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Old 01-04-18 | 08:49 PM
  #23  
bcpriess
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Bikes: Masi Giramondo, Trek 830 monstercross build, Raleigh Gran Sport, Lemond Tourmalet

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheet_moulding_compound

Sheet Molding Compound | Compression Molding Process - Romeo RIM

I've seen this process (compression, not injection, based) in use on very large enclosures and auto body panels (think the giant hoods on a Freightliner or a Mack). The parts that it produces, though, can still require some secondary ops to create ribs and fastener bosses and so forth, although you do get some of that depending on how the part is designed - within limits. I'm assuming the process/product Lemond calls "grail" takes some of these long fiber characteristics (long fibers of some kind of woven embedded into some kind of parison or other premolded part) and marries it to injection molding, or maybe a compression process that starts with a thicker sheet and incorporates cams or other tool actions to approximate injection molded parts. The info on the website is slim, and I haven't bothered to call them to find out more.

As for 3D printing, it sounds cool, and it can make great cosmetic samples without a lot of hand fab, but small parts (like a pen cap) still cost $15 and take forever to print. It's just additive CNC'ing without the robustness, always a one-off, and prohibitively expensive for mass-produced items for the foreseeable future. The 3D printing resins don't have any structural advantages at all, and FDM has **** for surface quality, as well as the structural disadvantage of having a "grain". And none of them have a remotely competitive cycle time. Since they are touting cost as one advantage, I highly doubt whatever Lemond is up to has anything at all to do with 3D printing.

Last edited by bcpriess; 01-04-18 at 08:58 PM.
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