It’s done in White resin, it’s part of a custom motor / gearbox assembly. The print was to check fit the assembly and was much quicker than programming and machining from aluminium.
The model was done in Solid Works and saved as stl for printing.
It printed in about 7 hrs and once cleaned up and cured on the windowsill for a day, tapping the holes for assembly was very easy.
Now I’m confident the part is right, I can go ahead and do the programming to mill the production parts from aluminium billet.
nice part is the thread resistant ? what is the diameter of your nut thread ? Do you think the resin is as hard and resistant as daily plastics (PET, PVC ect) ?
The threads are M4 x 0.7, they are resistant enough for this model eg: they can be tightened to about the same torque I would expect to get away with in a plastic nut.
The cured material feels about the same as PVC or acrylic. Formlabs published the mechanical properties of the clear resin here:
I’m going to have to give a fairly fuzzy answer based on my limited experience.
It depends on your requirements.
If you have very tight tolerances, then probably not. This part met my needs for checking a designed part against some pre manufactured and bought in parts, your parts and needs may differ.
You may need to tune the machine in pre-form to get the required accuracy in X & Y axis.
I have found the output to be excellent for my needs but the process is prone to occasional failures, particularly with larger parts so again, if your work is time critical then perhaps not.
But if you can live with a bit of tuning, a process that needs to be fairly controlled, a proportion of failed prints etc. Then there is nothing better that I can find for the money.
If you can’t live with these constraints, you need this quality of output, better part accuracy, less fuss, less tuning, click & go reliability then my conclusion was Objet and at least 5 x the cost of a form 1 as well as higher material running costs. But the cost / benefit calculation for that just doesn’t stack up for me so the Form1 seems the best machine for my needs right now.
I printed a M4x0.7 tapped dowel pin, but the screw doesn’t fit. There is to much material inside.
The design was made in ProE/Creo and converted to an object-file.
Did you try other threads as well?
Can you tell me anything about the representation of your screw threads?
Thank you for being a strong proponent of the Form 1 for mechanical parts. I too use the Form 1 for mechanical parts such as gears, threads, moving parts, and slip or press fits. The Form 1 does incredibly well for these type of parts compared to other printers in the same price point or in most cases even printers that are much more expensive.
Jessica,
I recommend chasing most common threads with a tap or die when possible. This is especially true on threads below M6 or 0.25" dia.
I have had excellent luck with printed threads on larger diameters and pitches. For diameters in the 0.25"-0.5" range with the smallest pitch being 28 TPI I typically offset the faces of the threads 0.002" on the male and female side for a total of 0.004" clearance.
On diameters above 0.5" with the smallest pitch being 20 TPI I typically offset the faces of the threads 0.003" on the male and female side for a total of 0.006" clearance.
Like anything in the mechanical world a little experimentation goes a long way. Good luck and happy printing! -Kevin
is the thread resistant ? what is the diameter of your nut thread ? Do you think the resin is as hard and resistant as daily plastics (PET, PVC ect) ?