PVC for building material

Community General Discussions
1

I know LM likes lexan but I have become very fond of expanded PVC/sintra for my building material.

My current bot blog is here

I like the 1/4" stuff for base, and 1/8" material for mounts, and skins.
You can:
] heat form it with a hairdryer (my SRF04 mount)/:m]
] drill it/:m]
] tap it/:m]
] cut it with a knife or wood working tools/:m]
] get it for free from local sign shops (cut offs and scraps)/:m]
] buy it at www.Lynxmotion.com/:m]
] get it in a rainbow of colors/:m]
] double it up for more load bearing/strength/:m]

Jay

2

Hey Jay,

What are the dimensions on your bot you got there? It looks similar to what I want to build. How big is it? Heavy? Batteries? Motors?

Yes, PVC is some nice stuff. I am still thinking between PVC and lexan.

-robodude666

3

I love PVC. We used to CNC cut it to make robot parts ages ago. But you can’t laser cut it, so we moved on. The cool thing is PVC can easily be worked with common woodworking tools. Heat is the enemy, so use sharp tools, and slow feedrates.

4

8" in diameter
using Hsiang Neng gearhead motors think they are 66RPM but I can’t remember off the top of my head. Wheels are PVC o-ring 3". Using a 3100mAh 14.4V LiPo. Figure 1.5lbs so not that heavy, but I’m only guessing.

Jay

Update: working backwards from my encoder readings they are 66RPM.

5

fast feed rates

6

fast feedrates, it keeps friction from heating the plastic :wink: