HEADLIGHT COMPONENTS

[Jayeme69]

Hi everyone just doing my headlights now which have disintegrated into dust! As im sure you are aware screws, springs and Headlight units are readily available, both standard and LED versions, ive just paid £70 for all 4 LED units, However the parts of the headlight which disintegrate are not available.... The retaining rings, base rings and support rings, so i have been in touch with several 3d printing services for pricing but this is only a feasible option if buying in Quantity so wanted to know if there is any and how much interest in these as the larger the order the cheaper they will be! If i could get some numbers together of interested parties i will get a price and we can go from there. Alternatively if anyone has friends/relatives who do 3d printing then please feel free to get a price, all CAD files are in the documents link. Thanks

[Tuga2112]

shapeways already does them. pricy i agree but will get you sorted.

the 4 different base rings are originally made of metal. and i would think they can be easily fabricated using sheet steel.

the retaining ring can be easily adapted from a standard ones (chromed) from rimmerbros (i have done that just a week ago) (the chrome parts cost around 70 quid delivered, then you need to use your dremel to cut them into a shape that fits the support rings, and add your own little metal tabs (because the screw holes dont line up )

as far as the support rings which are the only plastic part from that list (and i believe there are 2 different designs)

I have been thinking about buying a large bed 3d printer for these situations, but they are pricy, and i dont think it would pay for itself given how few people actually need parts these days.

I Would not be able to provide parts much cheaper than shapeways considering
1 - making 3d models of these parts is extremely time consuming, (everyone i know that "knows" blender really struggles to make complex shapes like these) and i personally dislike the task.
2 - 3d printing is still a very "fiddle and try again" job.
3 - there's very few people wanting this, ROI is very low.
4 - every part needs to be done in a batch, as the printer settings needs to "learned" again every time you change the print