Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
I'm an industrial mechanic, and theres been a few things that I wanted to prototype and test out on the job to see if it was viable to 3d print things for my own use at work. One of the things I'm looking to make is a tool thats used for slowly rotating large engines while you make adjustments on them. this would essentially be a geared shaft with bearings and a mounting flange. the teeth of the gear would have to be pretty robust and thats where the strength is important. I was thinking something along the lines of one of the Taulman Nylon variants, or perhaps Polycarbonate. I'm sure there must be guys on here that have prototyped things like this for heavy duty use in the past. If you have any first hand experience I would love to hear it!
Jeremy.
Jeremy.
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
I think you'd be surprised how strong even common ABS is at 100% fill, printed slow (20mm/sec) and hot (240C). It didn't become a super-popular plastic on accident 

Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
To date the strongest material i have used is the epc filament. Very rigid and heat resistant.
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
I'm not familiar with EPC, is that a PC alloy?
With regard to ABS, wouldnt nylon be stronger and have more self-lubricating properties? from what I've read its very well suited to making gears for that reason. ABS seems like a readily available material and theres tons upon tons of experience with it but I live in a pretty small condo with the printer essentially in the kitchen so I'm a bit hesitant about the fumes, plus there must be some sort of advantage to printing with the more exotic stuff, no? I got those v6 hot ends so I could try my hand are the more specialized filaments
With regard to ABS, wouldnt nylon be stronger and have more self-lubricating properties? from what I've read its very well suited to making gears for that reason. ABS seems like a readily available material and theres tons upon tons of experience with it but I live in a pretty small condo with the printer essentially in the kitchen so I'm a bit hesitant about the fumes, plus there must be some sort of advantage to printing with the more exotic stuff, no? I got those v6 hot ends so I could try my hand are the more specialized filaments

Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
That's the eSUN brand polycarbonate, in case you haven't been following the recent forum thread about it. Normal polycarbonate is a pain to work with (requires extremely high temperatures and likes to warp/shrink severely); Jim has reported that the eSUN brand is some variation on normal PC that is a little less tough and temperature resistant (but only slightly), but a lot easier to work with (much less shrinkage). I have a sample of it but haven't tried it yet. For now, it comes in natural color only. While the printing temperature is a bit lower than regular PC, I think (Jim can correct me if I'm wrong) that it is still too hot for the V3b extruder; you'll need the V4.To date the strongest material i have used is the epc filament. Very rigid and heat resistant.
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
Posted just before seeing that post. . . If you have the E3Dv6, you're definitely good for nylon and polycarbonate. But with the eSUN brand polycarbonate (which we get from William at Intservo, intservo.com), you won't have to build a heated enclosure to deal with warping issues.Farr0wn3d wrote:I got those v6 hot ends so I could try my hand are the more specialized filaments
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
Yes tim pretty much covered it. Its esun's own polycarb formula. Prints great and very easy to work with. Run it at 265c. Nylon is strong but very flexible, not as heat resistant and a major pia to work with.
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
does the enclosure NEED to be actively heated, rather than passively by the bed and extruder? with an enclosure is there issues that arise when it comes to keeping the steppers cool?
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
Jim, which nylon have you worked with? I've heard 618 is less of a pain to work with and had much less shrinkage, thoughts?
Re: Deciding on a material for heavy duty industrial items
Ive used 618 and bridge. 618 is the opposite from what you said. 618 is hard and bridge is supposed to be easier. Both warp equally but i think bridge is less finicky to get to stick to the bed. Both suck though. You will find every time taulman releaaes a new nylon that its claimed to be easier to work with. I have never seen or heard any of his stuff live up to thise claims i real world. So far nylon is nylon. Bridge is extremely soft like a very hard rubber and 618 is slight harder but not by too much.