Howdy y’all. I’m coming over here to the sty from the 60 forum to show you the window gears I’ve been working on - and for credentials, I have owned a pig before, though she was a bit of a basket case that I didn’t do much with. I make a few niche parts for 60s (and one or two for 40s) and when I heard there were some problems getting the 3D printed gears, I thought I’d take a crack at it. The goal is to have gears in stock on a shelf. You place an order, I ship it, your window works.
Here’s where I’m at:
Several of the parts I already make are cast resins from molds that I make. The longevity of the material has proven itself in other applications. I also have had a handful of less-than-great experiences with 3D printed stuff breaking on me. I really think urethane resin is a tough material, and there’s enough resin choices out there that you can find one for just about any application. Some are heat resistant, others fluid/oil/solvent resistant, some soft, some tough and hard-wearing, etc, and most of them combine several traits.
What you’re looking at above is a green gear that was 3D printed. I spent some time cleaning it up, then molded it (the clear white thing towards the top). Then I cast some resin in the mold to make the blue gear. So far I’ve cast a couple using two different materials. Those are getting sent to a few volunteers who are gonna abuse them. Once I have some data back I’ll make a final material choice, make a few more molds (so I can do small batch production runs), and then I can start popping these things out.
At the end of the day, the file is out there and folks can still 3D print their own gear. Different strokes for different folks! I’ve heard from quite a few people who’ve said “I just want to buy the dang thing”, and combined with my thoughts on urethane resin … here I am.
I’d love to hear some feedback on this.
Here’s where I’m at:
Several of the parts I already make are cast resins from molds that I make. The longevity of the material has proven itself in other applications. I also have had a handful of less-than-great experiences with 3D printed stuff breaking on me. I really think urethane resin is a tough material, and there’s enough resin choices out there that you can find one for just about any application. Some are heat resistant, others fluid/oil/solvent resistant, some soft, some tough and hard-wearing, etc, and most of them combine several traits.
What you’re looking at above is a green gear that was 3D printed. I spent some time cleaning it up, then molded it (the clear white thing towards the top). Then I cast some resin in the mold to make the blue gear. So far I’ve cast a couple using two different materials. Those are getting sent to a few volunteers who are gonna abuse them. Once I have some data back I’ll make a final material choice, make a few more molds (so I can do small batch production runs), and then I can start popping these things out.
At the end of the day, the file is out there and folks can still 3D print their own gear. Different strokes for different folks! I’ve heard from quite a few people who’ve said “I just want to buy the dang thing”, and combined with my thoughts on urethane resin … here I am.
I’d love to hear some feedback on this.
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