Greetings,
I just signed up here, and I hope to contribute some ideas regarding the tricky business of using PLA for prototyping, or light duty.
The image shows a test assembly I used to find the optimal dimensions for a pulley.
The blue is PLA+ (tough PLA), and also the white disk, which is printed in two parts.
The disk is not glued but assembled using screen window spline, and the white cylinder is PVC tubing.
Most CAD systems are not prepared to handle well the type of tolerancing this sort of assemblies. For example, the blue hex is designed to be printed snug-fit and lose-fit, depending on its role in the assembly. Add to this the nozzle-size and layer-height used, and you realize that your models must be designed accordingly, from the ground-up. No matter what you use your best solution is to script it.
Using a parametric modeler, such as OpenSCAD, makes this much easier, and automating the testing cycles faster. You save the parameters not the entire models, so months later you may still find the parameters to print more identical copies.
I do not 3D print at work since my current priorities are BOM scrubbing.
But in my spare time I am evolving the idea and my skills to combine COTS and 3D-printed plastic a "production-approved", reliable and repeatable ways.
Thanks for reading!
I just signed up here, and I hope to contribute some ideas regarding the tricky business of using PLA for prototyping, or light duty.
The image shows a test assembly I used to find the optimal dimensions for a pulley.
The blue is PLA+ (tough PLA), and also the white disk, which is printed in two parts.
The disk is not glued but assembled using screen window spline, and the white cylinder is PVC tubing.
Most CAD systems are not prepared to handle well the type of tolerancing this sort of assemblies. For example, the blue hex is designed to be printed snug-fit and lose-fit, depending on its role in the assembly. Add to this the nozzle-size and layer-height used, and you realize that your models must be designed accordingly, from the ground-up. No matter what you use your best solution is to script it.
Using a parametric modeler, such as OpenSCAD, makes this much easier, and automating the testing cycles faster. You save the parameters not the entire models, so months later you may still find the parameters to print more identical copies.
I do not 3D print at work since my current priorities are BOM scrubbing.
But in my spare time I am evolving the idea and my skills to combine COTS and 3D-printed plastic a "production-approved", reliable and repeatable ways.
Thanks for reading!
