I've been making some components using glass fibre, finished with car body filler. They are caps, covers, and adaptors for various sizes of tube. They will be installed outside so must be durable, waterproof, and quite tough. The ones I've made are entirely satisfactory except for one thing: it takes too long to make them. So, I was wondering about 3D printing. Are the products from these tough, waterproof, and UV resistant?
Bill
Not really.
Can't you make a simple mould for your fibre glass?
You could 3D print the mould...
Ignore TNP he doesn't have one, he just passes on useless info he read somewhere that he can't remember if you ask him.
They can be if you use the right plastic.
ABS or Nylon would be the obvious choice. Maybe wood filled PLA and give it a coat of paint/stain.
The tube adapter are probably best made from a flexible filament or PETG as they don't beak when you bend them like PLA can.
It does depend on exactly how the part is designed as if its really thin I would print a mould and cast it in glass filled resin for the actual part.
Of the two common printing plastics PLA is tough and waterproof but most certainly not UV resistant, it is biodegradable. Polycarbonate is tough and stable but is more idly to print with and requires a higher printing temperature and a heated build plate for best results. It is also very smelly when printing.
I'm using a mould. It still takes ages.
Bill
Thank you. So all these different plastics are available as 'ink'?
Bill
Thanks for that.
Bill
Thats just a small selection.
You can get rubber, carbon fibre filled, glass filled, various nylons, polycarbonate and others.
Your printer may not be able to print them as some require higher temperatures than the printer can manage,
You could go laser sintering too and print in metal but its expensive.
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You can paint PLA to protect it from UV, it will only last a few years if you don't.
In message <qavar5$4ks$ snipped-for-privacy@gioia.aioe.org>, Bill Wright snipped-for-privacy@f2s.com writes
Different materials come in different formats. PLA comes as a filament on a drum, others come as a liquid resin. Different types of printer use different materials.
It may be worth spending a bit of time on You Tube looking at different types of printers at work to get a better idea of what is involved.
Adrian
ABS can be quite tricky to print with if its a big part and no heated chamber.
If being a bit brittle doesn't matter then I would just spray PLA with an etching primer.
You can anneal PLA in an oven and make it tougher and more heat resistant according to other, I have never tried it as I tend to print non-structural models. Apparently it shrinks a lot when you do it so some trials would be needed to get the dimensions correct.
I used to print everything in ABS but I blew the main board on the printer I made a cabinet for and haven't got around to fixing even though I bought a main board, drives and LCD for £6 in an amazon sale.
Decided the bed was too small and bought and ender 3. Not used the ABS on it yet.
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