Here are some more prints with the CubeX.
Note: All prints are with PLA.
I am quite impressed how accurate and consistent the parts are printing.
Hole locations were right on. I do not have the means of measuring them exactly, but the mating parts fit to the screw holes.
PLA taps and drills quite nicely (slow speed to not melt the plastic) and the threads are quite strong for plastic.
Since PLA is not as flexible as ABS, snap fits don't work as well with PLA. (I have only tried one snap fit).
In some cases you want to adjust your design to get the proper fit and not be too tight, but it is predicable.
For example the clamp around a cylinder. Knowing that the inner diameter of the clamp prints slightly smaller, I increased the diameter of 2.530" on the model by 0.01" to get the proper clearance to fit on the cylinder.
Also, some parts that are designed as machined parts, might need to be modified in some areas, due to less strength and higher flex of the plastic part.
Great work. Appreciate the effort to get make more information about the CubeX available.
ReplyDeleteGMoneyPhx, thanks for your contributions in our CubeX user group. Great we can share what we are learning. It's not all perfect, but I am really enjoying this new hobby.
ReplyDeleteThank you very much again this is what I was looking for.
ReplyDelete:-)
Maybe you can make a study on the flexibility of the materials ABS and PLA. Can you make a snapper connection between two parts? It would be interesting to know the plain strein fracture toughness A % of the materials. I'm aware of the fact that this depends on how the part was layed out.
Again many thanks!!
PLA taps and drills quite nicely (slow speed to not melt the plastic) and the threads are decently strong for plastic.
ReplyDeleteSince PLA is not as flexible as ABS, snap fits don't work as well with PLA. (I have only tried one snap fit).
I have not played much with ABS yet, just got a cartridge, but having difficulties with part warping and sticking to the print bed. So till I have more time to tinker with ABS, I am printing with PLA.