Month: November 2016

Filament Duck 2,2kg Spool holder

With the launch of our new Economy PLA on 2,2kg spools, we needed something to hold those big spools during printing. So we used our new material to print our remix of the Filament Duck which was originally designed by Thingiverse user Bold.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1862683

2,2kg Spools are big! So unfortunately they won’t fit on every printer without help. This Filament Duck allows you to store the spool whilst hanging freely with just enough friction to allow for easy unwinding by the printer. You can place it outside of your 3D printer and feed the filament in just as normal. Now you can enjoy our new Economy line of PLA almost as easily as our other materials.

This new economy line of PLA filaments by colorFabb delivers a good quality PLA filament in four great colors at very reasonable pricing. ColorFabb PLA Economy is not a standard PLA. It has been modified for better layer adhesion and flow properties to get better performance over other basic PLA filaments. Because it’s made with the same processing technology used for other premium colorFabb products, this PLA Economy will be just as reliable.

Economy PLA is available on 2.2kg spools only, delivering a whopping 740 meters of 1.75mm filament and 270 meters of 2.85mm filament.

We have been testing this material for the better part of the summer and have found this material a great alternative those customers who need a lot of PLA. We are initially releasing PLA Economy in four colors: White (RAL 9010), Black (RAL 9005, Red (RAL 3020) and Silver (RAL 9023).

Other colors that will be added at a later date.

PLA Economy

Today, we are proudly announcing a new range of PLA filament to our portfolio:

colorFabb PLA Economy

Millennium Falcon design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:919475

The new economy line of PLA filaments by colorFabb delivers a good quality PLA filament in four great colors at very reasonable pricing. ColorFabb PLA Economy is not a standard PLA. It has been modified for better layer adhesion and flow properties to get better performance over other basic PLA filaments. Because it’s made with the same processing technology used for other premium colorFabb products, this PLA Economy will be just as reliable.

Economy PLA will be available on 2.2kg spools only, delivering a whopping 740 meters of 1.75mm filament and 270 meters of 2.85mm filament.

We have been testing this material for the better part of the summer and have found this filament a great alternative those customers who need a lot of PLA. We are initially releasing PLA Economy in four colors: White (RAL 9010), Black (RAL 9005, Red (RAL 3020) and Silver (RAL 9023).

Other colors that will be added at a later date.

Adviced 3d printing temperature
195C-220C

Adviced 3d print speed
40 – 100 mm/s

Advised Heated bed (if you have one, not strictly necessary)
50-60C

Cooling fan
100% fan cooling for best aesthetics, this gives best performance on overhangs and small details. For best mechanical performance try printing with the least amount of cooling needed, for optimal layer adhesion.

Dragon Skull design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:473639

This PLA grade has been tested extensively and is being produced and shipped by the same colorFabb team you are used to so you know we are not compromising on quality. You can rely with this filament on the same high standards that colorFabb is known for.

Strawberry design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:153548

Twisted Flower pot design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:99658

ColorFabb knight design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:501831

PLA Economy is not the same grade of PLA as our PLA/PHA. PLA/PHA will remain available as it always was: in both 750 grams and 2.2kg and in a variety of 30 exciting colors.

colorFabb’s PLA Economy is available now for € 42.50 (incl VAT) per 2.2kg spool!

Due to the competitive pricing, PLA Economy spools are not eligible for our current “Buy 4, Pay 3” campaign. This campaign, however, remains valid for the rest of the month of November for all our other spools (but not our samples).

Wishing you a great week and happy printing!

Team colorFabb

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:433119

3d printing colorfabb economy new material pla

Moveo sneak peek

A quick sneak peek of the BCN Moveo Robot arm we are printing right now on the Stacker S4 printer. We recently started this project with our Amphora based co-polyesters to make a very cool and functional print. You can find the full details on the site of BCN3D who supplied the design.

Our range of Amphora based co-polyesters are perfectly suited for a project like this. In 2014 colorFabb teamed up with Eastman Chemical Company to develop unique grades of co-polyesters suited for 3D printing. Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer are a low-odor, styrene-free choice that is uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

So far we have launched four grades, starting with colorFabb_XT in 2014, which is a fantastic functional engineering material. Late 2015 we follow this up with nGen, our next Generation general purpose filament and a drop in replacement for PLA. A wide processing window and perfect reliability make this filament a very popular one in our portfolio.

Earlier this year we followed that up with colorFabb_HT, a high-temperature resistant filament that allows for functional engineering projects that need lasting parts. Recently at the TCT Show in Birmingham we introduced nGen_FLEX to the market, a flexible filament with a Shora A hardness of 95 allowing for functional and flexible parts to be printed.

More information can be found in the blog we wrote about co-polyesters last summer.

You can find our entire portfolio of co-polyesters in our webshop.

3d printing amphora bcn3d colorfabb eastman functional moveo robot arm stacker

VTOL Drone

From time to time we feature prints that have not originated from our own print lab, but were printed with our filaments. We love to see user cases like the one that follows which show the potential of 3D printing. In this case, our carbon re-inforced filament XT-CF20 was used to bring a prototype for a VTOL drone to a customer in the shortest time possible.

The company responsible for this is nSize, located in Rotterdam. They produced the VTOL drone prototype for Aerovinci in Delft. In their own words:

“AeroVinci is a company based in Delft, whose mission it is to build a fully autonomous network of drones, able to deliver data and services without human interaction. On their delegation to Israel with the Dutch Embassy they showcased their VTOL drone that should work with their drone-in-a-box concept.”

“BerkelaarMRT teamed up with nSize to build this prototype. With a wingspan of exactly one meter, flight case restrictions and a short deadline this was not an easy task. We chose to print this on our Ultimakers in carbon filled filament. This material is strong, creates consistent prints and is easy to sand. We’ve managed to complete this project in just over two weeks.”

“First task was to make the prototype fit in a standard Pelicase flight case, without having to charge for extra oversize luggage. So we had to split the model, which needed to be assembled and disassembled on site without any tools. We opted for some strong magnets and metal pins, carefully aligned. We have had some good results in the past with pausing prints, inserting magnets with our project for Boskalis.”

“With our first split lines in place, we set out to further divide the wing in more parts so that they fit our printers. Respecting of course the print direction so there was minimal overhang. We carefully crafted some extra splits and insert parts to keep all the surfaces as clean as possible. We ended up dividing the total wing into 27 pieces.”

“In less than one week we had printed all the parts with the colorfabb XT-CF20 filament, with only one misprint due to power outage. Next step was to glue the components together and fill up the remaining gaps with some black filler. The real reason we chose this filament was down to the last step; it was easy to sand and gives a killer look! With some days left in our process we’ve added some extra details as wiring and presented the wing to AeroVinci.”

You can find more information about nSize on their company page.

XT-CF20 was introduced early 2015 by colorFabb and is based on colorFabb_XT with 20% carbon fibres. This filament is perfect for parts which need high stiffness. XT-CF20 has a beautiful matte surface finish when printed.

XT-CF20 is available in our webshop and through our network of worldwide resellers.

3d printing aerovinci colorfabb drone nsize prototype vtol xt-cf20

Display Stand

As a follow up of yesterday’s post, we are today showing the stand for the Raspberry Pi display case. Designed by the aptly named TheRaspberryPiGuy, we printed the display stand in a very sharp looking nGen Red.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:995394

For this print we used the MassPortal Pharaoh ED printer at 0.1mm layer height.

nGen is made from Eastman Amphora™ AM3300 3D polymer. Like colorFabb_XT, colorFabb_HT and nGen_FLEX, it is part of Eastman’s Amphora range of copolyesters for 3D printing. Find more about co-polyesters, what they are and what the advantages are by visiting our previous blog.

nGen is a low-odor, styrene-free material uniquely suited for 3D printing enthusiasts, particularly those who need the flexibility to print within a wide processing temperature range. With nGen you will have good flow properties through the printer nozzle—even at lower temperatures than some other polymers require. These properties make nGen more workable at a wider breadth of temperatures, producing reliable results and resulting in less waste.

Amphora 3300 has been made into high-quality filament that exhibits advanced overhang ability, excellent looks, and large printing temperature range—empowering large panel of users to create durable and useful items. With the unique combination of a low processing temperature and an elevated temperature resistance, nGen can quickly print creations that are functional, durable, efficient, and attractive.

You can find more information about nGen by clicking here. nGen is available in 17 colors.

Learn more about printing with nGen by visiting our tutorial.

3d printing colorfabb massportal ngen raspberry stand

Display Case

Today we printed a Raspberry Pi 7 Inch touch screen display case. For this we used our woodFill and bambooFill. Designed by luc_e, it is a perfect showcase for some truly beautiful materials like our special filaments.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1585924

Ever since launching at the London 3D Print Show in 2013 woodFill has been a great success. Our first special filament, it was followed by bambooFill and corkFill in our range of aesthetically stunningly beautiful filaments. Printing with these materials makes your room smell like a wood shop! Both woodFill and bambooFill work on most printers that can handle PLA. You can find a tutorial here.

These parts were printed on an Ultimaker 2 at 0.16mm layer height.

Both woodFill and bambooFill are available in our webshop are are part of our line-up of special filaments.

3d printing bamboofill colorfabb pi raspberry specials ultimaker woodfill

Remote control housing

To start the week we printed a housing for FGS-2xx Fibaro remote control double relay. This relay is used to control outside lighting with a webinterface. For this print we used two of our finest materials: colorFabb_XT for the housing and nGen_FLEX for the sealing parts. Both are based on Amphora 3D Polymer by Eastman Chemical Company.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1860624

The rigid housing was printed on the Kossel XL, while the seal – printed with nGen_FLEX, was printed on the MassPortal Pharaoh ED. In both cases we used a 0.1mm layer height.

We launched colorFabb_XT 2 years ago at the London 3D Print Show together with Eastman Chemical Company. Eastman is our material partner for co-polyesters. colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties: High strength and very high toughness, Odor Neutral processing, High Tg / improved temp. resistance, Styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance, BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation. It will allow the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way.

With nGen_FLEX we created a truly functional print of this design. nGen_FLEX was launched succesfully at the TCT Show recently and is our first semi-flexible filament. It has a Shore A hardness of 95 and has very good printability on a wide variety of printers, even the ones with Bowden tubes which are in general challenging to print flexible filaments on. The heat resistance of over 120 degrees C adds to the functionality and even allows steam sterilization of your print when needed! You can find more information about the material, the data sheets and print tutorials on our dedicated landing page.

colorFabb_XT is available in fourteen colors in our webshop.

nGen_FLEX is available in two colors in our webshop.

3d printing colorfabb colorfabb_xt functional housing kossel massportal ngen_flex remote control

Mirror holder

Sometimes you need a practical item for in and around the house. Like when you need a holder to hold the mirror. Luckily there is 3D printing. With a custom design we printed two mirror holders with XT-CF20.

We introducted XT-CF20 early 2015, containing 20% carbon fibres with colorFabb_XT.

Due to the abrasive nature of XT-CF20 we always used hardened steel nozzles to print this filament. In recent weeks, however, we have been extensively testing with the Olsson Ruby nozzle, provided to us by 3DVerkstan, our distributor in the Nordic region and producer of these new nozzles. You can find the Death Gun mask here and Robot Action figure here for examples printed with this new nozzle that will be released later in November. For further information, you can contact 3DVerkstan.

During our test printing the mirror holders we have seen quite some benefits over the regular brass nozzles that are the current industry standard: The ruby nozzle retains the excellent heat conducting properties of brass, while being extremely resistant to wear. This means that you can print your standard materials as usual, but also very abrasive materials such as XT-CF20 and steelFill.

As you can see we have had fantastic results with this new nozzle which, combined with the stiffness of the material, offer great functionality in everyday use. We printed the mirror holders on an Ultimaker 2 at 0.2mm layer height.

XT-CF20 is available now in our webshop (and take advantage of the colorfabb4you discount code to celebrate our fourth anniversary!)

3d printing colorfabb mirror holder nozzle The Olsson Ruby ultimaker xt-cf20

colorFabb’s 4th birthday

It’s party time! We have something to celebrate and want to share this with you.

Four years ago this month, November 2012, we started testing our first grade of filaments, PLA/PHA, and the brand colorFabb was established. We announced our filaments at the RapidPro Show and opened our webshop in March 2013. Not long after that the first resellers started to order to supply their local markets with colorFabb filaments. From there, things went fast…
colorFabb started with the idea to supply quality filaments for the 3D printing market and in four years this idea has been transformed in a well known and highly regarded brand in 3D printing that is used on printers worldwide. Behind the brand is a dynamic company that was incorporated in September 2015, after being part of Helian Polymers.

There are many highlights, too many to mention, but one of the continuous highlights is being in constant communications with you, the community and our customers. Your feedback is extremely valuable for us.

Here are a few key numbers of where we are now:

– Over 400 stock keeping units (individual articles)
– Over 30 printers in two printlabs for testing
– Nearly 20 shows we have exhibited on (and met a lot of you)
– 13 distributors worldwide and counting, with a lot more resellers
– 6 production lines
– 5 years since the first idea for colorFabb took shape
– 4 spools, but pay three! (See below)
– 3 article groups (co-polyesters, PLA/PHA and specials) with a fourth one coming up soon
– 2 hours of sleep we get on average every night
– 1 kick-ass team to bring colorFabb filaments to your printer!

Click the link below to see a timeline of the past four years:

ABOUT COLORFABB

For more detailed overviews of the past few years, please have a look at our 2014 recap and our 2015 recap.

After four years we can safely say that colorFabb has been a success. Earlier this year we held a survey and were very pleased with the results. Over 90% of all our users rated our services and products an 8 or higher. 98% of all the people surveyed would recommend colorFabb to other 3D printer owners. These are fantastic numbers and we are very proud of them and we thank our partners, our distributors and especially you, our customers for this success. but that does not mean we sit back and relax. On the contrary.

We keep developing new and exciting materials that we know you will like (and have asked for). Our ambition is to bring you more filaments with improved and different functionality, faster to your door with the highest quality possible.

The past four years have been a success, but for us it has only been a start.

Four years, still, is a milestone and we want to celebrate this with you. For the entire month of November we are offering in our webshop 4 filaments for the price of 3. Use the coupon code colorfabb4you for this to get the discount immediately when checking out from our website. (Samples are excluded from this).

Keep an eye out on our social media feeds (Twitter, Facebook, Google+ and Instagram) and this very tutorial page for the latest news and our prints that we post regularly.

Here’s to you, our customers, and the next four years & beyond!

Team colorFabb

3d printing 4 years birthday colorfabb discount sale

Turbine prop

For today’s print we chose part of the GE “Build Your Own Jet Engine” project which can be found on Thingiverse. For this print we selected our bright red nGen filament and the result is stunning.

Design by GE: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:392115

Measuring 26cm across, we printed this part on the Leapfrog HS and it performed extremely well with our nGen filament. This part, printed at a 0.1mm layer height, took approximately 12 hours to print.

nGen was released late last year as our second Amphora based co-polyester from Eastman Chemical Company, after succesfully launching colorFabb_XT in 2014. Since then, we have also launched the high temperature resistant colorFabb_HT and recently the semi-flexible nGen_FLEX.

nGen is a perfect all-round material to make prototypes, big and small. nGen comes in 17 great and carefully selected colors . Because of nGen’s good mechanical properties parts will last a long time.

You can find more information about nGen, based on Eastman Amphora AM3300, on our dedicated nGen landing page.

nGen is now available in our webshop and through our worldwide network of distributors and resellers.

3d printing colorfabb leapfrog HS ngen turbine prop