3D printing filament that is stronger than steel. This will be a game changer!

VK3ZYZ

Moderator
Staff member
This filament sounds really good, and can be printed on a "domestic" grade 3D printer as long as it is a fast one, like the Bamboo Lab and similar consumer level machines.
Having the capability to print parts that are stronger than steel opens up a lot of possibilities!
It is RF transparent too so that could be an advantage.
(I will not be printing geckos with it, the cost is pretty high! And I do not have a suitable printer anyway.)
 

vk3vsm

Administrator
Staff member
damn i'm picturing buildong the gears for a rotator

previously i have thought about doing some lost plastic casting to make some gears up
 

VK3ZYZ

Moderator
Staff member
Yes. Prototyping the gears in PLA then when the design is finished, print with the "Good Stuff"!
When I win Tatts, I'll get a new fast printer and some rolls of this ;)
 

VK3YNV

Administrator
Staff member
The RF transparency seems like it should be a candidate for some clever RF applications. The only drawback is the price $275 for 500g is too expensive for a lot of applications.

I guess that the price will come down with volume production. PLA is $26.90 per kg, Tullomer is $550 per kg.
 

VK3ZYZ

Moderator
Staff member
The only drawback is the price $275 for 500g is too expensive for a lot of applications.
Yes, but just think if you needed some custom gears for instance. They would cost quite a bit to get a machine shop to make them.
There are a few things that would work very well for this, for those of us who cannot fabricate things any other way. But, saying that, it will be quite a long time I expect (if ever) before I would buy any.
I'd reckon this could be a good time for an engineering company to buy a 3D printer and some of this as they would already have a customer base.
How long before jlcpcb adds this to their 3D printing shop?
 

BillC

Active member
For the club members who need small machine gears I have gear cutters in the following range, module .3 .5 .6 .8 m1 m1.25 m1.5, and could cut gears in those ranges. Only using aluminium or brass . Also if you need to cut a special gear you can use a drill press, a hacksaw and files. Clock makers have been doing gears that way for a long time.
 
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