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I once got wounded by a tiny 50mm computerfan running at overspeed, so the blades were ripped off and flew all across the room. And that was a standard injection moulded glassfiber reinforced nylon fan... (It was running *way* overspeed...)
So, 3D-printing any propeller- or turbine-like blades looks like a risky business to me. Airplane propellers and turbines are carefully X-rayed for cracks and voids. FDM 3D-prints are by concept full of such "cracks" due to the way the molten "sausages" are laid down. Also, the surface of the blades needs to be very smooth to get a good airflow, and the airfoil shape needs to be very accurate, both which you won't get with a 3D-print.
I think you would be better off making a mould from a real model (thus a duplicate), or if it is a new design, from a carefully post-processed and smoothed 3D-print, and then cast it in strong PU or whatever composite you want. If you cast in a transparent material, you can see any bubbles. If you select a slow-curing resin, you can evacuate the bubbles by vacuum and shaking or tapping. If the mould is big enough, you can also add high-strength fiberglass or other fiber reinforcements, around which you cast. Just like in real airplanes or good safety helmets. Plastic injection-moulded safety helmets are worthless crap, but the good helmets made from composite-resin impregnated fibers can be hit by a heavy hammer several times without fracturing. They don't come apart, which is what you might want.
Thanks! That sounds like a good approach to me. I might print off the original in a wax in that case, maybe make a 'lost wax' mold and use the clear resin as you suggest.
Much appreciated.
John
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Cura 5.7 is here and it brings a handy new workflow improvement when using Thingiverse and Cura together, as well as additional capabilities for Method series printers, and a powerful way of sharing print settings using new printer-agnostic project files! Read on to find out about all of these improvements and more.
S-Line Firmware 8.3.0 was released Nov. 20th on the "Latest" firmware branch.
(Sorry, was out of office when this released)
This update is for...
All UltiMaker S series
New features
Temperature status. During print preparation, the temperatures of the print cores and build plate will be shown on the display. This gives a better indication of the progress and remaining wait time. Save log files in paused state. It is now possible to save the printer's log files to USB if the currently active print job is paused. Previously, the Dump logs to USB option was only enabled if the printer was in idle state. Confirm print removal via Digital Factory. If the printer is connected to the Digital Factory, it is now possible to confirm the removal of a previous print job via the Digital Factory interface. This is useful in situations where the build plate is clear, but the operator forgot to select Confirm removal on the printer’s display. Visit this page for more information about this feature.
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geert_2 557
I once got wounded by a tiny 50mm computerfan running at overspeed, so the blades were ripped off and flew all across the room. And that was a standard injection moulded glassfiber reinforced nylon fan... (It was running *way* overspeed...)
So, 3D-printing any propeller- or turbine-like blades looks like a risky business to me. Airplane propellers and turbines are carefully X-rayed for cracks and voids. FDM 3D-prints are by concept full of such "cracks" due to the way the molten "sausages" are laid down. Also, the surface of the blades needs to be very smooth to get a good airflow, and the airfoil shape needs to be very accurate, both which you won't get with a 3D-print.
I think you would be better off making a mould from a real model (thus a duplicate), or if it is a new design, from a carefully post-processed and smoothed 3D-print, and then cast it in strong PU or whatever composite you want. If you cast in a transparent material, you can see any bubbles. If you select a slow-curing resin, you can evacuate the bubbles by vacuum and shaking or tapping. If the mould is big enough, you can also add high-strength fiberglass or other fiber reinforcements, around which you cast. Just like in real airplanes or good safety helmets. Plastic injection-moulded safety helmets are worthless crap, but the good helmets made from composite-resin impregnated fibers can be hit by a heavy hammer several times without fracturing. They don't come apart, which is what you might want.
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JohnInOttawa 104
Thanks! That sounds like a good approach to me. I might print off the original in a wax in that case, maybe make a 'lost wax' mold and use the clear resin as you suggest.
Much appreciated.
John
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