Certainly looks like them
What are you actually after, strength or rigidity?
5mm is a very thick wall for 3d printed parts (in fact I’ve never hear of anyone else using anything like that).
Strength mainly - it may be a little thicker than I need, though. I’m not sure. I don’t particularly need rigidity, though it needs to be reasonably stiff. The main structures are essentially rectangular tubes, with an internal wall down the centre length. These will be filled with sand (to absorb vibrations). I don’t want them to sag, of course.
Had you thought of printing them with a channel in them (with cris-crossed grooves in the channel walls to act as a key for the expoxide), filling the channel with a thinish (low/medium viscosity) epoxide potting mixture, then pushing a steel or aluminium strip into the epoxide? When the epoxide sets off you’ll have a part that has the external shape (including end fittings as required) combined with the strength of the aluminium or steel strip.
Composites are often the best way to achieve a specific set of properties.
Yes, that is a possibility - but difficult to do in that the aluminium would have to be inside the tube, so difficult to locate correctly. I could, I suppose, put the channel/aluminium on the outside underneath the piece, but I don’t like the look of that particularly. Also, I would like to avoid metal if I can. It’s certainly a thought, though.
The current piece that is being printed should take about 30 hours, and about 280 grams of filament. It’s about 400 mm long. There will be two of those, plus a small piece which I imagine will take about 15 hours or less.
As it is at the moment, I can stand on one of these things while it is supported at each end without it seeming to suffer much. It bends a little (as you’t expect) but otherwise is OK. A few faint sounds from it (though the one I tried doesn’t have the central wall).
well, having, with your help, probably solved the nozzle problem, I now have a new one. The thing that senses the Y axis position has stopped working, and it just tries to ram the build plate up against the nozzle. AAAARGH!
@Beachcomber I suggest we move this to a new padded cell thread - I’ve opened a 3d printing thread for us and other to use and with your reply.
I made use of a very windy day to sand off my kayak project outside. Nearly ready for varnish on the deck at least. Taking time over these last stages.
I know you have all been anxiously waiting for an update!
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Today I was so bored I built a chicken coop.
Truth be told it took more than a day. Still needs finishing. If anyone out there is contemplating a similar project I have two pieces of advice.
- Four sides.
- Flat roof.
Regards,
Willy.
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Hope they appreciate your efforts Willy, probably not from an aesthetic point of view…but if ol foxy is unable to get them😁
That’s impressive. 5 star accommodation for chickens. Wouldn’t look out of place in Disney Land too!
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Did you get planning permission and are you paying council tax?
Drat, my evil “chickens in space” scheme has been exposed.
Willy.
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Today, I finally got hold of some unobtainium Fraim Chips, so I guess tomorrow means a complete Fraim stripdown and rebuild. 
Still, it’ll be the equivalent of a black box upgrade, I’m sure, and the veil will most certainly be lifted … 
be prepared to be blinded by the day compared with the previous night. Although there will, of course, be inky black.
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…inky blackness… bass dropping an octave… …soundstage snapping into focus…
We could easily play HiFi twaddle bingo on this one!
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Dear Readers,
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s thrilling conclusion, (well maybe, unless the sun decides to shine once more), 
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I prepped the boat for a final varnish coat.
Installed footbraces and seat. Just hatch fixings and decklines to go and then launch!
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Simply beautiful!
Looking forward to seeing a photo of the kayak sitting in the water.