Printing pipe fittings



  • We need to produce male to female ½” NPT adapters to connect a two-way valve to a standard shower pipe. Many shower pipes in homes today have a sharp end and are so thin a washer pushes up inside the pipe or is cut and then leaks. We have printed several from PLA, ABS and PETG and found that all were too brittle. The ABS and PTEG both tightened up with no leaks and with no Teflon tape. We clamped a ½” steel plug in a vice and screwed on the adapters with a thin shower pipe attached. Pushing down on the shower pipe with modest force will cause the part to break at the point where the male thread connects to the body of the fitting – the weakest point. If we can print a part that will not fail before the shower pipe does, then we’re good to go. We also would need to know, if such a material exists, will it maintain its properties long term and will be unaffected by water.    
    Thanks for any input



  • @moccasin Printing something like this Is a challenge. First off forget about PLA as if you run hot water through it that just might deform it Now ABS and PETG are tougher but IDK how you printed it a part like that should be printed with enough perimeters to make a solid part. The ideal material for something like that probably would be Nylon like a Taulman 910 or a CX12 from Hobby King. Both are Hard nylons and if you print them right then they will rather deform than break we put some 910 and CX12 parts in the vice and smashed them with a 5lb sledge hammer just to see if we get layer separation - we bent the part 90 degress but did not get it to break So I think that might be your best bet for a 3dp solution.


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