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As you say, the molds are 3D printed - the lugs are 100% carbon and epoxy, no foam, 3d plastic etc. The process is basically compression molding

So far it has worked 100% of the time for me :)

Don't need to drink it, but it's good to stay hydrated haha. Silicone naturally does not stick to many substrates, PLA used here being one of them - so no need for release :)

@@vapourcycles thanks for the response.

Hey! Its not really a traditional process, I had to develop my own over the years specifically around 3D printed molds. I guess it's something along the lines of compression molding, and since both sides are rigid (aka no bag) the dimensional accuracy comes from that

@@vapourcycles it looks incredible keep up the good work.

It looks great :) not sure if it's obvious but I did actually quickly sand the twill side in the video, to see how it looks. I didn't spend much time orienting the fabric this time - I think it will look even better next time with good direction for the twill!

@@vapourcycles And how does the non-twill side look if you sanded it? In the video, you said that some people think the lugs are 3d printed. I am just wondering how it would look sanded and smoother out?

It looks good also :) Sadly I can't reply with a picture here! Thing with unidirectional outer layer is that you really have to lay it neatly which is hard and time consuming.

You mean the chopped fiber one? You can't squeeze much through a printer nozzle, so you are limited to fiber size and therefore strength of the part. Also you can only print thermoplastics, which is not good if you want thermal stability. And finally this process has no layer adhesion issues - it's pretty much one solid molecule of plastic! The only thing printed carbon filled nylon has going is that you can make things hollow and therefore light, it's not in the same league on every other aspect

@@vapourcycles www.engineering.com/story/anisoprint-anisotropy-as-advantage-in-carbon-fiber-3d-printing

It would be the cheaper option for sure, but would it be the fun one?

Hey Steve! It has no function, beyond being an easy shape to demonstrate the process :) Sounds like you had a fun project there, probably the most advanced grass cutting mod on the planet 🤘

My bad, was a little too violent to do with camera in the way - pliers and chisel! Will be sure to film it in the next video (going to make an X carriage for a 3d printer)

@@vapourcycles all good I look forward to your future experiments with this! I want to try this process for making electric skateboard parts.

Sounds like a really cool project! Going to look great in carbon too 🤘

Great rule of thumb, going to try it out! I was thinking in this case since the fabric would be captive in the "tub" it would have less chance to distort as the two walls slide past each other. Great point on the strength, I focused on just getting it done and forgot to go over the specialities of working with carbon. Will cover it in more depth on the next how-to video. Thanks alot!