Create Useful, 3D Printed Skateboard Components with NylonX

Whether or not it is paddle boarding or skating, our Artistic Lead loves a board beneath his ft. Not removed from our workplace is a skatepark and if you cannot discover Dylan on the workplace, odds are that he is there. Moderately than use a traditional skateboard, he needed one thing lighter and with extra aptitude, so he printed Daniel Noree’s skateboard vehicles and bushings utilizing NylonX and PRO Sequence Flex.

Why NylonX?

Getting down to print skateboard vehicles implies that the fabric necessities are very particular; must survive sitting in a automotive on a scorching California day, wants to carry collectively beneath the load of an individual and the forces from skating, and must be mild. NylonX matches this profile completely: the nylon base will maintain its form effectively previous the temperatures in a automotive, the chopped carbon fiber strands all through the filament deliver power and rigidity, and being a polymer makes this a powerful however mild materials. In case you have been to try this with another plastic like PLA or ABS, it might deform from both warmth or weight, making NylonX the optimum alternative.

What Printer Can Deal with NylonX?

After some important modifications, most printers can print utilizing NylonX. You might have to swap out some components, create new materials profiles, optimize settings, are check till you possibly can create sturdy components reliably. The better choice is the Pulse XE: a printer designed and tailor-made to print NylonX out-of-the-box with out modification and the perfect components to make sure success. The Olsson Ruby nozzle has an precise ruby in it, sufficient to deal with the extremely abrasive carbon fibers strands in NylonX, together with a garolite print floor for supreme adhesion and a Bondtech QR extruder for optimum torque and management over extrusion.

The Olsson Ruby solves the issue of abrasiveness, however what about mattress adhesion? Nylon is notoriously warpy (though not as dangerous as ABS), so mattress adhesion is extraordinarily essential to maintain the right form and dimensions as soon as your modeled half is printed. Garolite solves that downside; a interwoven glass fiber cloth impregnated with epoxy resin, making a construct plate simply textured sufficient to grip onto your nylon or NylonX print. And whenever you pair garolite with the Flexplate system, you may be completely sure that your half will stick and launch with ease.

Creating the Skateboard Vans

As soon as the fabric and printer have been decided, it was time to get to printing. Earlier than printing out the components in NylonX, a prototype was made in PLA to check meeting and see whether or not the usual truck {hardware} like bushings and bolts would match. It seems they have been slightly too free, so the truck base was adjusted and new bushes have been printed with MatterHackers PRO Sequence Flex. These match a lot better and held the vehicles straight with simply the appropriate give. As soon as it handed the check and match collectively, he printed the 2 NylonX components out on the Pulse XE, with the essential settings consisting of: extruder temperature of 255C, layer cooling fan off, 70C on the mattress, and 50mm/s. If you would like a extra in depth information and dialogue of the optimum settings when printing with NylonX, you possibly can learn extra in our How you can Succeed When Printing with NylonX.

With the components printed, threaded rods lower to size, and the vehicles totally bolted collectively it was time to check out his inventive new board on the park.

NylonX and the Pulse XE have been the proper mixture of fabric and machine to deal with what Dylan wanted. We’re at present on v3 of our NylonX skateboard vehicles with extra iterations to come back.

To learn in regards to the particular settings, suggestions, and greatest practices when printing with NylonX, learn extra in our article all about Succeeding with NylonX.