Metallic material for 3D project
Im working on some 3D mechanical project, I lack the knowledge about what metal parts commonly used in these designs. The only thing I can manage so far is screw. Particularly Im having trouble with design involving rotating shaft where it connect bearing, gears, belts, and other moving parts. Everything else comes with standard unit, shafts I don't have a clue where to look for or how to trim those if needed. It seems I will need more tools for professional metal work, which is a field Im not familiar with. Due to this constrain, Im attempting to print the bearing which will fit a print shaft that is thicker than metal. If any of you have experience with 3D mechanical, do I need to be professional metal worker to manage? And what are the place to look for these parts.
Best Answer by Netpackrat:
Metalworking covers a lot of ground. Depending on what you are trying to do, you can do a lot with fairly basic equipment. As a friend of mine once put it, if you have a drill press, a bandsaw, and a belt sander, then you have a nearly complete Okie machine shop. Add some basic welding equipment to that, and things like race cars or airplanes are not out of bounds. But on the other end of things, there's not really any limit to what can be spent in pursuit of adding more capability. To say nothing of specialties such as blacksmithing or foundry.
It sounds like what you are interested in is adding machining capability to complement your 3d printing. The shafts you mention, if you are trying to trim them to length, then you can do that using some fairly crude tools (aka the aforementioned Okie machine shop) and careful measurement. The smooth rods for my printer you asked about in the other thread, that's really all I did... I cut them just over the desired length using an angle grinder, and then finished them to length using a belt sander and an accurate tape measure (I have one that's graduated in both decimal inch and MM that I calibrated years ago). You'll never get it down to the last thou that way, but for most things you can get close enough. I have a lathe and a mill so I could potentially have gotten closer, but hardened steel is difficult to machine with cutting tools, and there was honestly no need for that level of precision.
If you are wanting to machine your shafts down by diameter, cut grooves, etc, then you're going to find that very difficult to do without a lathe. And again, they sky is the limit for what you can spend there. You basically buy machine tools by the pound, and besides the extra size capability what you are really paying for when you spend more money is additional rigidity, which translates into being able to remove metal more quickly.
RE: Metallic material for 3D project
Metalworking covers a lot of ground. Depending on what you are trying to do, you can do a lot with fairly basic equipment. As a friend of mine once put it, if you have a drill press, a bandsaw, and a belt sander, then you have a nearly complete Okie machine shop. Add some basic welding equipment to that, and things like race cars or airplanes are not out of bounds. But on the other end of things, there's not really any limit to what can be spent in pursuit of adding more capability. To say nothing of specialties such as blacksmithing or foundry.
It sounds like what you are interested in is adding machining capability to complement your 3d printing. The shafts you mention, if you are trying to trim them to length, then you can do that using some fairly crude tools (aka the aforementioned Okie machine shop) and careful measurement. The smooth rods for my printer you asked about in the other thread, that's really all I did... I cut them just over the desired length using an angle grinder, and then finished them to length using a belt sander and an accurate tape measure (I have one that's graduated in both decimal inch and MM that I calibrated years ago). You'll never get it down to the last thou that way, but for most things you can get close enough. I have a lathe and a mill so I could potentially have gotten closer, but hardened steel is difficult to machine with cutting tools, and there was honestly no need for that level of precision.
If you are wanting to machine your shafts down by diameter, cut grooves, etc, then you're going to find that very difficult to do without a lathe. And again, they sky is the limit for what you can spend there. You basically buy machine tools by the pound, and besides the extra size capability what you are really paying for when you spend more money is additional rigidity, which translates into being able to remove metal more quickly.