Large Scale Central

3d printed 40' Intermodal container

A guy on Thingiverse designed a European flat and I really liked his container so I’ve re-scaled it for 1:29. https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3894100

So now I can make 40’ containers for about $9.50 each! Downside is it takes 43 hours and 17 mins to print one! I plan on making a stack of them so I will only need the outside faces.

Looks great, Dan… Using the outside faces for stacks should be cost and time effective… (http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif)

Almost 2 days for a container? Gee…

David Maynard said:

Almost 2 days for a container? Gee…

I could probably cut that down a bit but for good bed adhesion and quality I’m printing at 40mm/s. Of course it’s not really taking MY time as I am sleeping, working etc. while it prints.

are you going to be selling them?

Effective use of 3D printing, Dan. Especially looking at the prices of commercially available containers.

Very nice. Print once, cast in resin perhaps?

Pete Lassen said:

are you going to be selling them?

I currently don’t sell any of my designs. I just share them for anyone who has a 3d printer. I’ve enable the printing apps on the Thingiverse page so you can get a 3rd party to print the parts for you. Just click “Order this printed” and choose a service. I would recommend Treatstock as you may be able to find someone close by and save on shipping. Make sure you order the correct amount of each part.

Dan Hilyer said:

Effective use of 3D printing, Dan. Especially looking at the prices of commercially available containers.

I’ve been looking to do this for a long time. My original idea was to just print the ends and mill the sides and roof from PVC sheet with my 90% built CNC. This will do for now.

Dan, Very nice print and paint job. I’m amazed how well the rods came out! Definitely difficult to accomplish.

Are you printing at 0.08mm or finer? You really have your machine dialed in!

John R.

Is the green your filament … could you print with diff colors so you would only have to paint details ?

John Ray said:

Dan, Very nice print and paint job. I’m amazed how well the rods came out! Definitely difficult to accomplish.

Are you printing at 0.08mm or finer? You really have your machine dialed in!

John R.

The Doors and frames .1mm. Everything else is .2mm using a .4mm nozzle. The model has not been painted yet. It’s just matte green filament.

Sean McGillicuddy said:

Is the green your filament … could you print with diff colors so you would only have to paint details ?

Yes Sean, the green is just filament. I’m sure I could get away with not painting but they should be painted for UV protection anyway. They will certainly need weathering.

Unpainted plastic usually glows in bright light. So paint is rather necessary to make the model opaque. I don’t know about your printed containers, maybe that plastic doesn’t glow, but most plastic does.

I’ve just downloaded your model. I will print it on my Creality Ender-3 Pro asap.

What 3d printer are you currently using? Do you mind sharing your printing settings?

Anyway, thanks for sharing your files for free.

Joel Sheppard said:

I’ve just downloaded your model. I will print it on my Creality Ender-3 Pro asap.

What 3d printer are you currently using? Do you mind sharing your printing settings?

Anyway, thanks for sharing your files for free.

Joel, My printer and setting info is all noted on the Thingiverse page https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3894100

Thanks and You’re welcome!

Sorry, I haven’t noticed them (now I see that they are clearly visible in the content box). Thanks again :slight_smile: