3D printed gear

[cobbadog]

Again a big thanks for the hints and tips to tracking down the gear/s I'm after. I will chase it up later today as work is now screaming at me.

 

[CFLBob]

Maybe this is late, but has anyone tried 3D printing a gear in plastic (PLA or whatever your printer works with) and then investment casting it?

I'm thinking maybe a low density print, not as strong as the material could be, invest it in the the kind of investment that jeweler's use and then casting the gear in brass or aluminum? Not sure it would handle casting steel, but I think there is such as thing as investment casting steel.

I don't know anything about this kind of investment, just that the seller is one the biggest names in the jewelry industry and is reputable. Offered in case no one knows what I'm talking about.

 

[lohring]

There are three filaments that I know of for 3D printed patterns for lost wax casting.
Polycast, Moldlay, and Machinable wax. Polycast seems to be available only for industrial users. Moldlay seems to be easier to use than Machinable wax. I haven't tried any of them since my investment casting equipment isn't set up.

Lohring Miller

 

[CFLBob]

There are three filaments that I know of for 3D printed patterns for lost wax casting.
Polycast, Moldlay, and Machinable wax. Polycast seems to be available only for industrial users. Moldlay seems to be easier to use than Machinable wax. I haven't tried any of them since my investment casting equipment isn't set up.

Lohring Miller

Thanks for those links! Very cool.

I don't have a 3D printer. Yet. It's seems like a natural for making parts by casting and casting is a very common manufacturing technique. I'll copy those three links and keep them.

 

[cobbadog]

I am hopeful I have found a supplier of gears "off the shelf" and I now only need to confirm the number of teeth, the pitch which they must match and a bore size already in steel. I am also very confident that one printed in this PLA product would also be a successful gear to use under the condition of which it will be put, a simple rotating gear against a lead screw with no or very little resistance.
Cobba

 

[cobbadog]

Firstly I would like to thank everyone who has made suggestions and offers of help to get my thread chasing dial up and going. In my last post I found and bought some gears to do the job I needed. There are 3 different size gears from 10 teeth through to 14 teeth which covers the main metric threads I need to make. Once they arrived I made the body, pivot and dial up on the lathe and assembled it and gave it a run. All the time trying to think of ways to mark up the dial so that it can be read. Fortunately I made 2 dials as this one is a bit rough in the marking up department but I can still take a skim off the top and re mark it in a better way which is something I will do once I get over the normal pre Christmas rush.
I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everyone a Very Merry Christmas and a very Happy and Prosperous New Year.