]

I look forward to the day that consumer 3D scanners are affordable, reliable and work well. The world of home repair will never be the same. The effort of measuring and recreating parts is doable for some things, but if it could be automated.... that'd be awesome!

[FuttFel]

That shot of you tossing that scanner into the trash, that's such a beautiful shot. Tells me all I need to know about that product.

[selfsynth]

These results are pretty much what I expected. You did address what I was thinking in your wrap-up too, that this flusher part is suited to CAD, but that something larger and more organic that's difficult to measure directly would be much better suited to scanning. The example of the wheel well and suspension hadn't even entered my mind, scanning a difficult-to-measure environment and then taking those measurements in software. Great use-case. Thanks for the video!

[serinfel]

Thank you sir for another excellent video. I still find it incredible that if I need a part for something, I can fire up cad (or Blender) and, using some calipers and notes, I can make my own parts faster, and cheaper, than ordering and waiting for them. Or I can make something entirely unique that I cannot find already made. Or make a part that is no longer manufactured (like a vintage or antique part).

I had an old pickup in my 20s. Like many old pickups, the tailgate latch didn't work right because one of the retaining clips that held the latch rods in place on the handle had broken. I tried for months to find a replacement, even going to the dealer, and had no luck finding a part that would work (the parts guy at the dealer basically told me to pound sand because finding that part in inventory for a 20+ y/o vehicle was a waste of his time). Now, I could model that clip and print it for pennies (some places wanted $45 bucks for a little plastic clip a cm long), and then share it with other makers.

[bzqp]

Would be also nice to see how long it would take with some open-source photogrammetry solution and a phone camera.

[DPrintingNerd]

Your toilet flush button is WAY different than mine.

[bubbasplants]

I prefer cad modeling, you can identify necessary features like you did in the video, and optimize for 3d printing. Scanning sometimes leaves weird areas that require supports or a lot of smoothing and loss of dimensional accuracy for smooth surfaces and small details.

[kerbybit]

the superfastmatt shoutout was cool to see. two very different channels but I expect more overlap in viewers than people might initially think

[henrymach]

In CAD you can also modify some features in order to obtain a more printable piece

[RahulJC]

One thing I can recommend, idk if you have tried this. You can put the part (considering its not too big) stick it in a 2D scanner and scan it. You can add a ruler for scale, Inventor and solidworks allows you to import an image, which you can scale to your sketch plane. It works beautifully for parts that are small enough to fit in a 2D scannner.

[briancarp]

How come you said that the scan was faster when the cad when the video shows the CAD being faster?

[supergiantbubbles]

I loved your optimized part at the very end. I've got a scanner and calipers and agree that in a lot of ways caliper measurements are better than scans. Best if to combine both to compliment each other. Angles are easier with a scanner while hard points are easier with calipers. Every use case it unique though. Good video.

[jaysunx]

I've recently had to this exact same thing with something that broke. Did it in CAD and also did the whole tracing on paper for the angles. Seing your result gave me a lot of confidence that the part will probably be good, cheers.

[BloodyMobile]

3:30 and this is why Cloud based hardware has to be praised with care. You literally have no control over whenever or not it will work next week.

[joehimes]

Video drop from Thomas makes my weekend. Thank you for the information.

[chuckthetekkie]

It's always fascinating how different countries have different methods for achieving the same goal. I'm from the US and our toilets have the flush mechanism attached directly on the toilet bowl tank as a small lever although some have a push button on the tank cover.

With that first scanner, if the company ever goes bye bye, you have a very expensive paperweight. And as you've experienced, when the activation server is having issues, you still have an expensive paperweight.