I suppose Fernando and myself are the current big pushers for thermoset type systems. I am a chemist working with one of the major producers of those types of systems so its what got me involved in reprap in the first place. I have access to literally hundreds of different types and varities of resins. As well as having access to the PhDs that developed them.
I am currently experimenting with a air powered binary gun that injects both resin and hardener at the same time. The problem is that I am concentrating on filled systems since they are FAR cheaper than pure materials but the filler makes the materials very non-newtonian.
Fernando is working on more of what you described but rather than using injected hardener he is experimenting with blocked cataysts and photo-reactive cataysts. Blocked cataysts have a blocking group that prevents that catayst from becoming active until it is heated above a certain tempature so the idea is to hit it with a focus beam of light to flash heat it. Photo-reatives use laser light rather than heat to generate the catalyst.
My paticular work revolves around making molds of the parts rather than the parts themselves. Molds are much faster and potentially allow for very high filler levels with much lower costs. Thats the reason that I need to find a layman friendly way to make at least mockups of the parts. My intent is to then get a set of parts into the hands of our fellow reprapper Englewood since he is a engineer and only an hour drive from me.
Mike
The thoughts and ideas expressed in this post do not reflect those of my employer and are intended only as communications between individuals. Any attempts at implement are at your own risk
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/12/2007 09:12PM by ohiomike.