Month: January 2017

Handlebar grip

If you’re looking for good inspiration for what your next 3D printing project should be, just take a look at Daniel Norée his Youmagine account. We found some really nice handlebar models to demonstrate the use of semi-flexible filaments, such as nGen_FLEX.

We printed two different handlebar grips, one for a BMX bike and another for a 1966 Harley Davidson M50S.

The handlebar grip for the 1966 Harley Davidson M50S was printed on the Mass Portal, with dark gray nGen_FLEX. With a 0.6mm nozzle printing at 0.2mm layerheight this model was printed in no time at all, in just 1 hour and 30 mninutes you’ve got yourself a spare part!

The BMX Handlebar we decided to print on the UM3 and alter the model slightly to make it compatible for dual material extrusion. Using Meshmixer we seperated the bottom plate from the grip part, so we could merge them in Cura 2.3.1 and assign different materials for each part. The flat part is printed in nGen Silver Metallic, at 0.1mm layerheight. The handle is printed nGen_FLEX black, also at 0.1mm layerheight.

About nGen-FLEX

nGen_FLEX was developed with Eastman chemical company. Based on their work with co-polyesters nGen_FLEX makes a very compatible material with other Amphora grade materials.

With just the right amount of flex, nGen_FLEX is best described as a semi flexible material. Still capable of being fed through a Bowden tube and printed at regular PLA speeds.

Fast printing
nGen_FLEX is engineered as a semi-flexible materials which allows most users to print at regular print speeds, cutting down build times compared to other very flexible filaments. Also bowden style 3D printers, 1.75mm and 2.85mm, will be able to push this filament through without much trouble.

Temperature resistance
nGen_FLEX is temperature resistant to about 125C. That means 3D printed objects can be steam sterilized at 121C.

Flexible and tough
Printed in single perimeters and without infill or very little objects will feel quite flexible, but printed with multiple perimeters and more infill objects will be very firm and tough. The material is rated at a shore hardness of 95A.

Vertical Windmill

Michael Broderick posted an inspiring project about a 3D printable vertical axis windmill. After his first design, he returned to the drawing board and improved various parts to finally develop the Vertical Windmill Mk2, get the files here.

The vertical windmill is not just any standard looking windmill, as the name suggests it’s build up along a vertical axis and not a horizontal axis like most ordinary windmills.

Each wing consists out of five pieces, which interlock easily and can be fixated with a bit of glue. When fully assembled it will be 625mm tall and hopefully able to handle the Dutch wheather.

Great push-fit construction for easy assembly.

For this print we selected colorFabb_HT. A very tough co-polyester material developed by Eastman Chemicals. In part two we’ll show the final assembly and hopefully show how it operates in the wind.

colorFabb_HT is made with Amphora HT5300 and is a low-odor and styrene-free material uniquely suited for advanced 3D printing users, particularly those who need their models to exhibit excellent durability, toughness and high temperature resistance with a Tg of over 100⁰C. colorFabb_HT empowers professional users to create more durable and useful items, making prototyping truly functional. Learn more about colorFabb_HT on our special dedicated landing page.

Spring-loaded Drive Block

After printing for almost 3 years the wear on the injection molded parts of our Makerbot Replicator 2 started to effect print quality and reliability. The drive block just wasn’t able to put the same amount of pressure on the filament as it used to. If you’re wondering how to detect this issue, check if the teeth marks on the filament look shallow. When the Replicator is feeding the filament, you should not be able to stop the feed by clamping the filament between two fingers. A good drive block will pull it through.

In our case it was time for some fresh new parts. We considered buying the original parts, but a quick search on thingiverse guided us towards these STL files uploaded by Makerbot, perfect!

We selected colorFabb_HT, a co-polyester material by Eastman Chemical with great toughness and good temperature resistance, 100 – 110C. These parts will be mounted against the stepper motor and onto an aluminum beam which mounts the hot-end. Therefore heat resistance is much needed for this particular case.

All parts have been 3D printed on a Ultimaker 2, at 0.1mm layerheight. We printed multiple parts at the same time without cooling for best possible layeradhesion. Printing temperature was at 250C and 90C bed temperature, speed between 35mm/s and 40 mm/s.

Have you tried PLA Economy?

colorFabb’s PLA Economy: Large volume, High quality, Low price

In November we launched a new product line: PLA Economy. This new grade of PLA, with an added impact modifier, has been a hit from the moment of release. We developed this new PLA, separate from our lauded PLA/PHA, as a filament for large volume users.

Because it’s made with the same processing technology used for other premium colorFabb products, this PLA Economy filament is just as reliable. PLA Economy is available on 2.2kg spools only, delivering a whopping 740 meters of 1.75mm filament and 270 meters of 2.85mm filament.

So far, we have released PLA Economy in four colors: White (RAL 9010), Black (RAL 9005, Red (RAL 3020) and Silver (RAL 9023). More colors will be made available in 2017.

We advice the following settings:

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.

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

At a little over €35 (excl. VAT) for 2.2kg pricing for this filament is extremely attractive. That comes basically down to a little less than € 16 per kg for a high quality filament! But wait, there is more….

You can also opt for the PLA Economy Value Pack: order four spools as a value pack and receive an immediate 10% discount!

Buy PLA Economy Buy PLA Economy Value Pack

PLA Economy is very well suited for the maker who needs quality at an affordable price. It is a perfect filament for large volume and small series production, made with the guaranteed colorFabb quality that we are known for.

Happy printing!

pla economy

Multi-material coupler

Multiple material prints will be more common in the new year. We have several great printers that not only print two colors in one print, but also two materials. This expands the possibilities of 3D printing and give the maker more freedom to make functional products! Today we used both nGen and nGen_FLEX in one single print:

Design: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/flexible-coupler-using-colorfabb-ngen-flex

Designed by Imaginables from Australia, this coupler was made for a multiple material print and they used PLA with our nGen_FLEX. nGen_FLEX as their YouMagine page states, works very well with regular PLA. We opted to print with nGen ourselves, since the combination with nGen_FLEX has proven to be a match made in 3D heaven.

Our print was made on the recemtly launched Ultimaker 3 at a 0.1mm layer height.

Click the image above to see the flexible filament at work!

nGen was released late last year and is an all-round filament which has many advantages over, say, a PLA. The temperature resistance is over 80 degrees C and it works on most printers with a heated build plate. 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.

nGen_FLEX was released recently at the TCT Show and is our first semi-flexible material. With a Shore A hardness of 95 it is a material that is ideally suited for functional parts. It is not soft and squishy like other flexible materials in the market, but allows for fast printing and printing on 3D printers using a Bowden tube. nGen_FLEX is a material for users looking for an engineering grade flexible filament with a high temperature resistance (over 120 degrees C) and good chemical resistance.

Both nGen and nGen_FLEX are made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymers, a range of co-polyesters developed with Eastman Chemical Company for 3D printing. Amphora co-polyesters are low-odor, styrene-free choices that are uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora based filaments, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient and attractive. You can find more information about co-polyesters in the article we recently published: What we talk about when we talk about co-polyesters.

Both nGen and nGen_FLEX are available now in our webshop (click here or here) and via our network of distributors and resellers. Click here for a reseller closest to you (Imaginables also resells colorFabb filaments. Click here and here).