CONTINUOUS CARBON FIBER vs PLA vs PETG

Is @markforgedworth it? Let's get an answer to that question! I designed and printed a bracket for my @VarlaScooter Eagle scooter!
#3dprinting #practicalprinting #additivemanufacturing

Markforged's 3D printers use a unique process called continuous fiber printing, which involves embedding continuous strands of composite materials, such as carbon fiber, Kevlar, and fiberglass, into a thermoplastic base material. This creates parts that are incredibly strong, durable, and lightweight.

Markforged also offers a cloud-based software platform, called Eiger, which allows users to design, optimize, and manage the production of 3D-printed parts. The platform includes a range of features, such as automatic part orientation, strength analysis, and slicing, which help to streamline the design and printing process and ensure high-quality, functional parts are produced every time.

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[jeannordstrm]

just print carbon fiber on the bamboo labs machine???

[brandondyck]

Wouldn't some rubber spacers help the tension together when assembling it and than you wouldn't get the cracking when tightening it?

[WilliamDP]

At the job I retired from, we had a Markforged Onyx Pro. This machine could print nylon with chopped carbon fiber and also embed continuous fiberglass fiber in the layers of a part. The machine printed parts that were much stronger than anything out of any commercially available printers, and did it with excellent precision. I can say for us, the Markforged Onyx Pro was worth it.

[liquidpza]

Using these vanilla materials for such a comparison is a little bit silly to me. No entity that's deciding whether to invest in a Markforged is doing so by comparing PLA/PETG parts to parts filled with continuous strand composites. I love and appreciate you, Joel, but please include some CF polycarbonate/ABS/Nylon when making this type of comparison. Otherwise it just feels a bit like an ad. Cheers.

[Tinker_Balambao]

Anyone else want Jole to print and send the appropriate test samples to CNC kitchen for some testing?

[mumblic]

I'm sure the cracking could easily be solved with more a correct/tight design, .. or use some nuts as spacer between the two halves

[luftstolle]

I'm not a mechanical engineer and not well versed in this, but this videos seems a bit crazy to me. This is not a structural part, and nothing to me suggests that the absolute stiffest choice of material would be best suited to this application. On the contrary, a camera holder often includes a dampening material to smooth out vibrations. I'm super interested in this carbon fiber technique, but this video does not make sense discussing it.

[JS-vkek]

The part needs redesigning so that there is less of a gap between the front and back parts, possibly with a rubber washer between, on the bolts. What was the name of the scooter again?

[peterleblanc]

One thing to be aware of is PLA will creep so the bolts will loosen over time even if there is no cracking. Apart from that and the temperature stability it is a far more useful material than most people give it credit for. And definitely great for design prototyping since it is much easier to get accurate prints.

[literallykey]

I use a mark two at work, and man it's a beautiful machine and the onyx is amazing on its own even without the fiber fill (and the supports are the best I've ever seen). The problem is just that it's slow, extremely extremely expensive, and the software isn't great. It does work great for what we've been using it for (mainly drone parts), but most parts simply don't need it I've found.

[stratos]

I hope we'll soon see an open source continuous fiber extruder that we can put on any printer. That would be a game changer for home lab engineering!

[mariusj]

Im not sure the machine cost matters for a company to be honest. we did some calculations at the company where I work, and the problem with some vendors are the material vendor lock-in. Like you show here. The markforge part ended up around 50$, in other plastics you can print those parts for a fraction of the cost, and if you outsource the rest of the parts to be made in aluminum or made with carbonfiber plates with different weaving it’s a difficult decision. We calculated with 20% depreciation pr year on the machine so that cost is negligible compared to churning out parts or prototyping for between 100-250$ a day in materials. Anyway, no doubt the Markforge is a great product, just need to find the usecase.

[mlubecke]

Would love to see your design video…. I always appreciate your style when sharing your knowledge…. Thank you so much for sharing Joel… happy Friday..

[dotJata]

Outside of the continuous fiber is it better as a printer in any way when compared to something like the X1C?

At first glance it looks like a regular old printer and your paying several thousand dollars extra just for the addition of a fiber cutter built-in.

[greg]

I strongly agree with your comments on local (PLA) prototyping and commercial production of strong final items.

[AnthraxVX]

a part like that, i add cylindric holes for carbon fiber or aluminum tube to insert, with aluminum you can insert a heating element inside to melt the plastic to create a perfect mechanical bond to the aluminum, if you want to go one step further, sand with ~100 grit sandpaper before insertion.

[robertasumendi]

Nice real world comparison of materials! One thing to keep in mind is the material cost in Eiger is the cost of filament/fiber but a printing service will want to 2x/3x/4x this cost to make some money. (So this would be a $100-200 bracket ordered from such a service.) Another great material you can get cheap and fast from a service these days is laser-cut aluminum sheet. For a project like this, you can just print your own custom PETG or nylon clamp and get a stiff piece of aluminum in the mail with the same turnaround time as a Markforged provider.

Another way to get your own markforged parts for cheap is to order a bunch of 2mm hex wrenches of various lengths and design your petg parts to use them as structural members.

[naiiawah]

👍 Yes to a tutorial video! This video was great too. Looking forward to your next one!

[JoeSmoeDoeLow]

Loved using the Markforged at my old job. Great machine and very easy to use.

[muddasarakram]

Definitely do not regret buying my Onyx One, recently passed 1000 hours after a year of owning it and it still prints perfectly with no failures. Will share what I'm working on in an upcoming video but I've printed things like headlight/taillight housings, brackets, structural guides (bonded to CFRP)... Yeah.