Matrials To Use for R/C Parts
|
|||
#1
Matrials To Use for R/C Parts
I thought I would share what martials I use to make some of my R/C Parts that I make. I have Printed Stuff From Prototype 1/4 Sprint car. to car stands. Here are the Basics I have learned over the last few years. We will start with the most Common.
PLA- PLA Works great For Prototyping stuff I used it to Prototype a 1/4 scale sprint car for WCM Racing over last winter. I wouldn't suggest using it for parts that need to be strong ie A Arms, Bulk Heads. any of that stuff.. Another Down fall is it Warps in heat. so its no good to anything your going to make to use outside or a hot car.
PETG- This is my 2nd go to filament its Fairly easy to print. Not the strongest but does allow for some flex & give. Handles Heat outside well and in hot cars ok. I use this to make a lot of Radio Boxes, and most of my R/C Accessories I make are out of PETG.
PC+ This is one of the Strongest Filaments I use. its offered from Snolab3d Prints a lot like PETG But does need to be Dried before using. and Stored in a Dry Place. it cost a little bit more that PETG. it does not Flex near as much a PETG I use it for a lot of Production parts for WCM in there JP-55 Sprint Car. And I also use it on the rear bumpers I make for them. And use it for most of my charger stands I sell.
ABS- This is one of the hardest Filaments to print. you need to fully enclose your printer and keep it heated up to around 100c. One Down Fall to ABS is it stinks when its being printed. One Plus to it is its STRONG I use it a lot in my Top Wing mounts for the JP-55 Sprint Car
Im Working on Trying Nylon I haven't yet but I have a Roll. So I will let you guys know what I find out. I will also Post Pic's of some of the stuff I have printed.
Hope this helps
Tim B
PLA- PLA Works great For Prototyping stuff I used it to Prototype a 1/4 scale sprint car for WCM Racing over last winter. I wouldn't suggest using it for parts that need to be strong ie A Arms, Bulk Heads. any of that stuff.. Another Down fall is it Warps in heat. so its no good to anything your going to make to use outside or a hot car.
PETG- This is my 2nd go to filament its Fairly easy to print. Not the strongest but does allow for some flex & give. Handles Heat outside well and in hot cars ok. I use this to make a lot of Radio Boxes, and most of my R/C Accessories I make are out of PETG.
PC+ This is one of the Strongest Filaments I use. its offered from Snolab3d Prints a lot like PETG But does need to be Dried before using. and Stored in a Dry Place. it cost a little bit more that PETG. it does not Flex near as much a PETG I use it for a lot of Production parts for WCM in there JP-55 Sprint Car. And I also use it on the rear bumpers I make for them. And use it for most of my charger stands I sell.
ABS- This is one of the hardest Filaments to print. you need to fully enclose your printer and keep it heated up to around 100c. One Down Fall to ABS is it stinks when its being printed. One Plus to it is its STRONG I use it a lot in my Top Wing mounts for the JP-55 Sprint Car
Im Working on Trying Nylon I haven't yet but I have a Roll. So I will let you guys know what I find out. I will also Post Pic's of some of the stuff I have printed.
Hope this helps
Tim B
#5
Tech Adept
I have some experience with different materials, too. Tim's 1st post is a good summery already. I've never used PLA, due to its lack of temperature resistance. I printed parts with ABS, but most of the time I use PET-G. PET-G is good for gear covers, cable organizers and so on.
However, what I wanted to share is my experience with Polyamid (Nylon) materials.
Alloy 910 from Taulman 3D:
I printed quite a few things with that material and I actually plain love it. I don't think it is pure nylon (hence the 'alloy'). It is actually quite easy to print, but you need to prepare the material (drying).
What's it like?
- very nice surface
- very good layer adhesion, far better than ABS and much better than PET-G
- medium stiffness, get's softer as it absorbs some water over time.
- ductile, very hard to actually break, it rather bends. I wouldn't even hesitate to print some arms, they might be a bit soft though. I test printed a wheel, too, I think it would hold, but it needs some post processing, because the wheels never run perfectly true.
- should be possible to dye with some special dyes for Polyamid
- warps just a little bit, not too bad at all, print bed adhesion is good.
How I print it:
- mostly as recommended by Taulman
- print surface is a slightly grinded carbon plate, but FR4 PCB material would work too, I'm sure.
- using PVA glue for better adhesion, that is water mixed 1:1 with wood glue.
- heated bed @65°C (sorry my friends from the US, I'm from Europe ;-)
Preparation:
- I usually dry it up to 8 hours or overnight in my drying device. I use a round food dehydrator. I cut out some of its trays, than a roll of material fits in easily. After that, it is good for up to 3-5days, than it has to be dried again.
The second nylon material is very interesting. It is Nylon combined with glas fibers manufactured by EUMakers (based in Italy, I think).
This material is interesting, because it is more like the polyamid used in real production kits, that is, it is reinforced with some fibers. Carbon fibers are available as well, but I've never used it.
What's it like?
- quite a bit stiffer than Alloy 910 (as expected)
- it is a bit more brittle than Alloy 910, also as expected, but overall strength is very good, too.
- layer adhesion is similar, quite good
- adhesion to bed is actually good, I do it the same way as with Taulman's nylon.
- but it warps considerably more. In my case, because my bed is not very stiff, it actually bends the carbon plate a little, especially larger parts.
- Surface is nice, layers can hardly be seen due to the fact that the surface has a mate finish caused by the glas fibers.
How I print it:
- see Taulman 3D, a bit higher temperature and you have to fiddle around with the extrusion factor.
Preparation:
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
I printed gearboxes, gear covers and sideguards with this material and it is nice, but it takes time to prepare everything.
Andreas
However, what I wanted to share is my experience with Polyamid (Nylon) materials.
Alloy 910 from Taulman 3D:
I printed quite a few things with that material and I actually plain love it. I don't think it is pure nylon (hence the 'alloy'). It is actually quite easy to print, but you need to prepare the material (drying).
What's it like?
- very nice surface
- very good layer adhesion, far better than ABS and much better than PET-G
- medium stiffness, get's softer as it absorbs some water over time.
- ductile, very hard to actually break, it rather bends. I wouldn't even hesitate to print some arms, they might be a bit soft though. I test printed a wheel, too, I think it would hold, but it needs some post processing, because the wheels never run perfectly true.
- should be possible to dye with some special dyes for Polyamid
- warps just a little bit, not too bad at all, print bed adhesion is good.
How I print it:
- mostly as recommended by Taulman
- print surface is a slightly grinded carbon plate, but FR4 PCB material would work too, I'm sure.
- using PVA glue for better adhesion, that is water mixed 1:1 with wood glue.
- heated bed @65°C (sorry my friends from the US, I'm from Europe ;-)
Preparation:
- I usually dry it up to 8 hours or overnight in my drying device. I use a round food dehydrator. I cut out some of its trays, than a roll of material fits in easily. After that, it is good for up to 3-5days, than it has to be dried again.
The second nylon material is very interesting. It is Nylon combined with glas fibers manufactured by EUMakers (based in Italy, I think).
This material is interesting, because it is more like the polyamid used in real production kits, that is, it is reinforced with some fibers. Carbon fibers are available as well, but I've never used it.
What's it like?
- quite a bit stiffer than Alloy 910 (as expected)
- it is a bit more brittle than Alloy 910, also as expected, but overall strength is very good, too.
- layer adhesion is similar, quite good
- adhesion to bed is actually good, I do it the same way as with Taulman's nylon.
- but it warps considerably more. In my case, because my bed is not very stiff, it actually bends the carbon plate a little, especially larger parts.
- Surface is nice, layers can hardly be seen due to the fact that the surface has a mate finish caused by the glas fibers.
How I print it:
- see Taulman 3D, a bit higher temperature and you have to fiddle around with the extrusion factor.
Preparation:
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
I printed gearboxes, gear covers and sideguards with this material and it is nice, but it takes time to prepare everything.
Andreas
#7
I have some experience with different materials, too. Tim's 1st post is a good summery already. I've never used PLA, due to its lack of temperature resistance. I printed parts with ABS, but most of the time I use PET-G. PET-G is good for gear covers, cable organizers and so on.
However, what I wanted to share is my experience with Polyamid (Nylon) materials.
Alloy 910 from Taulman 3D:
I printed quite a few things with that material and I actually plain love it. I don't think it is pure nylon (hence the 'alloy'). It is actually quite easy to print, but you need to prepare the material (drying).
What's it like?
- very nice surface
- very good layer adhesion, far better than ABS and much better than PET-G
- medium stiffness, get's softer as it absorbs some water over time.
- ductile, very hard to actually break, it rather bends. I wouldn't even hesitate to print some arms, they might be a bit soft though. I test printed a wheel, too, I think it would hold, but it needs some post processing, because the wheels never run perfectly true.
- should be possible to dye with some special dyes for Polyamid
- warps just a little bit, not too bad at all, print bed adhesion is good.
How I print it:
- mostly as recommended by Taulman
- print surface is a slightly grinded carbon plate, but FR4 PCB material would work too, I'm sure.
- using PVA glue for better adhesion, that is water mixed 1:1 with wood glue.
- heated bed @65°C (sorry my friends from the US, I'm from Europe ;-)
Preparation:
- I usually dry it up to 8 hours or overnight in my drying device. I use a round food dehydrator. I cut out some of its trays, than a roll of material fits in easily. After that, it is good for up to 3-5days, than it has to be dried again.
The second nylon material is very interesting. It is Nylon combined with glas fibers manufactured by EUMakers (based in Italy, I think).
This material is interesting, because it is more like the polyamid used in real production kits, that is, it is reinforced with some fibers. Carbon fibers are available as well, but I've never used it.
What's it like?
- quite a bit stiffer than Alloy 910 (as expected)
- it is a bit more brittle than Alloy 910, also as expected, but overall strength is very good, too.
- layer adhesion is similar, quite good
- adhesion to bed is actually good, I do it the same way as with Taulman's nylon.
- but it warps considerably more. In my case, because my bed is not very stiff, it actually bends the carbon plate a little, especially larger parts.
- Surface is nice, layers can hardly be seen due to the fact that the surface has a mate finish caused by the glas fibers.
How I print it:
- see Taulman 3D, a bit higher temperature and you have to fiddle around with the extrusion factor.
Preparation:
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
I printed gearboxes, gear covers and sideguards with this material and it is nice, but it takes time to prepare everything.
Andreas
However, what I wanted to share is my experience with Polyamid (Nylon) materials.
Alloy 910 from Taulman 3D:
I printed quite a few things with that material and I actually plain love it. I don't think it is pure nylon (hence the 'alloy'). It is actually quite easy to print, but you need to prepare the material (drying).
What's it like?
- very nice surface
- very good layer adhesion, far better than ABS and much better than PET-G
- medium stiffness, get's softer as it absorbs some water over time.
- ductile, very hard to actually break, it rather bends. I wouldn't even hesitate to print some arms, they might be a bit soft though. I test printed a wheel, too, I think it would hold, but it needs some post processing, because the wheels never run perfectly true.
- should be possible to dye with some special dyes for Polyamid
- warps just a little bit, not too bad at all, print bed adhesion is good.
How I print it:
- mostly as recommended by Taulman
- print surface is a slightly grinded carbon plate, but FR4 PCB material would work too, I'm sure.
- using PVA glue for better adhesion, that is water mixed 1:1 with wood glue.
- heated bed @65°C (sorry my friends from the US, I'm from Europe ;-)
Preparation:
- I usually dry it up to 8 hours or overnight in my drying device. I use a round food dehydrator. I cut out some of its trays, than a roll of material fits in easily. After that, it is good for up to 3-5days, than it has to be dried again.
The second nylon material is very interesting. It is Nylon combined with glas fibers manufactured by EUMakers (based in Italy, I think).
This material is interesting, because it is more like the polyamid used in real production kits, that is, it is reinforced with some fibers. Carbon fibers are available as well, but I've never used it.
What's it like?
- quite a bit stiffer than Alloy 910 (as expected)
- it is a bit more brittle than Alloy 910, also as expected, but overall strength is very good, too.
- layer adhesion is similar, quite good
- adhesion to bed is actually good, I do it the same way as with Taulman's nylon.
- but it warps considerably more. In my case, because my bed is not very stiff, it actually bends the carbon plate a little, especially larger parts.
- Surface is nice, layers can hardly be seen due to the fact that the surface has a mate finish caused by the glas fibers.
How I print it:
- see Taulman 3D, a bit higher temperature and you have to fiddle around with the extrusion factor.
Preparation:
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
I printed gearboxes, gear covers and sideguards with this material and it is nice, but it takes time to prepare everything.
Andreas
#9
Preparation:
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
- that's actually the downside, it really has to be dried for at least 8 hours at about 70-80°C. I had the feeling my dehydrator is not hot enough, so I use an old oven. Freshly dried it prints nicely, but that degrades quickly after 48hours.
- you probably need at least a steel nozzle or even better a hardened steel nozzle, because the material is abrasive.
I just picked up some Taulman Tech-G. It took a few tries to get the prints to stick (had to run up the bed temp to 80C for the first few layers) but otherwise its been pretty good. Way tougher then PLA. I am track testing a few parts still but hoping its strong enough. Otherwise was looking at 910 as the next filament option.
#10
Wow are you really drying that often? Are you storing your material in the bathtub? This product looks awesome and has great characteristics but alittle hesitant to pull the trigger with it being so hygroscopic.
I just picked up some Taulman Tech-G. It took a few tries to get the prints to stick (had to run up the bed temp to 80C for the first few layers) but otherwise its been pretty good. Way tougher then PLA. I am track testing a few parts still but hoping its strong enough. Otherwise was looking at 910 as the next filament option.
I just picked up some Taulman Tech-G. It took a few tries to get the prints to stick (had to run up the bed temp to 80C for the first few layers) but otherwise its been pretty good. Way tougher then PLA. I am track testing a few parts still but hoping its strong enough. Otherwise was looking at 910 as the next filament option.
#11
Tech Adept
Yes, as said before, if you want a perfect finish with Nylon, it needs to be as dry as it can be. But even PET-G and ABS should be dried again after a few weeks. I know that in many 3d printing forums people say, these don't need any drying. But have a look at the data sheets of manufacturers of these materials, that are also used for injection molding. They always recommend drying any plastics for a few hours.
Andreas
Andreas
#13
Any of you guys used carbon fiber infused PLA? I'm loving the stuff. Prints (I swear) better than PLA and the parts are strong. My new favorite filament. You do need to get a hardened tip though, it'll eat regular tips up quicklike.
#15
Tech Rookie
Looks sick! Can’t wait to see the final!