RC Car Parts / Carbon? / The right printer???

[fred_dot_u]

As you have a focus of polycarbonate, you are starting off on a good foundation. You'd want to find a machine with an enclosure as part of the construction, not an add-on, as it will also include cooling management for the power sources and also include provision for mounting the spools inside the enclosure. For nylons, which are astonishingly hygroscopic, it's a necessity. I don't know how PC falls into the moisture concerns. Additionally, the extruding temperatures are going to be on the high side and a printer advertised as being able to handle PC will have a hot end of sufficient capacity to manage those higher temperatures. I was surprised to see a 3D printer at a past area home show. It was clearly aimed at the industrial component of the world. The ad copy on the table was devoted to polycarbonate materials and other high temperature materials. The printer was "low-priced" according to the sales person, starting at US$5000. I'm a fan of the Prusa line of printers and their software, but for your purposes, it would be extending some good printers to the outer reaches of capabilities and possibly outside of those capabilities.

[mctallguy]

Very well written. To the point, this is actually what I was afraid of, that the specs of the parts that I need will fall outside "consumer" machine capabilities. The $5,000 mark seems to be the lower end of "commercial" equipment from what I've found so far. I'm wondering if I could get "good enough" with the Prusa setup, as it seems like they offer some great materials, and the user base / community of help also seems quite extensive. The price is right, but I figured I would begin my due diligence before ordering. I know some of you guys have been in this world for years now and know the ins and outs. So any other pointers or rabbit holes you can send me down is appreciated. I've been down several already, but keep coming back to the bottom line, of overkill vs good enough and where that line actually is.

I've read about good results with the Prusa PC Blend, specifically in the "natural" specification vs black. Not sure why that is, but I remember coming across it more than once. I'm still not convinced, but for the price it may be a good place to start and test and go from there. I'm sure I could sell the machine at a minor loss if I can't achieve the required results.

[mctallguy]

Hey Fred, thank you for your time and information. I appreciate it man. With the enclosure I found, I'm thinking it could work. I could def build something for less, but it looks nice and well thought out.