Translucent / see-thru printing, is there an afforfable option out there?

[swatti]

pic - Copy.jpg

This is my 3D model. Not a very complicated and i get SLS prints for about 30 bucks and thats nice.

There seems to be a flaw in my design and i need to print it in some form of translucent material to see what the problem is.
Its a magazine for an AIRSOFT shotgun. The "vein" that goes inside there holds the bbs the gun fires. A spring pushed them out... Problem is, it jams i cant take many BBs in it, nor will it feed em out. One problem most likely is the rough surface of the SLS print but thats a minor issue, it should work, even if there is some dirt etc in it.

Is there a way to print these in see-thru material. Doesnt have to be very durable, it wont be under much stress. I keep getting quotes for over 250 euros for ONE. Thats absurd.

It doesnt have to be "clear" like injection molded plastic. Just enough to see white plastic BBs move inside, preferrably the spring also.

[curious aardvark]

Only problem I can see is that it's designed for sls not fdm.
But should be able to add suppoerts where needed - drop me the stl files and I can print them with transparent pla or pet-g no problem.
There must be a transparent option at shapeways ?
where does the spring go ?
can't see it working that well in a spiral. But I know nothing about airsoft magazines - so maybe it does :-)

[swatti]

The spring goes in that spiral indeed. The turns are biiiiiit wider then the straights to reduce spring-friction. That is one thing im after here, does the spring jam in the corners...

Good news. I found someone willing to make a see-thru "window" to the side of that. Simply cut a part off the side and voila! 20 bucks...

[curious aardvark]

Sounds good :-)
But my money's on the spring not going smoothly round the corners. You probably need to make the spiral a lot more circular - perfectly circular would be best. You might lose a few bb's but it should work much better.
And a little lubrication wouldn't hurt.