3d printing a kettlebell

[ajay001]

Hi everyone

I'm completely new to 3d printing so I apologize for any newbie questions

I was wondering if 3d printing technology has gotten to the point where we can print steel? I would like to print something like a kettlebell (eg. http://jscfitness.com/wp-content/upl...tlebells-1.jpg ). Is this even possible and if so, how much post processing would something like this take?

Thanks!

[richardphat]

Yes, but you are probably going to spend 500-1000$ each kettlebell.

They are big and you will get ripped off.

[Sebastian Finke]

Apart from being horrendously expensive I dount that a desktop 3d printer could that kind of mass. On top of that it would forever. Cheaper and quicker just to go buy one...

[LambdaFF]

If you are not absolutely set on steel, you can design something small and pay about 50 bucks on shapeways. But that will be SMALL. I tried something of the kind and I noticed something : you need to really know what you're doing to hit the right frequencies, and actually hear something, even more so to get a pleasing sound.

What I mean is that : with today's sintering, the metal is porous and you need something over a mm thick to have a chance it gets out ok. So good luck.

What would make more sense is you make something in wax and cast it. Requires some hardware and knowledge...

[Marm]

I was thinking casting too. Look up some of Grant Thompson's videos on Youtube. He's got a couple where he smelts various metals on the cheap, and sand casts some of them. If you have a cheap source of scrap steel, that may be an option for you.

[curious aardvark]

OR you could print a hollow plastic one with a bunch of shells and fill it with sand :-)

But seeing as metal kettlebells are cheap to buy - why would you bother ?

[ajay001]

Thanks for the responses everyone. The reason I was interested was because kettlebells actually get quite expensive (if you order an 80lb kettlebell it could be $120 + shipping). Typically a home gym would have several kettlebells in different sizes so this easily adds up.

Are there commercial printers that would be able to print this size?

Also what is it that will make it cost so much money? My impression was that the only costs would be material costs and costs to design it in 3d, but I can't imagine those would be too expensive. What else am I missing?

Thanks

[Sebastian Finke]

Material for 3d printing is not cheap. Plus you will be charged a rate to run the printer for however long it takes.

FWIW its worth it would be cheaper to make you own. 3 pieces of round bar welded together to make the U-shape for the handle, then that can be welded to a larger piece of round bar to make the weight. Yes, it'll look a bit franksteiny but its the cheapest option. The next cheapest option would probably be to buy the mass-produced ones (preferably locally so you can save on shipping).

CA's suggestion is good too but bear in mind that sand doesn't have the same density as steel so an 80 pound sand-filled kettlebell will be much larger.

[Ezio Auditure]

hi, certainly there is steel printing tech, just costs like crazy.
probably buying one is cheaper.

[Mjolinor]

If you had a tame kettle you wouldn't need a bell round it's neck, it would stay home like mine does.