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Would a 3D printer be a good idea?

Romeo Wolf

Romeo Wolf

Super Member
I'm wondering if a 3D printer would work to create basic speaker & subwoofer enclosures? I'd imagine it would be fun to try out others' designs and play around with them, as well as 3D printing my own. I bet that would be a good birthday gift :)
 
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Consumer grade 3D printers are pretty slow and have limited volumetric capacity. A speaker enclosure for anything but the smallest driver would seem to be an impractical project for a consumer grade 3D printer. Check the specs of the printers you are interested in for the x, y, z travel and print speed, and see what you think. Also consider if the printed enclosure will have sufficient stiffness for your application.
 
JonL said:
Consumer grade 3D printers are pretty slow and have limited volumetric capacity. A speaker enclosure for anything but the smallest driver would seem to be an impractical project for a consumer grade 3D printer. Check the specs of the printers you are interested in for the x, y, z travel and print speed, and see what you think. Also consider if the printed enclosure will have sufficient stiffness for your application.
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This is definitely a concern but I’d think you would find plenty of stuff to make with a printer and you can always use the skills to make larger projects later.
i really want to get a printer mostly to learn the design software and make random spacers and junk that I need.
 
For speakers I think just continuing to use MDF or whatnot is still best, the plastic is fairly flimsy and will likely resonate with certain frequencies. Usually 3d printed structures are not completely filled (filled with air) for speed and cost - if you're making large enclosures for your subs this is not going to cut it.

This is unless you go and buy the multi-thousand dollar large form factor printers that can use massive amounts of plastic, fast...

The typical home 3d printer probably should not be used for anything larger than 6" cubed or so which probably is insufficient for a multi-watt woofer. If you just want midrange and tweeters, it might be fine, barring the air fill.

Fume generation depends on what kind of plastic you're using. Most home 3D printers (as in people) use polylactic acid as their print base and though it too generates fumes, it's not toxic - mostly lactic acid - and it would be hard to get enough of it to cause any problems. It has a very sweet smell much like sugar (lactose). Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (an any others that have styrene base) plastic is the one you want to avoid for home use, these generate noxious and toxic fumes. Unfortunately ABS plastic is much cheaper than PLA plastic, and for subwoofers you probably should be using ABS so you can fully fill your designs for strength yet keep costs down.

For me, it's random parts and small enclosures that's the drive. Some people like to make artwork. It's a fun tool.
 
Thermoplastics are what are used in "FDM" 3d printers (these are the "meltable" plastics like ABS, PLA, PET) and I don't see why they can't be used in speaker design, but they will likely will have design deficiencies if 3d printed due to both explicit (air fill type to decrease cost and print time) and implicit voids (extrusion/layering imperfections). I'd expect thermoset plastics (these are the "unmeltable" plastics like epoxy) to be used for audio designs especially if it needs to be run near something that gets warm.

Incidentally you can get thermoset plastic 3d printers - these are the "resin" "SLA" "liquid tank" 3d printers and don't have the moving tray/head "FDM" that most people frequently see. I haven't had any experience with SLA but I suspect it also has size limitations if not more so due to requiring a tank for resin. I also don't know how rigid SLA printed resin is like either, but from experience PLA prints from FDM printers are quite rigid, depending on how much plastic you put into it.

PLA will still go soft and deform on a hot day in a car. Not a problem for home audio, but something to think about for perhaps car audio.
 
The cost of printing is generally based on the solid volume of the printed object. Printing out solid walls of a speaker enclosure will be unreasonably expensive compared to other methods...notice no speaker manufacturer, AFAIK, prints enclosures. They don't print speaker grills either, because injection molding is cheaper than printing, even with the high cost of molds.

Print little complicated things, not boxes.
 
IMO, First investigate CAD software to see if you have a computer capable of designing prototypes. The printer is just part of process. I have not done any 3D printing.
I've no idea of software cost and minimum PC capabilities needed. CAD and CAM software can be expensive and very large. It can be hardware ram, speed and storage demanding. Think tower size gaming PC or similar capabilities are usually used. Easier to upgrade.
Maybe there are places that have printers you can bring your own 3D programs to. Make your prototype there. Before you buy a printer.
There are schools with hands on prototyping classes. If a career in this area interested you. One local to me. Maybe in your area too.
 
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Old Guy8 said:
I've no idea of software cost and minimum PC capabilities needed. CAD and CAM software can be expensive and very large. It can be hardware ram, speed and storage demanding. Think tower size gaming PC or similar capabilities are usually used. Easier to upgrade.
Maybe there are places that have printers you can bring your own 3D programs to. Make your prototype there. Before you buy a printer.
There are schools with hands on prototyping classes. If a career in this area interested you. One local to me. Maybe in your area too.
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Old Guy,
3D printing providers on the web quote and print directly from a drawing, so no need for a printing CAM if using a service.
Sketchup is a simple-to-learn starter CAD that still has a free version and will export to the .STL files typically used in 3D printing. MeshLab is a free solid-checker SW (makes sure the 3d object doesn't have "holes"). A home printer is for a 3D printing hobby, and keeping the printer working is a big part of the the hobby.

Also Old, but still in manufacturing.
 
Romeo Wolf said:
I'm wondering if a 3D printer would work to create basic speaker & subwoofer enclosures? I'd imagine it would be fun to try out others' designs and play around with them, as well as 3D printing my own. I bet that would be a good birthday gift :)
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RW, even if the idea does not work out for printing enclosures my answer is Yes, you should learn how to use a 3D printer. My reasoning is as follows:

I've lost track but you must be @bout 17 now? Or closing in on 18? 3D printing is in reality still in the early stages and is already proving to be a revolutionary tech. Getting into it now and learning it well would in my opinion be an extremely valuable skill for you to have and as the tech expands you can move with it. It would be an extremely good career choice. And the basic CAD skills are transferable in a number of other fields, plotter cutting, laser and water cutting, machining and turning, etc.

Go for it Dude!

Cheers,
James
 
TudorTurtle said:
Old Guy,
3D printing providers on the web quote and print directly from a drawing, so no need for a printing CAM if using a service.
Sketchup is a simple-to-learn starter CAD that still has a free version and will export to the .STL files typically used in 3D printing. MeshLab is a free solid-checker SW (makes sure the 3d object doesn't have "holes"). A home printer is for a 3D printing hobby, and keeping the printer working is a big part of the the hobby.

Also Old, but still in manufacturing.
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I'm retired 10 years from manufacturing. I used Solidworks or AudoCAD. Now I wouldn't know how to turn it on now.
Our R&D engineering played with 3D prototypes just to look at and visualize. Can't yet print with tool steel materials, so weren't useable for us.

Edit: RW,
Like Bratwurst7 says. That could be an interesting field for someone your age to try. If you wanted to go past a hobby.
 
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Romeo Wolf, I'd skip the printer and move to plastic fabrication using sheets cut to size. Most plastics can be cut with woodworking equipment and joined mechanically (screws), welded (with the same plastic welding rod), or solvents (which melt the seams together).

I worked in the plastics world for a long time and we built all kinds of cabinets, mostly for circuit board, plating and chemical applications. These were all plastic welded but for clear acrylic/polycarbonate the seams were usually solvent welded. The clear units would be similar to the countertop product trays at gas stations.

I did buy myself a 3Doodler Pen, it's kind of fun but a very steep learning curve. I was hoping to repair some broken boombox corners with it but haven't gotten time to do that yet. Check out some of the things they're doing with it on YouTube.
https://the3doodler.com/

For plastic welding I use a Seelye Welder, they were the best for a long time but now Harbor Freight has a cheapo model that might be fine for a hobbiest.
 
The other option with 3d printing is that you can print pieces at a time and join them together, then you can get large enclosures (but they may not be sturdy!). However the cost is still going to be fairly high. Plastic seems light and cheap but if you're going to print at full density to reduce vibration, weight will go up quickly.

I generally use something like $10 per pound for polylactic acid to gauge how much something will cost in pure material cost (note: time costs money, printing 1 pound of PLA filament can take a day!). If you can make an enclosure that weighs just 1 pound, then that's $10. Not sure if it's possible to make a 1 pound enclosure due to the amount of plastic that needs to be put to make a box big enough to prevent wraparound, and dense enough to stop vibrations.
 
Don't give up so easily, or was it this that started the inspiration to begin with?

3" driver with 3d printed enclosure:


Of course one has to listen with actual hardware, not listening through my computer speakers... But just about anything could beat tiny bluetooth speaker boxes...
 
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