My first guess was grey pro but then after feeling the slight flex of the nylon part I decided on Durable. What do you guys think?
I’d say Though, but ultimately no resin reasonably matches all PA characteristics . Certainly not Grey pro as it is too brittle, and Durable is too soft and more closely resembles PP than PA.
What mechanical characteristics of PA are you looking for ?
He is moving away from nylon and in a perfect world he would have acetal. Durable sounds like the best option to me now.
For POM (acetal) I’d again say Tough, as it can be polished to a very fine surface and can act as a plain bearing like many POM parts, yet isn’t as likely to break as Grey Pro or standard resins. Again Durable is very soft and bendy which IMHO is not what one is looking for especially if making a shift from PA to POM, on the contrary it’s probably the furthest resin from PA or POM to be honest.
You didn’t day what mechanical characteristics you are looking for in PA/POM though so I can only state generalities.
Makes sense. Maybe I will use tough as well and then he can compare the two. He is ultimately looking for form, fit, and function. It’s for an arms holster. Concealment.
Thank you for your insight! I appreciate your response.
I would start with Durable. Some flex & low friction.
Tough is a little more ridged and could maybe scratch the finish.
Thank you. I think that durable will be the best bet to start with as well. I printed it already in durable and just by feeling it , it seems good so far. Tough may be another option to compare if this doesnt seem right to him.
Durable is definitely your best bet here as it holds it’s shape well and elastically deforms in a similar way to a nylon. Does the material need any of the temperature or chemical resistance of nylon 6? Durable might struggle in these areas!
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I have yet to find a 3D printed material that is close to Acetal.
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For an arm holster, your initial choice of Durable is the right one. I maintain that it’s far from resembling Nylon in many ways but what you are looking for here is durability and impact resistance, with rigidity and general “toughness” being only secondary attributes. Durable is about the only resin which will never break if thrown, hit or squeezed, apart from Flexible which is obviously not rigid enough for your application.
To be noted that quite often products similar to arm holsters are indeed made in PA but are often glass fiber reinforced, or are made in a PA/ABS blend (PC for rigidity, ABS for impact resistance). In that regard Rigid is maybe the most similar solution but I think it will be too brittle still.
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