New Titanium KIPS smiley gear

[Isaac95]

Hello,
I recently discovered that my KIPS smiley gear is missing a tooth. Which then led me to the discovery that the gear is no longer available (most of you know this already). So I took it upon myself to model and 3d print a small batch of gears in titanium. They just came in today, and so far they look like they will work. The surface finish is a little rough, but tolerances seem acceptable. I think it’ll be 100% functional. I might need some beta testers to see how they hold up. Thoughts?

[Chuck78]

The actual titanium metal is 3D printed?
Is it easier for this type of operation versus a fully automated CNC machine making a part out of billet?

How much did this cost to have these made in titanium?

I'm long overdue for a top end and anticipating doing one in the next few weeks if you have some extras! The gear on my '99 220 is a bit worn due to the extremely high hours.

[ss109]

Cool. Good job, man.

The only thing I would probably do is smooth the inside (sits against the cylinder) up a bit and maybe the teeth with a Dremel polishing wheel but I don't know if even that is absolutely necessary. I'm really interested in hearing how these hold up.

[Kawibunga]

Now that's just plain awesome!

But I gotta know Isaac95, you run a manufacturing business? As I've used a guy to print us parts out of stainless and 17-4 PH for work for oilfield tools........ but it's a 1.5 million dollar machine.......... is there a consumer grade under $10K on the market yet?? Would love to see one, still way to pricey for me in hobby form. And did you scan it and model it for that, or just plane old fashioned measuring it. Solidworks? Fusion? ...... kinda nerding out here! :)

[Chuck78]

I'm really curious about this 3D metal printing... I've never heard of this. Is the end product as strong as something machined out of billet stock, or even cast parts finish machined?

[Kawibunga]

It's laser sintered material. They can do solid or filled structure like you do with your typical 3D printer. The strength is somewhat less on the Z axis than X and Y axis of the print (the Z axis is the vertical axis where "layers" are on) but the numbers I saw still had stronger numbers in Z than some typical mill certs of the same material.

They come with a bit of a a rough finish, but it can be machined afterwards, or polished so you'd never know. We got some flow guides made for a downhole tool with crazy geometry if you'd have to traditionally mill it. Printed real easy, then we stuck it in the lather to finish it with a 1.5" Stub Acme thread and it was done. Way cheaper..........

[Chuck78]

...I took it upon myself to model and 3d print a small batch of gears in titanium. They just came in today, and so far they look like they will work.

I might need some beta testers to see how they hold up. Thoughts?

How can we get ahold of one of these gears?!?

I've got three 220 engines here, & one of the three has a noticeably more worn gear...