I am making a part out of acetal right now somewhere where I need to reduce weight. Acetal is pretty low density, 1.41 g/cm**3, but perhaps carbon fiber composite? It is denser, but far stronger.* I was thinking of machining out of it, and I was shocked and pleased to find a 3D printer that does carbon fiber composite. This has always been my problem with 3D printing; its shear strength is poor with most of the common materials.
*Additional problem is that you can't use steel fasteners; electrolytic action corrodes.
Can you find someone who does it in Kevlar fiber?
ReplyDeleteBack in the 80's, I worked for a surgical laser company that had the articulated arms for CO2 lasers (the actual tubes of the arms) made from that. Very stiff/strong, and not electrically conductive. The aluminum ends that connected them to the mirror and bearing joints were glued into the tubes. I think that they were made in Silicon Valley, but never saw any in the QC/QA area to get any info on them. I suspect they were sourced by a machineshop that made and installed the end pieces, as they came already assembled with them.