As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.
Just finished going through that "Theory Breakdown: Understanding the Basics of Material Science for MakerMechanics" guide, and it really highlights how critically important this stuff is for even simple projects. I always just grabbed whatever steel was cheapest at the hardware store for brackets, never really considering tensile strength or work hardening.
Now I'm wondering, for those of you who work with different materials regularly (wood, metal, plastics, etc.), what's one material property that you consistently find yourself needing to take into account in your designs or builds? For example, is it always thermal expansion when working with large pieces of acrylic, or perhaps machinability when choosing between different aluminum alloys? I'm hoping to learn from your experience and avoid future headaches by thinking more about material science upfront.
Also, did anyone else find the section on different types of plastics surprisingly useful? I knew there were differences, but the breakdown of things like PET vs. HDPE and their respective strengths and weaknesses was pretty enlightening. I'm already rethinking some of my 3D printing material choices after reading that.