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Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 11:54 am
by afterdark
ok, so making some good progress on the design work and almost finished the prototyping of individual parts so turning my attention to the best type of filament for printing track segment?

So far I have only worked with PLA and, although been quietly impressed with the results, fell I should explore other materials to give me better wear

To date, I have been getting my filament from these guys and had no issues at all with the quality

https://shop.3dfilaprint.com/175mm-209-c.asp

I am wondering if I should bite the bullet and go for something like this?

https://shop.3dfilaprint.com/filaprint- ... 1734-p.asp

Thoughts and experiences most welcome, as is any advice on settings for my Prusa i3 Mk3. I am using Slic3r PE and find it produces very satisfactory results, even with my limited skills :)

Many thanks

AD

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 12:14 pm
by Will01Capri
For wheels i have been having great results with box standard PLA and just make sure i set the density at a minimum of 50% and keep a 1mm-2m wall thickness. Even on my 1/14 Truck Rat Rod with brushless power the wheels seem to be taking a hammering.

However i think i would think twice to use PLA on tracks, i haven't tried yet with PETG, but i think i would go that route or a minimum at least PLA+ which i have heard about.

Sorry if that doesn't really help answer your question

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:18 pm
by midlife306
Christ, they are expensive!!!
I used PLA for the tracks on both the 1/16 & 1/6 T35-A,the 1/6 ones are solid as a rock & will easily take my weight, the 1/16 ones seem to do the job as required, there haven’t been any breakages yet.
I’ve been on with some 1/6 Sherman tracks for Painless, the track pads are fine out of PLA, but the end pivots need to be stronger in my opinion.
I’ve just bought some PETG & I’ll be giving it a blast over the next couple of weeks.
Cheers
Wayne


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Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:45 pm
by PainlessWolf
Wayne, Good Morning,
1/6 Stuart...STUART! tracks *chuckles*
regards and many thanks again,
Painless

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:46 pm
by Son of a gun-ner
PainlessWolf wrote:Wayne, Good Morning,
1/6 Stuart...STUART! tracks *chuckles*
regards and many thanks again,
Painless
Gosh, you can almost hear the panic in those words. . . .

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:47 pm
by midlife306
Well, I never did understand the difference between American tanks lol


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Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:50 pm
by dgsselkirk
The thing for the 3 or 4 of use printing stuff here is the low heat temp of PLA. If your tank is sitting in the car on a hot day or you have any friction points that generate heat (which we get with an outdoor field) we feel the PLA won't be enough. I too have just picked up the PETG and will start printing with it next week. Planning to start with the open spoke Sherman wheels... :D

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 1:53 pm
by Son of a gun-ner
dgsselkirk wrote:I too have just picked up the PETG and will start printing with it next week. Planning to start with the open spoke Sherman wheels... :D
About time. . . .

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:24 pm
by PainlessWolf
Good morning again,
Well, I just went to look at my Stuart and one of the ( hard to put together solidly and still have roll ) return rollers broke apart in my hand ( metal washer separated from the plastic ) Wayne, any chance that you would like to print out six return rollers for this build while you are working on the tracks? I think that if my scratch build roller can be printed as a one piece unit, it will prove to be far more durable. I can send specs and post pics here if you are interested.
regards,
Painless

Re: Best filament for prining tracks and wheels

Posted: Fri Mar 22, 2019 2:33 pm
by midlife306
PainlessWolf wrote:Good morning again,
Well, I just went to look at my Stuart and one of the ( hard to put together solidly and still have roll ) return rollers broke apart in my hand ( metal washer separated from the plastic ) Wayne, any chance that you would like to print out six return rollers for this build while you are working on the tracks? I think that if my scratch build roller can be printed as a one piece unit, it will prove to be far more durable. I can send specs and post pics here if you are interested.
regards,
Painless
Yep, send me the info & I’ll sort something outImage
Cheers
Wwayne


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