FR2 is the brownish material that many cheap circuit boards are made of. It’s a mixture of phenolic resin and paper. Apparently it’s quite useful to make gears out of:

Phenolic Gears exhibits superior shear force, help reduce machinery noise, absorbs destructive vibration unlike metal gears, phenolic is non-conductive, protects the mating metal gear train, and are known to outlast metal gears under severe continuous service. (source: https://www.knowbirs.com/phenolic-gears )

(Main pic stolen from here)

(Many more pics here)

Has anyone seen these used anywhere? I’ve read a hint regarding pool equipment, but I have never seen them there. I assume the fibres allow them to last longer than plastic/resin only gears.

  • Gronk@aussie.zoneEnglish
    1·
    16 hours ago

    Thanks for expounding, I’ll definitely look into using that filament.

    My aim is to find a cost effective diy solution for robotic servos. I want to try to make something equivalent to the Dynamixel mid range.

    I think the cost of these motors make amateur robotics prohibitively expensive.

    I considered designing a gear hob / jig to make hobs for the open lathe 3d print, but I feel like that’s too far abstracted from my purpose and most people wouldn’t be willing to go that route. (But it’d still be pretty cool)

    So I’m considering multiple options, 3d printed gears, purchased metal gear sets, diy gears from the lathe

    I’m gonna do some more research on these gears and I’ll let you know if I find anything culpable