lettering on ABS

[imsmooth]

I know how to print letters, so my question is not about that topic.

Is there a good solution for getting lettering (company logos) on ABS? I though about creating a Stencil template and spraying letters on, but this did not take to well. I don't have a multicolor printer, so that is not an option.

[jimc]

so are you looking to print a company logo or paint it? mine for example, i created in coreldraw, basically same as adobe illustrator. i do all my line work in there, save as an eps then import it into rhino and extrude.

[jsc]

I posted this elsewhere, but now I can't find it. Anyway, this isn't suitable for more than a handful of parts, but for a few one-offs, it could work:

inlay-test.JPG (70.67 KiB) Viewed 12383 times

PLA with ABS inlay placed as ABS soup and sanded down.

[willnewton]

For the example shown, they sure picked a hard way to do it. No need for dual extruder or slurry inlay, just print two pieces. The trick is having the software that will do the one command that makes this a piece of cake, which is Offset Solid. There are many ways to do this same operation, but I will give you my version, since I use Rhino.

To make the example pictured, which looks like a drink coaster, here is the workflow.

Create a 100mm circle, extrude it into a 6mm cylinder.

Create a 50mm tall letter, extrude the text 3mm.

In the software, place the letter on the cylinder and use Boolean Difference to punch the letter outline from the cylinder.

Use the command Offset Solid to shrink the letter inward by .20mm. Simply scaling down the letter to fit the cutout will not work for all letters, try it and you will see why. The software features available are going to determine how you do this. You could also expand the cylinder, or explode all the surfaces, offset and trim and rejoin, or offset the letter curves instead of the solid (most software will let you do that) and then re-extrude the letter. There are many ways to skin this cat but offsetting, not scaling, is the key.

Print letter and cylinder.

Trim, inlay, and glue.

You may have to mess with the shrinking/tolerance to get a perfect fit, depending on your printer setup. Be especially careful of the flange around the letter, it may need trimming.

If you need and N or a Z then this file may be perfect for you!

ncoaster.jpg (106.5 KiB) Viewed 12360 times

[Jules]

Coooooo-eeee! Sorry to necro, but I just had a neighbor pop over yesterday wanting something like this done for a new business he wants to start. (Very nice to not have to figure it out from scratch! )

Many thanks!

[willnewton]

Did you just happen to find this thread in the search or did you get the referral from this recent thread? http://www.forum.makergear.com/viewtopi ... 9&start=10

If you just dug it up, then that is kinda funny since I was posting about it this morning.

[Jules]

Oh no, I followed your link in the other thread. The timing was just very serendipitous!