i made numerous 3d printed molds, and no matter how hard i try (unless its a really simple design, without any intricacies), my molds always breaks somewhere when demolding. I used PETG, PLA, PET, and still i end up breaking something when demolding. So best solution is to design the mold to use as little filament as possible, use cheap PLA, as it will be good enough, print at small layer height (0.1 - 0.12mm) and then just sand the part after taking it out of the mold. Also - big tip! Sand in water! - you wont get dust in the air and wont breathe it.. less worry, and less cleanup.
@@kingkasma4660 doesn't work that way. If you have a hole in the design, pretty much 99% guaranteed mold will break. Bigger draft angle just means more epoxy will fill the void, and lock up the release. You probably didn't do much of these molds to understand this issue. So as far as it goes - it's an expendable tool, and I use as little plastic as possible to keep the contour of the part I'm compositing, and then just throw away broken molds
@@kingkasma4660 yes, I have a complex, one-piece design, that's even with pin holes for bolts to hammer out still and up breaking something. I used a 9 piece mold the last time I tried it, due to complexity, plastic parts still not strong enough to separate without breaking at the weak points. Again, reiterating that unless it's a simple shape design, plastic 3dprinted mold is a one time use. At least for the complex shape part. I was able to reuse some mold pieces, but I don't design to reuse, I design to waste as little plastic as possible.
@@letsbuildthis no problem, I can't take credit for it, just something I picked up watching Slant 3D! He's got a great channel with a lot of helpful advice!
Great video. Easily one of the best I've seen for using a 3D printed mold. Most guys just show the mold, not how they make it. If you get bored, I'd love to see a more detailed mold tutorial.
@@yuriy77 I've tried to watch all their videos. I don't remember seeing one that left a huge impression on me as far as how the mold was designed. Link?
Awesome, glad to hear it! No shop tour video yet. TBH, the shop is a bit a mess and it drives me crazy, but perhaps I can do a shop video in the near future. Cheers!
Hey chiparooo, not yet, but will include in a future forged carbon video. I can’t even bend or break with my hands (not very scientific I know, haha), it seems very strong though.
Snapmaker A350, and standard PLA for this one. Because there is a chance of destroying the mold, I just use the standard stuff. If I get something refined where it's reusable I'll consider a better material.
How could the bottom split into two parts when the shaft that forms the hole is split half and half with the two lower moulds? th-cam.com/video/kmyJMVr_iB8/w-d-xo.html
Good eye, lol. Yeah total design flaw. I split the mould down the middle as the back up in case I couldn’t get the part out. Welp it was all moot because the boss held it all together. No big deal though because they’re low res prints and they broke in many places anyway. Next design will have the boss on one side.
Good question... not a term I came up with, just the universally used term around a newer composite process for carbon fiber. However the best analogy I can think of is a cast piston vs a forged piston. One is only pored, the other has had forces applied to it. So, I generally agree that the term "forged" carbon is not way far off in the fact that it's put under pressure as well.
i think it makes some sense to call it forged, if it is put under strong pressure. I clamp my mold with several C-clamps all around the area of the mold. but my designs are about 10in square.
Your video is very interesting and well done. What filament are you using for the mold? Just recently I ran across a new filament from Bambu Lab in another video. You may also be interested in it, th-cam.com/video/A5PZclEcLWw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VmhQ5of6jM-FJMaL I ordered some of it from Bambu Lab but it is on back order and I feel confident of the filament since they sell it. I am like you mostly interested in engineering uses of 3D printing. And we have two X1 C printers. Also like you I model all the parts for myself but we use SolidWorks which is comparable to your software too. Good luck on the approach to carbon fiber forging!
Thanks Glenn! Just using the standard PLA for now. If I throw them away, then the cost is low. If I Improve the mould, and can reuse I will definitely consider some better materials. I just picked up a PC-CF filament, but without an enclosure on my printer I don't think it'll work very well. I had the chance last week to print some parts on a X1 and I'm super impressed with the quality and even more so with the speed. Needless to say, the Bambu is likely in my near future. Thanks for the dialog and encouragement!
@@letsbuildthis very nice. i've just done this with some bicycle frame dropouts and I was dissapointed how hard they were to demould. but I had not used a draft angle and did not split the mould like you've done so I guess thats the main reason. BTW for low stress applications like the handle, I'd use PC-CF. I've used it on bikes in certain applications and its very strong. if you enable many wall layers then the outer surface of the object is very strong as you ensure the (shortish) CF fibres are aligned to the surface and so perfect for resisting bending. good luck.
Great video! Perhaps finding a way to make the print layer lines run parallel to the direction in which you intend remove the part will help for de-molding. The tiny ridges that the layer lines form unfortunately just add friction/ grip.
i made numerous 3d printed molds, and no matter how hard i try (unless its a really simple design, without any intricacies), my molds always breaks somewhere when demolding. I used PETG, PLA, PET, and still i end up breaking something when demolding. So best solution is to design the mold to use as little filament as possible, use cheap PLA, as it will be good enough, print at small layer height (0.1 - 0.12mm) and then just sand the part after taking it out of the mold. Also - big tip! Sand in water! - you wont get dust in the air and wont breathe it.. less worry, and less cleanup.
This is really good advice, I just adapted this to some molds I’m printing now. Thank you!
if it breaks you can try different mold releases and bigger draft angles! or more mold pieces.
@@kingkasma4660 doesn't work that way. If you have a hole in the design, pretty much 99% guaranteed mold will break. Bigger draft angle just means more epoxy will fill the void, and lock up the release. You probably didn't do much of these molds to understand this issue. So as far as it goes - it's an expendable tool, and I use as little plastic as possible to keep the contour of the part I'm compositing, and then just throw away broken molds
@@yuriy77 is the mold for the hole also 3d printed? I use steel pins with a lot of mold release and hammer them out after the cure
@@kingkasma4660 yes, I have a complex, one-piece design, that's even with pin holes for bolts to hammer out still and up breaking something. I used a 9 piece mold the last time I tried it, due to complexity, plastic parts still not strong enough to separate without breaking at the weak points.
Again, reiterating that unless it's a simple shape design, plastic 3dprinted mold is a one time use. At least for the complex shape part. I was able to reuse some mold pieces, but I don't design to reuse, I design to waste as little plastic as possible.
Try adding a 1mm chamfer to the edge where it meets the build plate on your printer and that should eliminate the step of having to remove flashing!
That's a great idea! I've done that in the past, and clearly forgot about it, haha. Thanks for the tip!
@@letsbuildthis no problem, I can't take credit for it, just something I picked up watching Slant 3D! He's got a great channel with a lot of helpful advice!
Nice mold work. We shared this video on our homemade tool forum last week 😎
Awesome, thank you!
Great video. Easily one of the best I've seen for using a 3D printed mold. Most guys just show the mold, not how they make it. If you get bored, I'd love to see a more detailed mold tutorial.
Wow, thanks! Yeah I'm definitely planning to do a more in depth, so stayed tuned on that one!
you must have not seen the easy composites video on mold design and actual making of it...
@@yuriy77 I've tried to watch all their videos. I don't remember seeing one that left a huge impression on me as far as how the mold was designed. Link?
@@letsbuildthis Awesome. I can't wait to watch it. I've got a Rans S7S I'd like to make some CF parts for.
@@BellyUpFishGarage can't add links here but look up video called: Forged carbon revisited Mould design & strength optimization
Really enjoying you sharing the maker side of experimental aviation. Im off to see if you have a shop tour video.
Awesome, glad to hear it! No shop tour video yet. TBH, the shop is a bit a mess and it drives me crazy, but perhaps I can do a shop video in the near future. Cheers!
@@letsbuildthisI know how that is. Mine has been so discombobulated this summer that it is unusable for some projects
Very nice! Did you do a stress test on these parts to see how strong they are since they are just prototypes? Thanks for sharing!
Hey chiparooo, not yet, but will include in a future forged carbon video. I can’t even bend or break with my hands (not very scientific I know, haha), it seems very strong though.
What printer and filament? That printed smoothly.
Snapmaker A350, and standard PLA for this one. Because there is a chance of destroying the mold, I just use the standard stuff. If I get something refined where it's reusable I'll consider a better material.
@@letsbuildthis Thank you
Forged??
next time, print with different color :D we can not see the difference btw mold and material
Yeah 100%, Since they're throw away I'm just burning through what I have. In the future I'll switch to a brighter color. Thanks for the tip!
Why dont you realise the pin in the middle with a steel pin? you can punch it out wich gives much easier mold releasing!
That's a good idea! I'm printing pins I can press in on the next ones so I have the diameter I need, but I'll take a look at steel pins. Thanks
@@letsbuildthis borrow the tolerance!
How could the bottom split into two parts when the shaft that forms the hole is split half and half with the two lower moulds? th-cam.com/video/kmyJMVr_iB8/w-d-xo.html
Good eye, lol. Yeah total design flaw. I split the mould down the middle as the back up in case I couldn’t get the part out. Welp it was all moot because the boss held it all together. No big deal though because they’re low res prints and they broke in many places anyway. Next design will have the boss on one side.
What makes this forged as opposed to cast?
Good question... not a term I came up with, just the universally used term around a newer composite process for carbon fiber. However the best analogy I can think of is a cast piston vs a forged piston. One is only pored, the other has had forces applied to it. So, I generally agree that the term "forged" carbon is not way far off in the fact that it's put under pressure as well.
The marketing team at Lamborghini is why it's "forged" :P
i think it makes some sense to call it forged, if it is put under strong pressure. I clamp my mold with several C-clamps all around the area of the mold. but my designs are about 10in square.
Your video is very interesting and well done. What filament are you using for the mold? Just recently I ran across a new filament from Bambu Lab in another video. You may also be interested in it, th-cam.com/video/A5PZclEcLWw/w-d-xo.htmlsi=VmhQ5of6jM-FJMaL I ordered some of it from Bambu Lab but it is on back order and I feel confident of the filament since they sell it. I am like you mostly interested in engineering uses of 3D printing. And we have two X1 C printers. Also like you I model all the parts for myself but we use SolidWorks which is comparable to your software too. Good luck on the approach to carbon fiber forging!
Thanks Glenn! Just using the standard PLA for now. If I throw them away, then the cost is low. If I Improve the mould, and can reuse I will definitely consider some better materials. I just picked up a PC-CF filament, but without an enclosure on my printer I don't think it'll work very well. I had the chance last week to print some parts on a X1 and I'm super impressed with the quality and even more so with the speed. Needless to say, the Bambu is likely in my near future. Thanks for the dialog and encouragement!
@@letsbuildthis very nice. i've just done this with some bicycle frame dropouts and I was dissapointed how hard they were to demould. but I had not used a draft angle and did not split the mould like you've done so I guess thats the main reason. BTW for low stress applications like the handle, I'd use PC-CF. I've used it on bikes in certain applications and its very strong. if you enable many wall layers then the outer surface of the object is very strong as you ensure the (shortish) CF fibres are aligned to the surface and so perfect for resisting bending. good luck.
Great video! Perhaps finding a way to make the print layer lines run parallel to the direction in which you intend remove the part will help for de-molding. The tiny ridges that the layer lines form unfortunately just add friction/ grip.
Thanks! Yeah, that's a good suggestion. I'll take a look for the next set of molds.