Very cool. Making a new CAM is no joke. Very impressive work all around. Thanks for taking the time to respond to everyone too. It looks very good already I’m interested to see where it goes from here.
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It is indeed challenging. I am lucky to have a friend who’s a really skilled software engineer.
Anyway, thanks, Jeff! We will keep you updated via this thread!
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Very interesting project.
Is the pre-impregnated filament a commercially available product?
I’m a little bit familiar with epoxy prepreg tape and fabric work, but those generally require a freezer for storage…I’m not familiar with nylon prepreg.
I would think the nylon should be stored in a dry (humidity controlled) environment?
Thanks, Pete!
Yes, there is a variety of filaments pre-impregnated with thermoplastic out in the market. I think the term in the industry is “dried preform” or something like that. It is termed as such because they come in dry as opposed too epoxy prepreg tapes that are packaged wet (unpolymerized epoxy monomers) and as you say, require controlled temperature storage.
The dry preforms usually come in prepreg UD tapes or woven fabric, but there are some companies out there who make it in pseudo-1D structure, i.e. in the form of pultruded tows or powder infused filaments. However, most of these may not be as pliable as we want them to be. So for our application, we are still playing around with different carbon fiber 1D forms.
Yes, you are right in that nylon absorbs moisture from the atmosphere quite easily. However, since in our subsequent process we apply pressure and temperature to attain thermoplastic flow and fiber wetting, we expect moisture (vaporized) to be “squeezed” out of the system.
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Btw, we did a number of physical exercises (pun intended) on the connector rod a few weeks ago, and I wanted to share it with you guys. The connector rods were linked to the chains connected to the grip and subjected to ~180kg (~400lbs) of force from our powerlifting friend.
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