26 Jan
2015
26 Jan
'15
2:42 p.m.
On 01/26/2015 12:00 PM, geneb wrote:
Chuck, you might want to find someone that's got a
3D printer near you
and has experience with a flexible filament called NinjaFlex. If you
can't find anyone, let me know and I'll pick up a spool and give it a shot.
Maybe, but here's the thing: "flexible" doesn't mean that material is
suitable. If you take my example of a capstan, one property that's
required is a sufficient amount of "grippiness" (there's probably an
engineering term for it).
So, for example, polyethylene is quite soft in some forms, but is
totally "un-grippy". Some stuff that's grippy isn't hard enough (I
think that's the durometer rating), e.g. most silicone elastomers.
Neoprene is obviously the ideal stuff for this; I'm wondering if this
Sugru material has the desired characteristics. As far as I know, one
can't 3D print neoprene.
--Chuck