3 ms·
Yep, thanks for pointing that out to the general audience, should definitely be noted. Some KitchenAid mixers have a plastic gear for exactly that purpose. On t
by yourapostasy 8y ago
Yep, thanks for pointing that out to the general audience, should definitely be noted. Some KitchenAid mixers have a plastic gear for exactly that purpose. On the other hand, on an outboard motor I use, the plastic gear that wears through for a tilt lock mechanism is attached to a ludicrously expensive metal assembly that has to be completely replaced.
I'm okay with the plastic gear designed as a sacrificial component. I don't like having to toss an entire assembly into the landfill, though. I'd like to be able to print/purchase just the sacrificial component and screw/glue it onto the existing still-working assembly. Event better, I'd like to send the broken sacrificial component back through to a process that breaks it back down into feedstock for recycled resins that go to manufacture products that can take slightly weaker plastic (each pass through recycling, plastic becomes slightly weaker, with virgin plastic starting at the strongest).
Ideally, I'd like to see aluminum parts that are designed to crumple under the specified sacrifice load like the equivalent plastic parts, and be able to just endlessly recycle the aluminum. But I've never seen such a design of a sacrificial gear/cam/bolt, so I don't know if that is simply an impossible mechanical engineering ask by a dumb layperson.