printing circuts with hdpe?

Well I know it is a problem that we are not really dealing with at the moment but i think the only thing that Hdpe will work out for is for circuit boards. While it does warp, that will not mater to much for circuit boards which do not really have to be "perfect" as they. So the idea would be to print out the board with negative channels for a low temp solder. After a layer is complete it would be possible to print on top of to have "3d"circuit board. I know it is still a long shot considering hdpe starts to melt at 120C and the lowest temp solder I have found is 118C so it a very close margin. It would require a secondary print head to "extrude" the solder but I think the current extruder design will not have to be changed much to accommodate low temp solder...I hope.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2008 01:21AM by ronanwarrior.

This page ( [sci-toys.com]) includes a howto to make your own fusible alloy of Bi8Pb5Sn4 with 95

Well that is kind of what I was searching for but the problem I have been having is finding something that melts that low and is lead free. I know I am picky but considering that my family history has enough cancer issues I don't think I should add to it with lead exposure.

There is also the other option of using conductive paint/glues instead of solder.

[www.instructables.com]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/2008 12:51PM by ronanwarrior.

I printed regular solder onto HDPE last year. It's in the builder blog, iirc. It adheres quite nicely. The real problem isn't printing low temperature alloys so much as putting enough of them down that the traces don't have too much resistance for the circuitry to deal with. Lead isn't nearly as conductive as the copper you are talking about replacing.

Not to mention that lead free low melting point alloys tend to be expensive.

Well there is the option of using copper tape granted it is 6.5 mm wide but that would cut out the need to heat the copper to it normal and in our case extreme temps. I don't thing it would be to complicated to automate a disperser and mount it the Darwin.

Here is a site with a whole range of conductive tapes.
[www.tedpella.com]

Forest's trial with regular solder is here (Really interesting stuff!):
[www.3dreplicators.com]

I think I'll postpone my Field's alloy purchase. It's quite expensive:
1 kilo

Not really. Plastics have a specific heat approaching about half that of water because of their high organic content. Metals, otoh, typically have a specific heat only 10-15% that of water. Solder is a special case, especially if it has a high lead content. Lead has a specific heat of only 3-4% of water.