Hi,
There are a number of fittings (like rudder bushings, gear leg attachm fittings and so on) which I was going to fabricate out of aluminium or other metal. But I’ve just come across CarbonX filament. Anyone heard of it? Used it?
Carbon “reinforced” filament is usually weaker than straight filament. Without the continuous fibers there’s no point to having it in the plastic. If you do try it, wear gloves when handling it, I’ve heard folks getting the fibers stuck in their fingers, and since they’re tiny slivers, it takes a week or so to wear that layer of skin off to get them out. I also wouldn’t use printed parts anywhere near critical aircraft components. Keep the printed stuff to “fancyfy” the cockpit gauges maybe.
I know the plane you’re building falls under “sport”, so anything, within reason, goes, but still, printed parts on a plane give me the heeby jeebies.
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If you want to try a really strong filament try t-glase pronounced t glass. It is a PETT filament. Not cheap. In my experience it is the strongest 3D printed filament I have worked with. Not sure if it would be a good idea for you or not.
Also, Carbon reinforced filament erodes the print nozzle opening. That’s why they make hardened steel nozzles to counteract the abrasive nature of reinforced and other “augmented” filaments. There’s a good explanation here: https://www.matterhackers.com/store/printer-accessories/e3d-v6-extra-nozzle-hardened-steel-1.75mm-x-0.25mm
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Just to throw some more info here, once you move to a hardened steel nozzle, you’ll probably need to adjust all your print temps. The steel doesn’t transfer heat the same as the brass nozzles, so it prints differently.
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I’ve printed with carbon fiber filament… maybe not the exact one you mention.
I found the filament chunks required a larger nozzle to avoid clogging… I think I just went up to 0.5. Just used a cheap brass nozzle and printed a roll of it didn’t seem to have any issues.
Results were objects that were much stronger, lightweight and rigid than PLA. However with the rigidity came brittleness… there was zero flex to them.
If your printer can handle the temps, I would look at a poly-carbonate blend filament (PC+) there is also POM filament which I haven’t printed with but POM is the material used in shower door rollers.
That said, I wouldn’t use any 3d printed material in any safety critical part of anything like an airplane.