Materials
When choosing a material, you need to consider the following:
- Function: Will the material provide the function that is needed?
- Strength & Durability: Will it hold up to the stresses and forces that it will be exposed to over time, without deforming or failing?
- Workability: Can the material be easily modified, molded, or fabricated using the tools you have on hand, or are willing to buy or borrow?
- Aesthetics: Does the material add to the appearance of the final project, without negatively impacting other aspects such as the durability or cost?
- Safety: Is this material safe to work with using the tools and working conditions that you have available?
- Cost: Is the material cost-effective, without negatively impacting other aspects such as the function, safety, and aesthetics?
Types of Materials
Wood
- Hardwood: Breaks rather than bends when overloaded
- Softwood: More flexible and pliable than hardwood
- Plywood: laminate of thin layers of different woods with crossed grain
Metal
Two general categories: ferrous (contains iron(Fe)) and non-ferrous.
Non-ferrous metals and alloys
- Aluminium: Strong, lightweight, corrosion-resistant
- Brass: alloy of copper and zinc, very malleable
- Copper: excellent conductor of electricity
Ferrous metals and alloys
- Steel: Alloy of iron, carbon and other metals, very hard and will typically corrode
- Cast Iron
Glass
- Annealed: Dangerous when breaking, because it can shatter into many small sharp pieces
- Tempered: greater strength glass
- Laminated: multiple layers of glass
- Borosilicate: resistant to heat shock, used very often in the lab such as for beakers
Plastic
Available as either rigid of flexible.
Thermoset Plastics
- Polyester Resins
- Epoxy resins
Thermoplastics
- Polyvinyl chloride (PVC)
- Acrylic (Plexiglass)
- Polycarbonate (Lexan)
- Nylon
- Delrin
- Ultra-high Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMW)
- 3D Printing filament
- Polyactic acid (PLA)
- Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS)
- Thermoplastic polyurethane (TPU)
- Flexible filament
Fiber-reinforced composites
- Glass fibers (Fiberglass)
- Carbon fiber
- Aramic fiber
Foam
Very useful for makers, it’s lightweight, cheap and has good core structure. To use when weight is a consideration.
- White foam
- Blue foam
- Foam board
- Two-part foam: starts as two liquids that, when mixed, react chemically and expand into a foam material
Material Shape
- Sheet
- Plate
- Bar Stock
- Tube stock
- Aluminium t-slot extrusion
- Structural shapes
- C-channel
- U-channel;