Question regards possible project 3D printing/extruded plastic?

[ms08]

I am thinking of a project to pick up when i finally give up the day job. It involves glass working similar to stained glass work which would usually use lead extrusion for joints.
My question is to make things simpler/customer friendly (e.g kit form) could i use one of the following.....

Replacing the lead with extruded plastic of a suitable quality/flexibility in the appropriate colour to mimic the lead or, is this something that could be 3D printed in which casse I could invest in one and do it at home myself?
Any advice welcome.
Many thanks.

 

[BrokenBiker]

I am thinking of a project to pick up when i finally give up the day job. It involves glass working similar to stained glass work which would usually use lead extrusion for joints.
My question is to make things simpler/customer friendly (e.g kit form) could i use one of the following.....

Replacing the lead with extruded plastic of a suitable quality/flexibility in the appropriate colour to mimic the lead or, is this something that could be 3D printed in which casse I could invest in one and do it at home myself?
Any advice welcome.
Many thanks.

View attachment 529228

my first concern is scale, as even a big 3d printer is going to limit you to 350mm across the build plate or around 480 (quick maths) diagonally but then doing that limits you to 1 piece per print.

there is no reason you cant print them though, once you have dialed settings in and got the drawing sorted to the point you are getting repeat successful prints its just a case of openeing the slicer and pressing print whenever you need them.

on a larger scale though, an extrusion would be more efficient as you could cut to length as needed. i have no idea what is involved with extruding your own plastic though or what grade you would need for your application

 

[Screwdriver]

Yes but the issue will be length because you're going to be limited to circa 250mm.

Ideally printed upright but that does mean you could fill the bed and end up with easily 100 x 250mm sections.

Flexibility would be an issue with print orientation using so called TPU (flexible rubbery urethane based filament) but not insurmountable. You could batch print a load with small connections as if they were one big mesh, then separate after printing.

Another option would be to investigate a belt printer. Continuous conveyor belt "bed" makes metre+ long prints possible. The angled print also negated the need for any supports.

 

[MattF]

Replacing the lead with extruded plastic of a suitable quality/flexibility in the appropriate colour to mimic the lead

Lead is a hard one to mimic. You may get a close colour match, but lead is lead. How it ages is part of its charm.

 

[ms08]

Thanks Broken Biker - that makes sense.
If extruding I would out source though have to swallow the cost of any tooling....

 

[Maker]

There's a stained glass method I've seen online where you tape the edges of the tiles with copper tape then solder them together, I guess it's more accessible than the traditional lead came method, could that be an option?

Doing it with lead, you have to rub "cement" into it after soldering to stiffen it and make it water tight, is that going to be a problem for your application?

 

[Screwdriver]

Have you considered making your own "came" (yes I looked it up!). Relatively simple process: rough casting then run through a lead mill to tidy it up to dimension. Now that's a project....

 

[hotponyshoes]

Annoying shape to print as it will need support.
If you had a dual-extruder printer you could print tpu in a coil to avoid the length restriction although the resulting material would try and stay coiled.

Doesn't look like it would be very hard to make an extrusion die for though,

 

[Erie Fred]

Plastic extrusion (from my research) is somewhat of black art.
the problem area's are just outside of the die, too soft to hold, but needs cooled & pulled.
It will change size with temp, and how hard you pull it (stretch)

We used to do it with playdoh as kids though....how hard could it be ?

https://www.staples.com/Play-Doh-Fun-Factory-Set/product_1269609

Looking how far the printers have come with the micro extruder head's and digital
controls, might be a neat DIY project.
Maybe extrude straight down, into a water bath.

 

[Turbo]

There's a stained glass method I've seen online where you tape the edges of the tiles with copper tape then solder them together, I guess it's more accessible than the traditional lead came method, could that be an option?

I remember doing that at school many years ago. Its a fiddly process getting the tape on the edge of the glass so that it laps evenly on both faces.
Then you paint on aggressive acid based flux on the copper and use a large soldering iron to apply the thick plumbers solder, trying not to burn your fingers or get a lungful of the acrid fumes!
When one side is done you flipped it over and soldered the other side, hoping the solder didn't run out of the back!
Difficult to get all the joints even but I do remember really enjoying it. It was one of the few times I enjoyed art class. Guess it was my first taste of a welding type process.

Definitely would not be allowed in schools now.