3D Printing and the Satoshi Mod

[TiN]

I'm sure any 2004 T4R owner who has looked into acquiring a Satoshi style grille has realized how hard it is to

A.) Purchase an aftermarket mesh grille for a reasonable price *cough cough* The AURA.

B.) Make a custom one from an existing OEM grille.

C.) Find someone willing to custom make one for you.

I'm creating this thread not to ask where I can find one or get one made (there are plenty of those), but rather to propose a solution. After running into all of the problems stated above, I decided I would take matters into my own hands.

I own a 3D printer, and figured it would be great for prototyping my own Satoshi bit-by-bit. Over time, I plan on refining my prototype until I get it as flush fitting as an OEM grille. The end goal being that I can find a company to injection mold these things so everyone wanting a Satoshi can get one without it costing them an arm and a leg. I basically wanted this thread to be a place where I can share my progress on this project with you guys, and you can share your ideas in return.

Thanks for taking a look! :wave:
I'll be able to post what I have got done so far tomorrow!

 

[zopperman]

Cool. Having made a satoshi for my 03 I can attest to the amount of work. I'll be interested to see how this turns out.

GL

 

[gaterose]

I'm just gonna leave this here

:worthless:

 

[S p a r k y]

Subscribed!!!

 

[JustSomeName]

this would be awesome if you could make a ford raptor style one! I seen alot of them on TW.com and it would be AWESOME if you could make one for 4runners

Example links:
raptor grill for my 2012 - Tacoma World Forums
The "Raptor" Style Grill - Tacoma World Forums
6 "Raptor" Grill MESH ONLY for sale. - Tacoma World Forums

Having it say TOYOTA instead of TACOMA would probably make more sense for us T4Rs

 

[TiN]

I'm just gonna leave this here

:worthless:

Don't worry, pictures are soon to come :eyebrows:

 

[TiN]

this would be awesome if you could make a ford raptor style one! I seen alot of them on TW.com and it would be AWESOME if you could make one for 4runners

Example links:
raptor grill for my 2012 - Tacoma World Forums
The "Raptor" Style Grill - Tacoma World Forums
6 "Raptor" Grill MESH ONLY for sale. - Tacoma World Forums

Having it say TOYOTA instead of TACOMA would probably make more sense for us T4Rs

Saw those about a week ago during my research on the Satoshi and similarly styled grilles. I am definitely interested in making something that looks like that!

 

[ebg18t]

i'd be down for one. Lets get that prototyping going.

 

[TiN]

So, this is the device I will be using to do all of the prototyping for this project. As you can see, it has some size limitations (about 7x5x5 inches) on the parts it can build.

 

[TiN]

Firstly, I chose to design the mounts for all of the OEM grille bolts. An easy and small part to design, but also extremely important. Also, I would like to point out that I am modeling in SolidWorks.

 

[TiN]

Now with the mounting blocks dealt with, I took measurements of the top mounting holes on the hood of my T4R. Right now, I'm focused on getting correct alignment for the mounts, so I only measured the distance between the holes and their relative offsets (because the grille has a slight convex shape to it). I printed my design in four pieces, and glued them all together (along with four mounting blocks)

Note: This part was not intended to sit flush with the hood at this point, as it is just for testing mount alignment.

 

[morphious]

Awesome I hope it works as I would definitely be interested!

 

[kevinpt]

nice setup, now if only someone had a 3D scanner

 

[MarkieG]

nice setup, now if only someone had a 3D scanner

There's an app for that! You can find some on iOS and Android where you can use your camera and some reference shapes (usually dots) to produce a **rough** 3D scan. You can import into any 3D CAD modeling software and perform some surface cleanup, but it will be way easier than calipers...

This is a great thread! Subscribed!

Also, the 3D printing technology used will impact the parts you make so choose wisely. The extrusion parts sometimes see delamination of layers after 1-2 months in certain environments. SLA is a pretty strong plastic like 3D printed part but has color issued depending on the resin. ObJet from Strat. warp over time too.

Best thing you could do would be to use your 3D printed part to produce a silicone mold which you can pour a low temp PC/ABS resin into to cure. You could even produce 10-20 parts before the mold would be useless and you would need to make another.

I'm excited to see where this goes!

 

[Troymclure]

I approve of everything in this thread.

 

[TiN]

There's an app for that! You can find some on iOS and Android where you can use your camera and some reference shapes (usually dots) to produce a **rough** 3D scan. You can import into any 3D CAD modeling software and perform some surface cleanup, but it will be way easier than calipers...

This is a great thread! Subscribed!

Also, the 3D printing technology used will impact the parts you make so choose wisely. The extrusion parts sometimes see delamination of layers after 1-2 months in certain environments. SLA is a pretty strong plastic like 3D printed part but has color issued depending on the resin. ObJet from Strat. warp over time too.

Best thing you could do would be to use your 3D printed part to produce a silicone mold which you can pour a low temp PC/ABS resin into to cure. You could even produce 10-20 parts before the mold would be useless and you would need to make another.

I'm excited to see where this goes!

Thanks for your input! I've been looking for a way to scan in a rough geometry of the grille in order to capture the subtle curves of its surface. With the Makerbot scanner weighing in at an additional $1400, I knew that wasn't an option from the start. I've seen people use the Xbox Kinect system to do scans, but I don't have one of those either. An app would be great though, as long as it supports Android :thumb3:.

As for the material, I will be using ABS filament for all of the prints. High strength and durability, but has the possibility of warping due to its cooling properties. Either way, I'm only using the printer so I know if my model fits the T4R before I send it off to a (hopefully USA based) injection molding company. The "measure twice, cut once" mentality I guess you could say. My printed version of the grille won't stay on the truck for any long-term period of time.

 

[97BlackAckCL]

Very cool idea, too bad I have an 08 now

 

[xxaarraa]

Forget about the satoshi! What else can this 3D printer do?!?

haha just kidding.

 

[TiN]

Disappointingly, it's been rainy outside today, so I haven't been able to take more measurements for the grille. However, I figured I'd post a few of my Youtube videos here for those who have never seen a 3D printer in action!

​

 

[subspd]

There is a lot of awesome in this thread! Subbing to see what happens.