by JoeMalinchak » Wed Apr 03, 2019 8:22 pm
Hi Siegfried,
I am using a material called Garolite for my models. The material cuts easily on my laser, and is great for prototyping. I have well over an hour on my GG1 with no wear, and my 4-6-2 Pacific steam locomotive is still running fine after two years of running! Actually, they only part on the locomotive that I had to replace was the brushed motor, but this is to be expected.
The gears may fail over time, and it will be a good test to see when, but for now the material is working great. If they fail, it’s not that big a deal to replace them, or build a new chassis. However, I may explore some other materials.
This is information from the McMaster-Carr web site that sells this material. These Garolite sheets are made of a phenolic resin with cotton fabric reinforcement, which makes it easy to machine into mechanical parts, such as pulleys, gears, bushings, and washers.
Joe.