I’m looking to get some tube blocks to make my life easier and was wondering what material people use for different tube blocks applications. I know wood is mostly used for hand mitering and alu for use in jigs and milling machines. What about 3d printed? Do people use them for hand mitering? Or for fixturing? Does it hold up to heat in a tube when tacking?
Would love to learn more,
Jilles
I just finished printing a tube block for phasing bends in handlebars. I printed with PETG. I find PLA warps too easily with heat/uv.
I’ll press in some heat set inserts today on the block I made. 20% infill with 0.2mm layers. Seems pretty solid. Takes about 12 hours to print a block.
Just wondering, can 3d printed v blocks be used to hold tubes in a mill tool for mitering?
That is how I built my bike. I did PLA 50 percent fill. In one half of the blocks I printed hex pockets to capture nuts so I wasn’t threading into plastic when I bolted the clam shell together. Pithy bikes has some models you can download but I’ve never tried them
It works excellent!
This is Carbon fiber PLA with 6 walls and plenty of infill and heat press inserts. I have also used PETG and standard PLA.
Yup, it works really well. I found PLA to be stiff enough. The only concern is that if the tube heats up, it can soften the printed blocks.
What do you mean by heat press inserts? Also, do tubes get hot when they are cut? Is it related to friction?
There are inserts you heat up and they melt the pla as you push them into a slightly undersized hole.
Tubes definitely can heat up. Just use a spray bottle with some usual machining coolant mix to keep the heat down.
So as long as you use oil to keep it cool a direct contact with the 3d printed tube holder and the tube itself can be maintained?
I have been using the same Paragon aluminum blocks for about 10-12 years and while some are getting a bit beat up, they are still going strong. I like that I mod them for the purpose like mitering stem extensions and such.
It’s wild how useful the tube blocks are. I have a few of the paragon aluminum blocks. 1 in each size I need, then I supplement with 3d printed ones. The 3d printed ones do most of what the aluminum blocks do except for act as heat sinks for welding/brazing. The aluminum ones are generally nicer to use as well. They clamp, slide around, and generaly feel better. My 3d printed blocks use heat set inserts like @BS_Industries mentions.
I use these rather than tapping threads directly into the part or using a nut. They work quite well.
I also have never had an issue with the tube heating up enough to matter while mitering tubing this way, I almost exclusively use PLA for tube blocks and even for my frame jig.
