Drill motor conversion kits - guaging interest

[R9000]

This sounds fantastic - I think there's some real money to be made from this, especially if you can source some compatible wheels too.

[typhoon_driver]

Lol! Unfortunately Rory there's not much beyond pocket money to be made once everything is tallied up however I'm happy to fill the gap that there is for first timers (and those with experience!) looking for an easy bolt in solution for a featherweight drive train.

[R9000]

Is a decent quality nylon 3D print really that expensive? I guess it depends how much people are willing to pay. But yeah, I love that you're willing to help out people who don't want to faff around for ages crafting motor mounts and such.

[typhoon_driver]

A 100% infill for strength and rigidity 3D print in high quality nylon isn't expensive materially but there is a fair bit of time involved to print it. The other thing I'm keeping in mind is that I don't want to stray into competing with Ellis and his more high end solutions. This is meant to be a cheap and easy way to get yourself going.

[R9000]

Ohh I see. Yeah that makes a lot of sense.

[Eventorizon]

What is their strength like Gary? I've tried something similar (Replacing GR01 parts) with 3D printed ABS. 4 Walls, 100% fill, 0.3mm layers and they would delaminate when I applied any load to the axles. Could well just be the printer.

[Danjr1]

Along with the mounting holes for 550 motors, could you add 19mm mounting holes for small brushless motors? With some shortened shafts, this could be a very small and light drive train!

[typhoon_driver]

Alex, Nylon is far superior to ABS when it comes to loading however it's an absolute pain to print with. Requires much slower print speeds, higher temperatures and a bunch of other precautions. The inter layer bonding when printed properly is much much better hence why I'll be interested to see how these handle in the arena.

As far as secondary mounting holes, not a problem. Two or four holes at 19mm diameter?

[Danjr1]

It would be two, countersunk on the gearbox side.

How much do you reckon a pair will go for?

[Roadrunner]

I might be new to robots but not new to using the technology around 3D printing, printing in Nylon would be a much better alternative to using other materials, but i do think that structurally the 3D print will not hold up should the machine take one huge knock, de-lamination regardless of material used is still a critical factor (given some of the FW's sizes, shapes and weights along with the shear damage they can inflict) or awkward landing.

I could suggest 3D printing using one of the metal compounds available should your printer be capable of using these, as their tensile strength is greater than Nylon.

However that said... and not to take anything away from you in terms of ingenuity but...couldn't the mounts be made up using blocks of HDPE and just have then CNC'ed, or for cheaper options since its relatively a simple structure, a block made up of the right size and using a pillar drill, forstner bits and drill bits in various sizes which will in turn provide a much simpler quicker, cheaper and yet stronger mount?