You can get 3D print models on my Patreon: www.patreon.com/user?u=865843... My main channel: / jpheisz Website: ibuildit.ca/ Facebook: / i-build-it-25804801424... Instagram: / i_build_it.ca
It sounds a little odd, but I've found that using grease with a high molylbdinum content on plastic gears can really help them last a long time. As i understand it, the molybdinum microscopically bonds to the surfaces, sort of plating them with a much more wear resistant material. I don't really know how it does its magic, but I'm sold. I put moly grease on most of my consumer products that come with nylon gearing, such as my paper shredder.
I love this newly infused excitement over something new. I've had a 3D printer a decade now, a homemade unit that never worked particularly well but was a fun learning experience. Looking at the current state of the market, I'm thinking a new commercial 3D printer might be in my near future.
John, there's a second thing that usually ends up destroying plastic gears: heat. However, you're using PETG, so it would need to be REALLY hot... Usually PLA fails pretty quickly. Oh, friction does as well, but I believe it's for the same reason: heat. So you should be ok... And, if you have any issues, you can always put a PC fan and some holes, to help it cool down. Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Provided the part was strong enough my worry would have been the PLA warming and deforming over time. The PETG would handle that better but its not as forgiving so that might crack apart. Its amazing to see it spinning that well under load. I would be interested in nylon filament and would imagine that would work much better. I have made gears before for pinball machines that have held up but not near to this amount of load, Im very excited to see how far you take this.
Ive been designing and 3D printing since around 2009 and I can say I’m very excited to see what this technology does in your hands. Welcome to the dark side!
Your prints look WAY nicer than mine. I wouldn't mind seeing a video on how you set up and tuned your printer. I'm starting to wonder where else 3D printing could be useful in the shop that I've overlooked due to thoughts that the parts wouldn't hold up. This could be fun!
Bambu Lab printer... _Unpack Print_ a new generation/tech.... calibrating themselves... printing with blazing speed... You can Print your parts NOT fiddling with the machine... NOT expensive
3D printed Bandsaw: at first i thougt "not soooo good" - but to print some parts would be quite handy - especially those round precision parts ... nice try & thanks for the effort!
John....love to have your creative juices flowing! The reason I subbed and became a Patreon years ago was for your imagination and it just so happened you used wood. Now you are using plastic and CAD as your medium of choice but your awesome imagination remains!
Considering a bandsaw typically isn't on all day I can see this being feasible. Even if it was on all day cutting wood it would be an interesting experiment.
Looks like you're going to make a mesh out of your band saw if you're not careful. Do you even need the belt? How about a direct drive? Great video John thumbs up.
V gears are great for 3D printing. So annoying to make by other methods... Love how they self-centre against one another. Have you heard about the technique where you pack your 3d printed part in un-compressible heat tolerant material like salt or sand? Really pack it in. Use vibration, etc. Then oven bake. The plastic remelts and strengthens the bonds between layer lines etc. The part does not warp because it is held in the sand mould. You get close to injection moulded strength. (parts need to be printed solid and normal injection moulding issues like consistent as possible wall thickness are advantageous...) Pretty sure there was some CZcams about the technique...
I've used gears on my 3D printer itself and tried different types of plastic and the one that is still going is a set of nylon ones. PLA, ABS, PETG all wore down pretty quickly, within months, and abs within weeks. But the nylon still goes strong after 2 years. Nylon gears are also used on some lathes which goes to show they are viable. It's just a matter of sizing for strength and good geometry. Material knowledge of plastics comes in handy. Another wear resistant material is TPU, though gears isn't practical since it's too soft. But it can be great from pads under machinery, belts, gaskets etc. It's also chemically resistant to many chemicals. Nylon and TPU aren't the easiest to print with though but you can order them from PCB manufacturers for example. Nylon needs pretty high temperatures and a heated bed with enclosure. TPU can jam in the cold end extruder and retraction can be an issue since it's flexible. Getting them to stick or not stick too well is also an issue. I used to print on glass coated with varnish, getting a nylon print off often took bits of glass with it. Then there's warping and shrinking, water content causing bubbles etc.
Just for your information back in the 70's Trials bikes (motorcycles) had Nylon rear sprockets fitted and worked great it was just the cost at the time that killed them,if you watch a motorcycle trial on youtube you would understand the sort of stress that sprocket would have been under. So good idea could you get them printed in nylon?
For when it is required. Do not discount having a company print nylon gears. Model them. Test them. Nylon is what many gears are in many machines. Even heavy duty machines. The cost of uploading your design and getting them in the mail is surprisingly low.
if done well, 3D printing can be very strong and durable. Makers Muse did a video on testing different materials for gears if you haven't seen it. I forget what material he landed on though. Best part of 3D printing is if it does break, you can just make another. So make it easy to access to change out.
I believe some printers can print glass fiber reinforced now as well? But seems overkill, if they wear out in a year, just replace them. As long as this initial inertia test is solid and it wont regularly strip the gear it should be fine.
"Are you not entertained??!!" - Maximus
Everything is impossible till someone does it. John, your the man to do it.
It sounds a little odd, but I've found that using grease with a high molylbdinum content on plastic gears can really help them last a long time. As i understand it, the molybdinum microscopically bonds to the surfaces, sort of plating them with a much more wear resistant material. I don't really know how it does its magic, but I'm sold. I put moly grease on most of my consumer products that come with nylon gearing, such as my paper shredder.
I love this newly infused excitement over something new. I've had a 3D printer a decade now, a homemade unit that never worked particularly well but was a fun learning experience. Looking at the current state of the market, I'm thinking a new commercial 3D printer might be in my near future.
Nice to see some R&D John. Makes a reasonable amount of sense too!
Mark
John, there's a second thing that usually ends up destroying plastic gears: heat. However, you're using PETG, so it would need to be REALLY hot... Usually PLA fails pretty quickly.
Oh, friction does as well, but I believe it's for the same reason: heat.
So you should be ok... And, if you have any issues, you can always put a PC fan and some holes, to help it cool down.
Anyway, stay safe there with your family! 🖖😊
Provided the part was strong enough my worry would have been the PLA warming and deforming over time. The PETG would handle that better but its not as forgiving so that might crack apart. Its amazing to see it spinning that well under load. I would be interested in nylon filament and would imagine that would work much better. I have made gears before for pinball machines that have held up but not near to this amount of load, Im very excited to see how far you take this.
Looking forward to this...
Ive been designing and 3D printing since around 2009 and I can say I’m very excited to see what this technology does in your hands. Welcome to the dark side!
Your prints look WAY nicer than mine. I wouldn't mind seeing a video on how you set up and tuned your printer.
I'm starting to wonder where else 3D printing could be useful in the shop that I've overlooked due to thoughts that the parts wouldn't hold up. This could be fun!
The printer he has is not cheap.
Bambu Lab printer... _Unpack Print_ a new generation/tech.... calibrating themselves... printing with blazing speed... You can Print your parts NOT fiddling with the machine... NOT expensive
Marius Hornberger uses 3D printing quite a bit in his workshop. Things like adjustable dust extraction and couplings for dust extractors, etc.
André Citroën bought a patent in Poland in 1900 on a chevron-shaped gear used in milling. Hence Citroën's logo! 😍
3D printed Bandsaw: at first i thougt "not soooo good" - but to print some parts would be quite handy - especially those round precision parts ... nice try & thanks for the effort!
Hmmm seems like the beginnings of a metal cutting bandsaw
Put a soft start on the motor?
Great work John. Never let someone tell you it can't be done. They might not have been able to do it but someone else probably can.
John....love to have your creative juices flowing! The reason I subbed and became a Patreon years ago was for your imagination and it just so happened you used wood. Now you are using plastic and CAD as your medium of choice but your awesome imagination remains!
Even if they don't last as long as other gears, at least it's cheap and easy to print replacements
To answer your question... yes, you are crazy the right way. :D
ASA or ABS have higher heat tolerance as well.
The gears didn't even get warm
Considering a bandsaw typically isn't on all day I can see this being feasible. Even if it was on all day cutting wood it would be an interesting experiment.
Exactly. My testing time with it running was probably equal to a month or more of typical usage on my band saw.
_... my little bandsaw is not loved..._ NOW (?) if part breaks I'd just 3DPrint a new one... Pls John You can do it
Cool. Keep us posted.
I’m impressed with those gears.
Yup !
Looks like you're going to make a mesh out of your band saw if you're not careful. Do you even need the belt? How about a direct drive? Great video John thumbs up.
V gears are great for 3D printing. So annoying to make by other methods... Love how they self-centre against one another. Have you heard about the technique where you pack your 3d printed part in un-compressible heat tolerant material like salt or sand? Really pack it in. Use vibration, etc. Then oven bake. The plastic remelts and strengthens the bonds between layer lines etc. The part does not warp because it is held in the sand mould. You get close to injection moulded strength. (parts need to be printed solid and normal injection moulding issues like consistent as possible wall thickness are advantageous...) Pretty sure there was some CZcams about the technique...
You have an enquiring mind.
I've used gears on my 3D printer itself and tried different types of plastic and the one that is still going is a set of nylon ones. PLA, ABS, PETG all wore down pretty quickly, within months, and abs within weeks. But the nylon still goes strong after 2 years.
Nylon gears are also used on some lathes which goes to show they are viable. It's just a matter of sizing for strength and good geometry.
Material knowledge of plastics comes in handy. Another wear resistant material is TPU, though gears isn't practical since it's too soft. But it can be great from pads under machinery, belts, gaskets etc. It's also chemically resistant to many chemicals. Nylon and TPU aren't the easiest to print with though but you can order them from PCB manufacturers for example. Nylon needs pretty high temperatures and a heated bed with enclosure. TPU can jam in the cold end extruder and retraction can be an issue since it's flexible. Getting them to stick or not stick too well is also an issue. I used to print on glass coated with varnish, getting a nylon print off often took bits of glass with it. Then there's warping and shrinking, water content causing bubbles etc.
Well, you haven't exactly tested the longevity of those.
Nylon might be best choice for gears
Just for your information back in the 70's Trials bikes (motorcycles) had Nylon rear sprockets fitted and worked great it was just the cost at the time that killed them,if you watch a motorcycle trial on youtube you would understand the sort of stress that sprocket would have been under. So good idea could you get them printed in nylon?
you can add a propeller/fan to dissipate the energy without heating up.
you are a Step ahead of me, I supposed to tell you, to design your gear in a "V" shape and you did so you can put more load on it
For when it is required. Do not discount having a company print nylon gears. Model them. Test them. Nylon is what many gears are in many machines. Even heavy duty machines. The cost of uploading your design and getting them in the mail is surprisingly low.
if done well, 3D printing can be very strong and durable. Makers Muse did a video on testing different materials for gears if you haven't seen it. I forget what material he landed on though. Best part of 3D printing is if it does break, you can just make another. So make it easy to access to change out.
that's cool, what will the rpm be of the blade ?
I believe some printers can print glass fiber reinforced now as well? But seems overkill, if they wear out in a year, just replace them. As long as this initial inertia test is solid and it wont regularly strip the gear it should be fine.
You seem to have built most of a lathe there. Add a chuck and you're in business 😊
Gears might work, from what I've seen it's well worth lubricating them.
I think you are probably crazy. But they say if you question that, you aren't.
Those gears run smooth and exceed the strength needed to run a 12" bandsaw. Certainly worth a try, not crazy at all.
😅YES... 12inch (mostly) *" 3D printed bandsaw "* go for IT
Yes you are crazy. But who among us isn't?