Need a filament expert
I am sure this is a crazy question, but I am going to attempt printing some brackets. So if you are familiar with Veneer Stone older panels had grooves in them and a metal clip was inserted into this groove and then screwed to the wall. Well just my luck I have a bunch of this stone but no clips and they are discontinued. So I want to try and print them. The clips do not hold a ton of weight they just hold the stone to the wall and they are hidden behind the stone so really no weather except for cold and hot. I am going to try and post a pic of what the original clip looks like and you will see it just sets into a groove and then screws to the wall. Question is they are only about 1/8" thick with hooks and I am wondering if you think PLA would be strong enough for this or should I go with some type of carbon filament? Any advise would be great.
The old name for 3D printing was 'Rapid Prototyping' - and that's your method.
Make one, test it, refine the design and retest until you have a working part. By testing I mean test to destruction, be rough, find how they fail and rework in the light of the tests. Part of the testing is to try different materials and part of long term testing is to see how different versions stand up to working conditions over time...
Go for it.
Cheerio,
RE: Need a filament expert
Thank you, Diem, but it is a little tough to R+D a clip for a stone wall that's why I was hoping someone with a little experience would lend some input. You can't build this wall and 1 year from now after its all laying on the ground decide I wish I would have used different material.
RE: Need a filament expert
Have you considered Velcro?
RE: Need a filament expert
tough to R+D a clip for a stone wall
It is, but how do you think the (now unobtainable) original parts were designed?
You can't build this wall and 1 year from now after its all laying on the ground decide I wish I would have used different material.
Er, you *can* but there's a better way.
Once you have a good candidate that has passed your initial tests and has a chance of lasting you make a set - and a few extra. Fit them but check them at intervals, if one begins to fail you replace it with one of the extras, you now know how long those last, and you print new in either a refined design or a new material.
I occasionally make safety critical parts for ocean going vessels; I have even emailed part files to a vessel in a remote port for local printing. The above procedure is standard. The new parts go on the regular maintenance checklist and from time to time one may come back for refinement.
You haven't told us anything about the environment these clips are to be used in or even what type of stone they will support - acid? alkaline? and what is the supporting structure, whether there is thermal expansion to accommodate, frost heave or heavy vibration... And you haven't told us what metal the originals were made from. Don't forget that printing filaments allow other designs than forged or cast metals but may not work as a slavish copy.
At a guess PLA will be too likely to evade pressure so PETG might be a good first choice as long as UV light is not an issue.
I doubt there is any need for inclusions and they might even make the part too stiff.
But there are all guesses, you will need to experiment and test.
Cheerio,