Home Racing World

Just bought a MicroCarbon 3D printed chassis for a slot.it Porsche GT1 made by CG slot cars. Question I have is, can I straighten it by using the ol baking trick? I’ve done a lot of slot it chassis’s but not sure I can do that with the printed chassis. It’s not real bad but just a slight warp to it.

If it came warped, why don't you just return it?

QC

I baked (not cg) mine and it shrunk ~ 2mm in length

Heating an unknown material by any means is a risky business. The safest thing to do is put the chassis in an iron skillet and hold it down with neo magnets. Pour boiling water into the skillet and let it cool slowly. The chassis would be less likely to shrink if you use this method, but you would still be taking a chance.

Most likely it can be straightened with the hot water and magnets but, once its warped it will most likely warp again in time. What I've found is when the chassis is printed, it needs to have supports modeled into it. That is why you'll notice when I model mine up I model in a semi tubular chassis. The down side of this is that the chassis is normally a little taller. Another issue I've encountered with printed chassis is that the flat areas can no less than 0.050 inches thick. But the biggest problem is that when you print the chassis, you can't sit and watch it print for you must stand guard at the door to the room where the printer is doing its magic so that no one will enter the room and turn on the ceiling fan. This is just a few of the items that I've discovered while printing with the ABS filament, but some may have different experiences.

I have printed numerous chassis using PLA and not had a problem. A couple caveats:

1) I am not using high power motors, 18k is typical.
2) I have a Dremel 3D20 which is enclosed in a case so it's not affected by air currents.
3) I am using pods in the rear end.

But if I paid for a chassis and it was warped, I would ask for a replacement.

When you use hot water and let it cool slowly you remove any stresses that are in the plastic, so most of the time the warp will not come back. If you let the water cool too quickly all bets would be off.

All taken care of... thank you CG...

Good customer service!

great customer service, I'd say. :text-bravo:
HRW Readers are always on the ball, once again this is the best site for all Slot Car information. :text-thankyouyellow:
Just saying GREAT WORK GUYS. :text-thankyouyellow: