Quote:
Originally Posted by Polaraligned
Far better off making a silicone mold of the original you want to copy. Colored epoxy in the mold and you can have a very high quality reproduction, far better than what can be printed. There is a company that sells the metal inserts in all different shapes/sizes. Can't recall the name right now. AES in AZ sells the D shape ones in small quantity.
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+1
Most consumer 3D printers I've seen don't make especially smooth or detailed surfaces and the industrial ones that do are expensive...Also, there is the matter of creating and suitably refining a CAD model of the part.
Making a silicone mold is cheap, fast (ignoring mold and epoxy dry times, but you don't sit and watch it dry for a day like you might have to sit and tweak a cad model for hours) and accurate.
You can even make high-temperature silicone models that you can cast lead or pewter in...I've been considering doing that for a reproducing cracked pot metal parts for a Capehart turnover changer that I would like to eventually pair with my E.H Scott FM Philharmonic.