# 3D Printing > 3D Printer Parts, Filament & Materials >  Gear material

## towatson

I am new to 3D printing and have a question about material. I want to print some bevel gears for a project where the electric motor is 1/4 hp. My question is what type of printer material would be the best to use for these gears?

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## curious aardvark

take a look at ninjatek's new armadillo filament. 
It's a super tough very rigid polyurethane based material, 90% more abrasion resistant than nylon and stiffer than abs with much better impact resistance. 

I've just ordered a 10 metre sample to try out.

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## towatson

Thanks for the reply! I will give it a look. Please post any results that you may have.

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## curious aardvark

pla is also good for gears, you just need to bear in mind that most fdm plastics soften at around the 60-70c temperature zone. 

If you have an all metal hotend and a heated, enclosed print volume, and can afford peek - you can up the working temp to over 100c.

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## Todd-67

PLA is not good for gears. It  would work if the speeds and loads are low. 

Nylon is the preferred material with gears. I did these for a vending machine project to drive 2 coils with one motor rotating apposed to one another. Everything snaps together and snaps into the machine. No tools.

The problem with gears is printing them accurately so you achive zero lash with a solid print. These are SLS nylon for testing before tooling. So far 2000+ vends no issues dispite trying to break them. The originals i printed and they worked almost as well.

20170109_141207.jpg

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## Davo

PEEK is good for up past 200C. We use it as a fan nozzle on our 250C heads. It prints at over 400C.

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## curious aardvark

> PLA is not good for gears. It  would work if the speeds and loads are low.


in other words, if it's not generating heat through friction - it's pretty good. Which is what i said.  

Just opened the packet of armadillo, with new filaments I always cut a small piece and bend it back and forth untill it breaks. 
After a couple minutes of strenuous bending. No break, the filament has developed a very slight waist. But that's it. No colour change.
In appearance it looks and feels like pla, stiff and shiny.  If it prints as well as they claim (so far in 3 years, only innofill's pro1 has ever done that) this stuff could be amazing.

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## Todd-67

> in other words, if it's not generating heat through friction - it's pretty good. Which is what i said.


 What part about the guys original post stating for use on a 1/4 HP motor would remotely indicate that this would be a low speed/load usage?

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## curious aardvark

lol fair enough :-) 

Nylon has a pretty low melting and deformation point as well. 
To be honest pretty much all the filaments that can be printed on  a standard 3d printer setup (ie: max extruder temp around 250) are going to struggle under those kinds of loads. 

The armadillo is as easy to print as they claim. So would probably be the best choice for something you can print under 300c. 
It's certainly stiffer, tougher and stronger than nylon. 

There are some plas that you post process to get the glass point up past 100c. That might also be worth a try.

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## towatson

My application is for a honey extractor basket that spins like a centrifuge so the speed is relatively slow guessing a max of 400-500 rpm. Too high of speed blows out the honeycomb so I will have to experiment. One of the reasons for the gearing is to reduce the motor shaft speed for the extractor. The other reason is to change the angle of the motor shaft to lay it on its side. The motor is rated at 1700 but I also have a speed control for it.
This project has been on hold for something like this but I have new/different problems to figure out with the printer right now that I will post in another thread. I did order a sample of the Armadillo and I am anxious to try printing it.

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## Todd-67

Might look into a worm gear translation. That will drop the speed of the final drive while letting the motor run in it's efficient range. I still think nylon is your best bet. It is produced with petrolium. When it heats up it emits an oil based self lubricating film. I wouldn't rely on material recomendations ftom unqualified individuals.

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## curious aardvark

And i wouldn't rely on recommendations from people called todd :-)

Is that enough tit for tat ?
Or do you want to continue the childish name calling and snide comments ?

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## ralphzoontjens

Unless the part is used in water or very moist environments, I advise nylon. As an amorphous polymer, TPU with its lower hardness will display much more fatigue over time and fail due to stress cracking. Compare TPU to a very hard bunch of spaghetti, while nylon has a more integral molecular structure that brings about its strength.

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## alex2017

take a look at ninjatek's new armadillo filament. 
It's a super tough very rigid polyurethane based material, 90% more abrasion resistant than nylon and stiffer than abs with much better impact resistance. 

I've just ordered a 10 metre sample to try out.
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## russellrexroad321

Gear can be made of a wide range of materials, including numerous sorts of steel, metal, bronze, cast press, malleable iron, aluminum, powdered metals, and plastics. Steel is the most widely recognized material generally speaking, albeit, throughout the years, we've worked with the greater part of the material kinds specified. top essay writing service

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## Barret

For gear, I suggest you could have a trial with POM filament. This material are used for gear in molding. High strength and self-lubricating property make is as the best options for gear.

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