Thought you might be interested in what is new for 3d printers.
I don’t know Dennis. I don’t think it would have much use for us:
"No small, intricate parts.
"To reinforce objects, CFF technology embeds a continuous strand of fiber material within the nylon layers. This strand of fiber needs to be long enough in each layer to provide strength to the parts, therefore it cannot be placed in small objects or intricate parts.
"Tip: if your model is small or has intricate details, we recommend using different materials.’
Now, my youngest son’s best friend’s mom works for Lockheed and they have a printer that prints in titanium at any detail you want. They refuse to let me anywhere near it. I don’t know what’s the matter with those people; apparently my railroad isn’t a national defense priority.
edit: it says .8 mm
Well, the reinforced parts could have limited use for us in locomotive frames and bridges. I don’t know what I would even want in titanium.
That’s true…maybe for larger parts that aren’t manufactured anymore too.
Print your parts 3% oversize and I’ll cast them in bronze. Half way between brass and mild steel in hardness.(http://www.largescalecentral.com/externals/tinymce/plugins/emoticons/img/smiley-cool.gif) Can cast white bronze for the steel look.
I’m still moving forward with this idea…
John
I have considered trying a stronger type of ABS plastic filament with carbon fiber for replacement parts of this scale rather then regular ABS but if I was to print passenger car side frames, the trucks would create electrical shorts on an electrified track!..
Gilbert
Gilbert, that would depend on the wheels. Bachmann wheels are both insulated from the axle, whereas USA wheels only have one wheel insulated from the axle. So if both USA axles are put in the truck, with the insulators on the same side, it should work. Also, depending on how conductive the truck is, a modeler could just run a wire from each truck for power pick up.
I’ve been thinking about using electrically conductive filament to make rail clamps that will conduct electricity, but not cause electrolysis between metals.
Would they be as strong as metal clamps? And for the dead rail guys, just regular filament would do.
Hey, now that’s an idea. If the plastic rail clamps could be made strong enough, and for significantly less then metal clamps, they might be a good alternative for the dead rail guys. You know, after spending all that money on a locomotive and the gear for it, saving a few bucks on clamps might be a good thing.
I made a test of a Hillman-style clamp to see how well it would hold. I used #256 machine screws and nuts to hold the clamp together, and mounted two short pieces of code 250 AL rail in it. It snugged down really well, and should hold the rails in place. The PLA may or may not hold up over the long term, so this is just a test. Version 2 of the clamp uses two sized holes one a little larger than the #256, the other half the clamp has holes just a little smaller than a #256 screw. The screw cuts its own threads in the smaller holes and seems to hold very well. Now to get some carbon fibre PLA to see how well a clamp like that conducts electricity.
The reason for all this is to get reliable conductivity through my AL rail clamp with brass clamps. That is BAD, as the corrosion that inevitably builds up between the two dissimilar metals will not conduct electricity.
One guy posted that he puts aluminum foil in his clamps, so for the conductivity part its aluminum to aluminum to aluminum, with the brass clamp just mechanically holding it all together.