Hi Alexander,
I’ve checked the files and would like to know, what infill percentage you thought of.
All of those parts are surely printable, but I wouldn’t recommend ABS as the printing material, unless there’s a very important feature, that only ABS has.
Of course PLA is too brittle and the risk, that one of those parts will break is there.
However there are alternative materials, for example Colorfabb’s “XT” or Taulman3d’s “Alloy 910”, “Bridge” or even “T-Glase”.
All of those, and especially “Nylon Bridge” and “Alloy 910” are very strong.
In regards to shrinkage (which will be the biggest problem for ABS prints, you’d be on the safe site will all of these materials.
Especially “T-Glase” does barely shrink, I’m talking about <0,3% shrinkage, whereas I experienced 5-10% shrinkage for ABS depending on the part.
Printing 16 of those “Finger Armors” is a pretty big order (beside those other parts, however my printer has one of the largest build volumes available, the print surface measures 27x29cm or 10,5x11,5".
The maximum height is well beyond what you need ( 7" ).
I could start printing within 24h and would most likely ship the parts at the end of the week.
The final price will depend on your material choise, but you can expect something similar to the following:
ABS: 180-200$ (+20-30$ for acetone treatment, which increases the strength and gives a smoother surface)
XT: 220$
Bridge: 225$
T-Glase: 240$
Alloy910: 250$
Some notes about the materials:
Bridge has the best layer-to-layer bonding strength
Alloy910 is the stiffest and has the best physical strength)
T-Glase is similar to XT, but has the lowest shrinkage factor.
“XT” is the cheapest of the four, has good layer bonding strength and is very durable
Bridge is a Nylon and has therefore a very smooth, nearly slippery surface, it’s barely glueable and will take up moisture, which will weaken the print by a little bit.
ABS can be smoothed with acetone to get a stronger object (still not as strong as any of the ones listed above). ABS does shrink a lot, which means, that you can expect a hole-displacement of approx. 2-5+% unless the holes are on the printbed.
the ABS shrinkage is also a big problem for tall parts, there CAN (dont have to) be cracks between layers for prints that are taller then 5cm.
In conclusion:
Alloy 910 would be the very best material, it is developed for industrial purpose. Alloy 910 is the strongest and most expensive material, it doesn’t suffer problems by shrinking, it’s glueable and you can machine it afterwards (drilling etc.).
XT is the cheapest alternative to ABS and provides very good physical properties, that will easily reach your expectations.
Bridge and “T-Glase” are alternatives if you want something inbetween XT and Alloy 910.
I hope to hear from you,
Marius Breuer
PS: even though I posted the link earlier, here’s my hub:
https://www.3dhubs.com/siegen/hubs/marius/
I have a few thoughts about part optimization, longevity and work-ability although I would need to know more about your design needs to optimize the parts.
