RogueRose
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3D printing useful parts - anyone doing this? I'd like to print GL45 bottle caps if possible
I'm wondering if anyone here has started to print things for use in the lab. I'm thinking about trying to figure out if it is possible to print in
flourinated filament, I know PTFE isn't printable but I think something like FEP or maybe some others.
So if you have anything you've printed, I'd be very interested to hear as I'm getting a printer soon and would like to get some ideas.
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OldNubbins
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I just got an old Makerbot up and running again. So far I have printed some gears and a bushings for Buchi Rotavapor heads, a knob and fuse holder for
a variac, and Keck clips. I dont see why printed caps won't work if you use a thin piece of PTFE as a seal.
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Ubya
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i'm pretty sure there's already a post about 3D printing with fluorinated filaments.
i'm also planning on making my own caps and stoppers, but i don't have a 3D printer (yet), so my plan is to make a mold of a cap, then to cast with it
a plaster mold, and pour over it molten aluminium to make a metal negative mold to use with a plastic injection system. pretty laborious but once i
get a good mold, i can cast as many caps as i want
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Twospoons
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Making an injection mold tool is not that simple, especially for a threaded part. You need to account for shrinkage and flow, and understand where the
injection point should be, and understand how you are going to get the part out of the mold.
I've worked with a few mech engineers, and i've seen them go through multiple iterations of a tool to get a part to come out right. And this is with
expensive CAD and analysis tools.
Helicopter: "helico" -> spiral, "pter" -> with wings
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Ubya
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Quote: Originally posted by Twospoons  | Making an injection mold tool is not that simple, especially for a threaded part. You need to account for shrinkage and flow, and understand where the
injection point should be, and understand how you are going to get the part out of the mold.
I've worked with a few mech engineers, and i've seen them go through multiple iterations of a tool to get a part to come out right. And this is with
expensive CAD and analysis tools. |
yeah probably I'm going to fail, getting a spotless mold is pretty hard, metal castings are not smooth at all, and any roughness on the mold will grip
the plastic part.
even if not successful i might learn a few new things
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draculic acid69
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Looks complicated. Are you sure your 3d printer can get that fine a detail? I've got a few friends who have printers that use abs and pla and the
quality is not great. They are the cheap kind of printer not the $70,000 ones that the university has that print with resin. Would just making a mold
of the lid and pouring in the molten fluoropolymer not be a better option? Or dipping a bottle neck with thread into molten or hot fluoropolymer not
be a possibility?
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Dr.Bob
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This is one case where you could spend more figuring out how to make a cap than just buying some, they are not that expensive to get. For certain
parts, making them is worth it, but for common parts, the cost of the printer, resin, and test runs can add up. Threaded caps have a lot of
pressure at the top, so they crack easily there. I'm all for making things that are custom, rare, or special, but for things you can buy, it is
rarely cost effective.
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draculic acid69
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Some ppl just want to see if they can do it themselves,they want to experiment and play with it like a hobby. Just to scratch the itch of curiosity.
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draculic acid69
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Fep costs like $300 per roll of filament.thats pretty expensive for something to just mess around with.
Have you seen how things come out of the printer your getting?
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Mateo_swe
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I had an idea to print parts for a electrochemical cell but it seems the plastics that are used in 3D printers do not have good chemical resistance.
I also had an idea of printing end caps for a ozone generator using glass tubes.
ABS plastic have good resistance to some chemicals.
I never printed any parts but im very interested to hear if anyone have done some printing of parts that are used in contact with chemicals,
especially solvents and high PH chemicals.
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draculic acid69
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Pla and abs won't handle anything in a lab very well in my opinion.mechanically they won't stand up to much either.fep might be better I'm not sure.
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Ubya
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| Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69 | | Pla and abs won't handle anything in a lab very well in my opinion.mechanically they won't stand up to much either.fep might be better I'm not sure.
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what about HDPE?
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draculic acid69
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Can u get HDPE filament?
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Ubya
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https://filaments.ca/products/hdpe-filament-natural-1-75mm
sold out at the moment from this supplier
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OldNubbins
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Look into polyphenylene sulfide (PPS) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF)
You will need an all-metal hot-end as the temps required will be in excess of 265°C
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draculic acid69
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If pvdf has similar to pvc solubility and chemical resistance it won't be good in a lab.
HDPE would be great.
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Refinery
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| Quote: Originally posted by draculic acid69 | | Pla and abs won't handle anything in a lab very well in my opinion.mechanically they won't stand up to much either.fep might be better I'm not sure.
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Tbh, PLA and ABS are not suitable for anything but small little fancy paperweights people print around and even they will degrade on their own as time
passes. Nylon appears to be a much better material, but being more difficult to print people avoid it. I've been looking for 3D printing community and
they have been able to produce little actually useful things.
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RogueRose
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I'm going to be getting some nylon and glass and/or carbon reinforced nylon. If I can get my hands on an extruder or the use of it, I'm going to be
making some polycarbonate & nylon "alloy" as I've already melted some together, mixed it and pulled some filament from it (about 1mm diameter) and
it is amazingly strong and rigid but it doesn't seem to snap like many other plastics do. I personally think it would be more fun to play around with
making new mixes of plastics, much like creating new metal alloys, to see what kind of properties I can come up with. It really isn't too difficult
to make an extruder, the only difficult part is you need a real extruding screw/auger that compresses the material as it moves to the hot end and
normal screws or things like wood drill bits/augers just don't do that properly and you end up with very sub-par filament - and the price of extrusion
screws is pretty pricey. So if anyone has any suggestions on make shift extrusion screws, I'd be interested, or maybe I can find some in all the
upcoming business "fire" sales (post riot sales that is....).
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Mateo_swe
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That HDPE filament is very interesting.
I must find out the data on it and see if i can print it.
It almost seem to be too good to be true, HDPE is perfect for some types of lab use.
I bet its a nightmare to print, how to get it to stick on the building plate?
HDPE has this slippery/oily feeling to the surface, its hard to get anything to stick to it.
This can be good or bad depending on what it used for.
If you try get a HDPE tubing to stick onto say a vacuum outlet, it want to slip off by itself.
It would be a very good material for electrochemical cell parts though.
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Fulmen
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I'm ressurecting this thread if nobody minds.
Needed a small (45mm) funnel, figured the printer was the simplest solution:
It's just PLA, just for ethanol and it handles that fine.
Best available material for general lab would probably be PP. That stuff is the poor mans teflon. But I don't know if it's any point in trying it with
my current open printer. Same goes for nylon which is probably the best choice for structural parts. How is PETG?
[Edited on 26-3-21 by Fulmen]
We're not banging rocks together here. We know how to put a man back together.
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Panache
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| Quote: Originally posted by Fulmen | I'm ressurecting this thread if nobody minds.
Needed a small (45mm) funnel, figured the printer was the simplest solution:
It's just PLA, just for ethanol and it handles that fine.
Best available material for general lab would probably be PP. That stuff is the poor mans teflon. But I don't know if it's any point in trying it with
my current open printer. Same goes for nylon which is probably the best choice for structural parts. How is PETG?
[Edited on 26-3-21 by Fulmen] |
Thank fuck someone finally mentioned PP!!
Never heard it called poor mans teflon. Dont know if i agree but its so useful, polybutylene is better at temp. Teflon is just unique, 1inch teflon
tape is a god send.
NONE of the engineering polymers (ie almost everyone mentioned thus far baring hdpe) have any place even whiffing with solvents.
Polyolefins are different story.
Ill ask again every now and then i do.
Has anyone played with those fluronated silicon rubbers the US declassified a few years back?
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