Realize Inc Motorcycle Rapid Prototyping, Stereolithography

[buellxb]

Lately I've been inspired by members that have created products and parts for the Buell motorcycle community on a grass roots level. From 5-0dro's axle sliders and pulley covers to XB Dashboards and more.

Seeing that Harley Davidson is barely supporting the Buell parts market to any degree I think it's important that we support more individual contributors to our parts market. I'd really love this thread to be a way to educate members on the brink of inventing something really cool for our motorcycles. So here's my tip to get the discussion started.

Realize Inc is a rapid prototyping company based in Noblesville, Indiana. I've had the pleasure of getting to know them on a professional level. Realize Inc uses a rapid prototyping method called stereolithography to create sample parts before production. This means that even if you're not necessarily a fabricator, you can come up with a clever new part, fairing, light fixture, peg, or something else cool and they would be able to make a prototype part without you having to invest fully in the manufacturing setup.

Basically you can work with Realize Inc to draft any 3D component or part you're thinking about producing. Rapid prototyping will allow you to test for proper fitment, have a part for pictures or video to get initial community feedback or take to a trade show to find others interested in placing orders.

Even though Realize Inc is located in Noblesville, Indiana they can work with you in a multitude of ways and ship prototype parts nation wide.

So I'd love to hear what you have to say about rapid prototyping or ANY other suggestion for a would be inventor trying to create the next cool mod for Buell motorcycles. [up]

 

[c818919]

An 1125r full chin fairing.....to fit both after aftermarket and stock pipe....

 

[Buellman]

Cool! Not sure I'm going to run out and make some parts, but I definitely heard about rapid prototyping when I was in college. I checked out the REALIZE INC website. Looks interesting.

Realize INC

Here's some more info about rapid prototyping on wikipedia

Rapid Prototyping

If I had to give a tip related to getting someone to start selling parts I would say that it's not as hard as people imaging. You can easily setup a paypal account to accept payment and take your parts to a UPS or Fedex store if you don't have anywhere else to ship. You can also list your parts on eBay and this forum seems to be pretty free about letting people promote stuff as long as it supports Buell.

 

[50dro]

Yeah...Rapid prototyping is the way to go! It saves a lot of time and heartache but it can get real expensive real quick, especially as the parts get larger. I produced rapid prototypes of my sliders and pulley cover designs before a single piece of metal was cut. It's also extremely valuable in adding the final tweaks to a design. Things can easily be overlooked on a computer screen that you can discover and fix on a prototype prior to making the investment in production parts.

 

[pur pony]

Thats what i do all day long! I have 8 stereolithography (SLA) machines, Selective Laser Sintering (SLS), and CNC in my shop. We also do short run urethane castings.

We can grow parts up to 20"x20"x23" in a single piece or build it in multiply pieces and assemble.

The Dash on my X1... I designed in unigraphics and made it on an SLS prototype machine (Glass filled nylon)... It holds my factory X1 gauges in my XB front end. My bar end mirrors are also SLS..... Its a very tough usable material.

For my custom rear pulley i designed in Solidworks and then built in an SLA machine to test it out. My X1 is now upgraded to XB wheels... so I needed a new drive pulley. I liked the Dark horse moto one, but i wanted a factory 61 tooth X1 ratio... so i made one- final one it CNC aluminum.
here is the SLA plastic model for test fit purpose.

here it is in aluminum

basically anything i build for my bike or car for that matter... i design and build in SLA first to test fit... works great.

If anyone needs anything designed or made... ask away. http://www.Interpromodels.com ... I love making motorcycle parts...lol. If you have and Idea or need something made, give me a ring.

Dont want to name any names just in case.. but we have also made some aftermarket buell parts in the past for some companies

Also made some upgrades to my mustang headlights with SLA....
HID shroud in SLA

HID SLA shroud chrome plated

HID SLA shroud installed

This is a plug for my X1 frame to install carbon fiber gas tank trim

depending on the SLA material used.. some are just for test fitting, where other (depending on what you are using it for) can be used directly out of the machine. The part above has a stainless helicoil in it, and works great directly out of the machine.

 

[onelogue]

pur pony thats gorgeous! I want one of those rear pulleys so bad! Could you make one for the XB ratios? (stock)

Love the look!

 

[buellxb]

pur pony, that's awesome! What's the name of your company? Can you handle prototype orders from members of the community like Realize Inc or do you only work with other established businesses for prototypes?

Can you help members on the engineering side?

 

[pur pony]

Yes, its a pretty fun business. We see all kinds and build all kinds of cool crazy things from aerospace and automotive to baby toys and consumer products.

We work with many large companies, but also many many off the street people with an idea that they want to prototype. If anyone here on the forum wants to do a prototype, just give us a call. Our company name is Interpro Rapid Technologies and we are in CT.
website is http://www.interpromodels.com

We do offer cad design and some engineering, but we also partner with some others that can help with more indepth design work.

We also have a 3D white light and laser scanning partner so anything you already have and want to re-engineer, it can be scanned and converted to 3D data. We also offer in house custom painting of prototyped parts.

 

[onelogue]

So how much would you charge for the rear pulley like yours above? One with the stock 65 teeth on a XB?

 

[pur pony]

Not sure... I have had a couple others asking about them as well. I have already modified my solid model from a 61 tooth to a factory XB 65 tooth. I will have to see what material costs as well. PM me and ill figure out a price.

Mine The one above) is now grey in color, i had it hardcoated before i installed it. I also can offer them powdercoated.

 

[thumpin1203]

Wow, hey.. nice work! would a small production run of the pulley be feasible to keep costs reasonable? i.e. group buy kick some numbers around and let us know! I'd be interested..

 

[oh9bolt]

In for price

 

[dave_xb12r]

want

 

[xtremelow]

Want???

I Need it

 

[nitto12ss]

Quit teasing unless you can find the time to make me one.
I'm still after a 64 tooth.[up]

 

[pur pony]

i know, i know... Ill talk to the guys here at work and get some pricing together.

 

[Blaylock1988]

I wish I worked for an RP company. This stuff amazes me. The cool thing is that Rapid Prototyping isn't necessarily only for prototypes now. The quality is high enough now that it is great for making replacement joints and bones and prosthetics, since ever single one is unique to the person. It is great for one-off stuff. I think a company could make a lot of money making unique Buell parts and selling them here or on ebay.

@pur pony: I have my front pulley cover modeled in Pro/Engineer. Would you be interested printing some to sell to the XB community here?

 

[ct1200]

Hey Deep River, nice town...
Looks like some neat stuff.
Had heard the name before but never looked into it.

 

[pur pony]

It all depends on what type of materials and what the final parts are used for. We have done many human knee prototypes and such, for testing purposes. There are now DLMS (Direct Laser Metal Sintering) machines that are getting better and better. My buddy (where i used to work and was laid off from) just got one at $1.5 million. You can grow Stainless, titanium, steel, etc parts from powder. The company claims the parts out of it are better then wrought cast parts. Aerospace is getting into using these parts in test engine runs! They also make materials now that they manufacture hearing aids from. Take the mold of your ear, scan it into a 3d model, grow it in and RP machine, install the electronics, and put it in your ear. Every one is custom fit. They also do alot in the dental industry. Labs are even printing human skin and organs now. Need a new kidney, in the future we can "print" you one. Very cool stuff.

Our SLA materials are poly like and abs like. We also build SLA models which we then use for a mold master to create a cavity or a process called quickcast that we can send to the foundry for investment castings.

Blaylock- what material are you looking to have covers made in? I can take a look at it if you like. We can also sign an NDA with anyone.

I have Solidworks 2012 here so i can look at just about any files. We build using STL files but best to send a solidmodel.

Yes, Deep River is nice, somewhat of a haul for me though living 45 mins away. I used to work in Hartford doing RP in aerospace till the economy took a crap, although aerospace got kind of boring anyways.

 

[crxtasy169]

Fast intake with air temp fitting built in!