Hello all, I am new to Shapeways and printing custom parts. I am trying to replace a gear in a toy that's currently nylon; if I were to make this gear, what Shapeways material would be best suited? I'd think White Detail should work, but I don't know about the strength. The gear is not serving any structural purpose, will be turning less than 8 ounces of weight, under normal operations will have very little resistance, and will be connecting with other gears that are also nylon. Thanks!
I don't quite know how to answer - the geometry is a circular toothed gear, appx 45mm diameter x 3mm thick; with opening in center for axle; it needs to be accurate enough to engage teeth on other gears without binding or slipping. So, probably highly accurate.
It wasn't a question but a statement. If the current gear is nylon, then you might reasonably wish to replace it with nylon - that was my thinking.
It will also depend on how many teeth there are. In this example there are 122 teeth with a diameter of 36mm. http://shpws.me/qoTl I did four iterations of this trying to use WSF and FUD. The size of the teeth did not come up to the minimum wall requirements in WSF. Which would have been stronger. It printed OK in FUD but failed with the strain on the part. It was a replacement gear for a Sony Walkman. So your gear is 45mm diameter If the number of teeth would pass the min wall thickness with WSF then I would go with that, as the Detail plastic is very brittle.
Thank you, I didn't know nylon is an available material, I am very new to Shapeways and learning as I go. The gear only has 48 teeth, so based on your experience. it should be printable. If it's durable enough for the stress, I don't know.
You should get away with the gear printed in White Strong & Flexible, however, the downside to WSF is that the surface is rough - in a geartrain this will cause friction and wear. Paul