Pier Fixing Parts for Plarail 3D Printed

[Super]

Here is something I haven't seen or heard of before. This 3D printed idea is supposed to lock in the rails to the Piers so they don't come apart or fall over. Available on Amazon jp

These do seem like quite a smart idea. I've seen these before, albeit with a different design.

Looking at the texture of those black ones I reckon they are probably made of TPU as opposed to the normal PLA material. TPU is rubber like so could potentially be designed to exert some pressure on the rails from the sides rather than clipping over the top of the edge of the rails which the blue ones look like they do. An interesting solution to a problem and one which would probably make them run quieter as well if you got vibration suppressed as well

[Super]

Hi Nigel is the TPU material lesser than PLA? Is it too soft, hard to work with, not paintable or more expensive?

The listing says they are made from "vegetable PLA", so basically that's just PLA.

Hi Nigel is the TPU material lesser than PLA? Is it too soft, hard to work with, not paintable or more expensive?

Hi Super,

TPU is not lesser than PLA, I'd rather just describe it as different.  You know what PLA is like as you've handled that.  TPU is more like a plastic rubber for want of a better description.  It can be a bit harder to work with as it is a bit more temperature sensitive when making things and can suffer from stringing.  Where it excels is like rubber it is pretty flexible and can be bent or whatever you need.  It is great for making tyres, gaskets and flexible parts in general.  Once printed it can't really be sanded and the surface is never really smooth like TPU which is why from the photo's I thought maybe it was TPU.  It is also quite a bit more expensive, but this is mainly due to the fact its not used as much as PLA so lower sales mean higher price per unit.

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The listing says they are made from  "vegetable PLA", so basically that's just PLA.

Indeed it is if that is what the advert says.  All standard PLA is basically made from vegetables, corn starch is the main ingredient which is why it is biodegradable.  The only time it changes is if it is a PLA+ as they are often a mix of PLA and other products like ABS which is derived from oil.

[Super]

Thanks for explaining the differences Mr Nigel 😃