this post was submitted on 10 Mar 2025
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Electronics
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There are some youtube videos of people machining them (sadly my browser does not support smell). Looks like you treat it like any other solid material: hobb or mill the teeth. This is much more expensive than 3d printing.
You might be surprised by your 3d printed gears. If you keep the detail size large they work really well, but backlash is definitely an issue.
@Gronk @WaterWaiver
I printed 2 gears for my 7x12 lathe out of a filament from Igus.
https://www.igus.com/product/20322?artNr=I190-PF-0175-0750
Been in use for over 5 months and from inspection are in good shape. Quieter and unlike the originals durable. One is sacrificial and will shear if the lathe jams. When I jammed it it loaded the motor pretty heavily then let go so it did work. Some replace that gear with a metal one but I wanted the sacrificial feature so I do not blow the motor and speed control.
You need a heated chamber and they recommend heat treating it before use which I did not do since I was not certain it would not change the dimensions.
They have a few other filaments that are also useful. I went to this after multiple attempts to 3d print delrin. Even made a wood bed and finally gave up.
It's not cheap but I still have over 90% on the reel left after printing 3 gears.
I replaced the original gears for my pools in-ground cleaning system with 3d-printed versions and they lasted several seasons. I had originally intended to simply keep the system running while I waited for replacement parts to arrive.
@liquefy4931 @Gronk
The impeller for my pool heater failed several years ago . They did not sell the part and my attempts to glue the old one failed after a short time The temporary impeller I made with the printer is still going strong . Removed it awhile back and it looks fine.
Speaking of fixes, the air compressor I bought to inflate tires was useless as it took forever to inflate a tire. Thought it was bad so returned it and bought a new one.
Turned out its a safety feature they lower the output to the point it is useless. I took the regulator apart and figured if I redesigned one part it would allow more air to flow . 2 new o-rings to seal it and a bit of silicone lube and I've been inflating tires happily since. The old setup took over 10 minutes to bring a car tire from 28 to 32 PSI. It now does it under a minute.
@liquefy4931 @Gronk
The impeller for my pool heater failed several years ago . They did not sell the part and my attempts to glue the old one failed after a short time The temporary impeller I made with the printer is still going strong . Removed it awhile back and it looks fine.
Speaking of fixes, the air compressor I bought to inflate tires was useless as it took forever to inflate a tire. Thought it was bad so returned it and bought a new one.
Turned out its a safety feature they lower the output to the point it is useless. I took the regulator apart and figured if I redesigned one part it would allow more air to flow . 2 new o-rings to seal it and a bit of silicone lube and I've been inflating tires happily since. The old setup took a few minutes to bring a car tire from 28 to 32 PSI. It now does it under a minute.