FR2 is the brownish material that many cheap circuit boards are made of. It’s a mixture of phenolic resin and paper. Apparently it’s quite useful to make gears out of:
Phenolic Gears exhibits superior shear force, help reduce machinery noise, absorbs destructive vibration unlike metal gears, phenolic is non-conductive, protects the mating metal gear train, and are known to outlast metal gears under severe continuous service. (source: https://www.knowbirs.com/phenolic-gears )
Has anyone seen these used anywhere? I’ve read a hint regarding pool equipment, but I have never seen them there. I assume the fibres allow them to last longer than plastic/resin only gears.
Woah those are some cool properties, I wonder how hard these gears would be to manufacture at home? I’m looking at implementing my own custom gear reductions in servos but I don’t think my 3d prints will mesh well enough or withstand long usage
I replaced the original gears for my pools in-ground cleaning system with 3d-printed versions and they lasted several seasons. I had originally intended to simply keep the system running while I waited for replacement parts to arrive.
The impeller for my pool heater failed several years ago . They did not sell the part and my attempts to glue the old one failed after a short time The temporary impeller I made with the printer is still going strong . Removed it awhile back and it looks fine.
Speaking of fixes, the air compressor I bought to inflate tires was useless as it took forever to inflate a tire. Thought it was bad so returned it and bought a new one.
Turned out its a safety feature they lower the output to the point it is useless. I took the regulator apart and figured if I redesigned one part it would allow more air to flow . 2 new o-rings to seal it and a bit of silicone lube and I’ve been inflating tires happily since. The old setup took over 10 minutes to bring a car tire from 28 to 32 PSI. It now does it under a minute.
The impeller for my pool heater failed several years ago . They did not sell the part and my attempts to glue the old one failed after a short time The temporary impeller I made with the printer is still going strong . Removed it awhile back and it looks fine.
Speaking of fixes, the air compressor I bought to inflate tires was useless as it took forever to inflate a tire. Thought it was bad so returned it and bought a new one.
Turned out its a safety feature they lower the output to the point it is useless. I took the regulator apart and figured if I redesigned one part it would allow more air to flow . 2 new o-rings to seal it and a bit of silicone lube and I’ve been inflating tires happily since. The old setup took a few minutes to bring a car tire from 28 to 32 PSI. It now does it under a minute.
I printed 2 gears for my 7x12 lathe out of a filament from Igus.
https://www.igus.com/product/20322?artNr=I190-PF-0175-0750
Been in use for over 5 months and from inspection are in good shape. Quieter and unlike the originals durable. One is sacrificial and will shear if the lathe jams. When I jammed it it loaded the motor pretty heavily then let go so it did work. Some replace that gear with a metal one but I wanted the sacrificial feature so I do not blow the motor and speed control.
You need a heated chamber and they recommend heat treating it before use which I did not do since I was not certain it would not change the dimensions.
They have a few other filaments that are also useful. I went to this after multiple attempts to 3d print delrin. Even made a wood bed and finally gave up.
It’s not cheap but I still have over 90% on the reel left after printing 3 gears.
