Any luck printing transparent polycarbonate?

[ttabbal]

I'm so used to clear round things being about lighting that I didn't even think of other uses. Funny how perspective can make me miss things.

I hope you get something to work.

 

[strantor]

I'm so used to clear round things being about lighting that I didn't even think of other uses. Funny how perspective can make me miss things.

It's part of being a human.

I'm trying to print these parts clear so that I can see how various types of balls (steel, ceramic, nylon, etc.) behave inside a bearing with and without a ball cage, and other parameters like different lubricants. In the end the parts won't be clear but for testing I want to see it, and since there will be many tests and some of them long term and concurrent, I need more than one prototype. Otherwise I would just bite the bullet and purchase the polycarbonate stock and machine my one-off prototype.

I hope you get something to work.

Thanks. I will one way or another, even if it means not 3D printing them. But it sure would be handy.

 

[jwmelvin]

In light of how many you’ve printed and worked on, it seems like it’d be more efficient and effective to print a mold and cast the part with clear resin.

 

[strantor]

In light of how many you’ve printed and worked on, it seems like it’d be more efficient and effective to print a mold and cast the part with clear resin.

The thought has crossed my mind and I started to look into it but it looked like a rabbit hole. I have very little experience with casting and could not easily identify something that would work. It seemed like casting compounds that have the needed strength can't be poured thick or they go exothermic and self destruct. There are probably products that would work but they might not be things you can buy a few pints at a time from an online vendor. Or maybe they are? I didn't find them. Do you have any recommendations?

 

[jwmelvin]

There are probably products that would work but they might not be things you can buy a few pints at a time from an online vendor. Or maybe they are? I didn't find them. Do you have any recommendations?

I've used Smooth-On, which can be a little more expensive than other options, but has good support, etc. That said, I've not casted using a rigid material, only flexible silicones and polyurethanes.

They seem to have a few potential options:
Crystal Clear 200
EpoxAcast 692
TASK 12

 

[Flyinfool]

You tube some of the people that do woodworking by turning things of wood cast into epoxy or table tops of cast epoxy. search for epoxy casting or epoxy table. They are casting 5 gallon buckets of clear resin in one piece with no cracking. They almost all show what products they are using. There are special resins for deep pouring, They set much slower to avoid getting hot.

 

[strantor]

OK gentlemen, it has been a long journey but I have finally arrived. I have just achieved the result that I envisioned at the beginning.

If you're curious, the part is a dial indicator mount for my lathe ways.

As mentioned in the teaser video I will be documenting the whole process in longer video.