BillFitzmaurice.info

I took my sketchup model and edited it make it a solid manifold model. Had to fix alot of issues with overhangs and etc...
I printed the complete horn in one print using a .04 nozzle at a 0.1000 layer height with PLA material. IMHO, it came out fine and is usuable
right off the printer.

Sorry for the bad lighting and bad photography. I did mount a Eminence F151M-8 driver to the horn in the pics.
Also there was some light sanding done on some edges to take away some stringing that was there. I could have left it as is,
cause you won't see this when mounted.

Beware pics are huge 4K links off my web server.







Full Size Links
https://uwpltd.com/ot12_horn_3dprint_1.png
https://uwpltd.com/ot12_horn_3dprint_2.png
https://uwpltd.com/ot12_horn_3dprint_3.png
https://uwpltd.com/ot12_horn_3dprint_4.png
https://uwpltd.com/ot12_horn_3dprint_5.png

Top notch!

A few years back, the idea of a fully printed DR200 or 250 was tossed around (or at least the more difficult sub assemblies). Seems as time passes, that could be a reality...especially when printed with an acoustic polymer.

The DRs were designed so that they could be made from a few molded pieces that were assembled to create the finished speaker. This was done at the behest of a person who planned to produce them commercially, but he never obtained the necessary start up funding. Once the molds were created the cost of production would have been very low, but the molds would have been expensive, as this was before 3D printing.

Aw man I never thought about printing that out! And here I thought I was cool making crossover boards. Looks pretty good. What infill % did you use?

Question: Since most 3D prints are more or less hollow inside with varying degrees of internal support, how would sound effect these parts?

example of 3D printed part internals:

The print looks better in person than the pics.

Infill was 25% and was sliced in S3D. I also printed with 4 perimeter walls.

How expensive is it to produce one? I have no idea how much the material costs. Of course, I'm sure the printer ain't cheap.

Are there facilities that will rent time on a machine? And how many hours to print one?

I had this idea but am a long ways away from making it happen. Good on you for making it happen. I can’t wait to see where this goes. They look great!!!

Total cost in materials to print was around $26 USD.
I used the Overture PLA that you can get off Amazon for $49 for 2 rolls. The horn used a little over 3/4 of 1 roll of filament.

Time: 28 up to 128 Hours depending on speed of printer and layer height, etc (basically quality settings)

Bruce, you can get a pretty good printer for under $300 nowadays. The Creality Ender lineup is the most popular now. The only problem is it starts as a hobby and can easily empty your wallet and take up all your time. It is nice to just print something you need instead of buying it. I just designed a motorcycle headlight bracket, printed a model test piece, and tomorrow my buddy is gonna cut it out of aluminum plate on his cnc plasma cutting table.

Question:

Can a single piece Horn (2 drivers) be designed and 3d printed for say a DR280 or DR300 in lieu of the two sliced horns? I guess same for the OTs in lieu of the wooden horn and diffuser?

This would be a worthwhile improvement to the original design.

Thoughts?

The DR280 and DR300 HF horns are a single piece.

Just a thought... Would printing the melded arrays also as a one piece unit be within reach, perhaps? I can see where that would be very handy. (The driver section would, of course, be a bolt-on sub assembly).

nivlek wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:01 pm Just a thought... Would printing the melded arrays also as a one piece unit be within reach, perhaps? I can see where that would be very handy. (The driver section would, of course, be a bolt-on sub assembly).

If you are going to the trouble of printing a horn, forget the melded array and do the diffraction horn with the 1.2khz crossover option.

nivlek wrote: ↑Fri Feb 12, 2021 7:01 pm Just a thought... Would printing the melded arrays also as a one piece unit be within reach, perhaps? I can see where that would be very handy. (The driver section would, of course, be a bolt-on sub assembly).

Short answer:
Doable? Yes. Handy? No way.

For all that time setting up the print, nothing is gained in time saved or performance. The piezo drivers are not simply bolt-on just because they have screws holding them together.

Is there any chance of getting the pics reposted? I would love to see this.