Why Did the Military Spend $10k on a Toilet Seat? | Real 3D Printed Products
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- čas přidán 13. 05. 2024
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In this video, we discuss the power of 3D printing in aerospace and military logistics. We take a look at a real-world scenario where the U.S. Air Force combats the absurd costs of legacy aircraft parts, by using 3D printing to drastically reduce the cost of a toilet seat, from $10,000 to $300. Learn how this innovative approach not only reduces costs to a fraction but also ensures a sustainable, long-term solution for manufacturing obsolete parts. This video highlights the challenges, solutions, and future potential of 3D printing in critical applications, providing a deep dive into how it can keep older aircraft operational and cost-effective. Perfect for those interested in aerospace, manufacturing, and military technology.
#3dprinting #additivemanufacturing #aerospace #usairforce #militarytechnology
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I’m in the Air Force and nearly every base has an innovation laboratory of some sort that nearly always includes 3D printers. My last base had 3 different locations on base where I could freely use 3D printers.
Passenger train parts supply would benefit from 3D printing as well. I used to be a material controller for a local passenger train service. We constantly ran into supply chain issues with vendors getting bought up or going out of business on a regular basis
Would love to talk to you about railroad. If you are open to it, please reach out to info@slant3d.com. Would love to pick your brain.
Believe me, there would be plenty of documentation on said toilet seat. No reverse engineering needed.
Certification also has to do with the materials that have traceability and the equipment as well.that has certifications. I’ve been an engineer on the F35 and now at Boeing. They only use non industrial printers like raise3D or unit makers for prototype testing. There’s three F’s that drives manufacturing requirements, Fit-Form-function to be considered fly away parts with any 3D printed part or supplemental tooling to used at an APFX to locate and drill holes or install parts. I’m sure that toilet seat had some ridiculous requirements. The pentagon was buying 4 Trash Cans from Boeing for $200,000 🤦🏽♂️
Whistle blowing at Boeing? Are you still alive?
Probably not so much a concern with a toilet seat in a C5A, but besides the end part requiring certification, you'd also need to certify the material. ABS outgassing in an pressure suit would likely be considered a Bad Thing. You'd need a whole range of Mil Spec compliant filaments. And since each manufacturer blends their own, each one would need certification. And if a company goes through with certifying their filament, it isn't going to be cheap.
10k for certification and corruption on marked up products
It is rather amazing that anyone was able to reverse engineer this thing and produce it at $300. Particularly given the structure needed to do this line of work. As for printing these kinds of parts, that obviously are exposed to bacteria, lets just say that printing is not ideal. But that can be remedied as well, to some level, with coating. But there is a ton of ignorance out there, at to what kind of resources that need to go into custom production. Getting a fair pay, is not being corrupt.
I had no idea that you went to the lengths you have to ensure ITAR compliance to this level (speaking as a dev who's worked in aerospace where on the first week at least, you have the scary chat about what might fines might happen if you accidentally bounce data off a server merely in Canada without encryption). Nicely done.
I was utterly disappointed that you didn't make a Mil Spec toilet seat for this video
Spending $10,000 on a toilet seat is the most air-force thing I have heard.
Quite the sales pitch/one way interview but still facts be said
How was the bacteria issue with layered production, handled for this toilet seat?
Now I kinda want a mil-spec toilet seat...
Thanks
how many toilet seats were those airmen going through? They need to eat more fiber.
I really want a bambu labs printer, but i am having a problem with having to send all my files to their chinese servers to get access to all the features.
Why aren’t you using linear rails on your printers??
This assumes the US military *wants* to reduce costs. Many government programs exist to spend money in various congressional districts. The defense contractors have crony relationships with government so those departments and agencies are looking for any excuse to give as much tax money to these companies as possible. As a taxpayer, I wish the US military would use 3D printing to make a more cost effective supply chain.
When I go for nr 2 I tell my wife I'm going to create a 3d print
Hey it works for Bambu...
I refuse to believe it is expensive. To me it looks like corruption.
czcams.com/video/hYWie96j3aQ/video.htmlsi=ic6JqrDlyHlLWIS8&t=95
US congressional hearing and there is a moment on a bag of bushings. You and I can probably buy the bag of bushings for $100-a few hundred off the shelf if we are making poor vendor decisions. The bag in the video is $90,000! Sure, there is certifications to know where it comes from, but someone is probably pocketing the rest of the $89,000.
I can see why its easy to think that but I can assure you its more stupidity than anything. A toilet seat that isn't being manufactured anymore costing $10,000 isn't surprising...the surprising part is finding someone willing to actually spend $10,000 on a toilet seat. If you don't have any experience with acquisition or life cycle management the best way I can put it is that asking for that toilet seat is like asking for something that doesn't exist - you can wish in one hand, shit in the other and see which fills up faster. If you even CAN find someone that has it you have to convince them to let go of it...otherwise your going to end up re-engineering the toilet seat which for a one-off will cost way more than $10k. I'm not saying its right, but with first hand experience I can say its not surprising.
@@paladingeorge6098 I disagree because it's not an iphone 2 that we need to re-engineer, but a toilet sit. Maybe it's more complex like the actual flush system, which then would make better sense. You draw a toilet sit on computer and ask a company that make it out of carbon fiber, and it will still be below 3k$ (I have an humble of experience with CF)
@@Etrehumain123That's assuming the part is allowed to be made of CF, and the shop they contract is equipped to work with carbon fiber. I work in a machine shop where our bread-and-butter is subtractive manufacturing of steel, aluminum, and some technical plastics. If we suddenly got a job to make a part like that cover, we'd have to build a whole mold making workflow, buy supplies, tools, ppe, handle disposal, etc. Which would easily cost that much or more. Obviously the answer is "Send the part to someone actually equipped to make it in the first place.". But I suspect that's the whole problem... Dropping this job on a shop that isn't set up to do it = exorbitant costs.
A cost of $10k for a one off part is not unreasonable. It needs to be modeled in cad, programmed on the cnc, material itself (sounds like they were making it from a large solid block, which is a few thousand dollars easy), machining time, QA inspection, documentation, packaging, and freight. If you assume that they’re making a one off, that’s at least 50-60hr of work ($2k materials, $160-$133/hr).
I’m not saying those are reasonable prices for a toilet cover specifically, but those are totally reasonable prices for a job shop that is qualified to make mil-spec parts. If this exact part was for the cowling on the control panel in the cockpit, no one in Congress would bat an eye at the cost.
And I think this is why the video was made. An existing injection molded part should not require significant engineering time to reproduce, nor significantly expensive raw material. I think that getting the part printed was the absolute right call, and it’s good for Congress people to be questioning ridiculous military costs. However, high prices on custom parts does not mean someone went to Lowe’s, bought a toilet seat, and then charged $10k because corruption. It’s very much a rigid, mindless process that led to that cost; not a malicious process.
Bring the wig back!
only problem is the Air Force are printing their own.
Shipping and handling are a bear.
Believe me, there would be plenty of documentation on said toilet seat. No reverse engineering needed.