Robo C2 is in stock!

We’ve got good news for those looking to buy the Robo C2. This small but feature rich desktop 3D printer has finally arrived at our warehouse, ready to be shipped to our customers.

The Robo C2 retails for €799.00 excl. Tax (€966.79 incl tax) + 1 FREE SPOOL

GET ONE TODAY

 

Robo C2 Features
Although the Robo C2 is compact in size it’s loaded with features seen on bigger and more expensive units. The Robo C2 works great with colorFabb PLA/PHA, colorFabb Economy PLA. For the more experienced users the C2 will also work with our pla based special materials such as bronzeFill, copperFill, brasFill, woodFill, corkFill.

  • Wi-Fi connectivity
    Connect Robo C2 to your home or workplace Wi-Fi network from your mobile device and the Robo app for the most accurate 3D printing experience.
  • Automatic self-leveling print bed
    Spend more time making without having to manually adjust the print bed — plus it’s removable.
  • Filament run-out detection
    Lets you know when you’ve run out of material and automatically saves your 3D print.
  • Print from your phone 
    Easily print everything you make right from your smartphone or mobile device using the Robo app.
  • Integrated model slicing
    Simplifies the path to every finished print, giving each layer more customized and controlled attention to detail.
  • Compact Size
    Small footprint fits any space, giving you the freedom to make just about anywhere.
  • Total Print-Smart Control
    Take control of every detail in real time with the built-in 3.5” color touch screen and precision sensor technology.

Printing colorFabb PLA/PHA Mint Turqoise and woodFill on the Robo C2.

 

 

 

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder.

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder is an exciting new offering that brings MakerBot’s current selection of 3D printers into the world of experimentation and custom creation.

As a leader in the 3D printing materials space, we at colorFabb were excited to work with MakerBot on this endeavour. Over the course of several months, we participated in a beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

The new MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder like all MakerBot Labs products is community supported, and allows users to swap nozzles and comes complete with two nozzle wrenches and 4 nozzles:

  • 0.4 MM Brass
  • 0.6 MM Brass
  • 0.6 MM Stainless Steel
  • 0.8 MM Brass

These new nozzles are the key to printing in this new range of materials. We recommend that users use the 0.6 mm brass nozzle for woodFill and corkFill, and the 0.6mm steel nozzle for bronzeFill and copperFill.

The new MakerBot Labs Community will allow advanced users of MakerBot 3D Printers to share new Custom Print Modes – allowing users to now save and share their custom settings from MakerBot Print.

Our profiles.

We’ve been testing various settings for our materials and will share the profiles we liked best on Makerbot Labs. You can share your own profiles for our materials at Makerbot labs with fellow users.

Augustus by CosmoWenman printed on the Replicator+ using the 0.6mm steel nozzle.

bronzeFill and copperFill

bronzeFill and copperFill are a special type of PLA filament which is infused with metal powder. It will print with settings very similar to normal PLA filament, so users will be able to get a first print quickly.

When the 3D printer is done printing the model, the surface will look matte and dull. With some post processing such as sanding and polishing the parts will start to look like real polished metal. For more information on post-processing our metal infused filaments have look at this article – post-processing-gcreates-rocket-ship.

Apart from the unique aesthetics of the material, it’s also three times heavier than a regular PLA material. The added weight makes every print feel much more real and valuable.

Apart from polishing these materials there’s also an aging technique which will make your prints look like true antiques with a beautiful patina. Have a look at this article to learn more about this method.

Boot Planter by MakerBot

 

woodFill and corkFill
woodFill and corkFill are a special type PLA filament which is infused with very fine pinewood and cork fibers, which make up for about 30% of the content. It will print with similar settings to PLA.

The texture of printed parts are one of a kind, objects no longer look like shiny plastic, but have a great matte texture. During printing users can even notice the subtle smell of wood.

Users are recommended to keep good flow of material while printing, 0.2m – 0.27mm layer height at 50 mm/s – 65 mm/s will serve as a good starting point. Our profiles for the Replicator+ have been developed with this in mind.

Boot Planters printed with 0.6mm nozzle using the Replicator +.

Good to know.

The standard colorFabb spools will not fit the Makerbot Replicator+ machines. This means users will need to top mount our spools for easy and efficient unloading of filament. There is many variations on thingiverse to topmount filament spools on your Replicator+ and these can be found in the Hardware Mods section of MakerBot Labs on Thingiverse.

When printing woodFill and corkFill, we’ve found that applying blue painters tape to the surface of the Replicator+ platform can improve adhesion, resulting in less warping.

With bronzeFill and copperFill we’ve seen good adhesion on the grip surface that is standard on the Makerbot Replicator+.

For more information on Makerbot Labs visit: https://makerbot.com/labs/

ATTRIBUTIONS

Moai by ET-Huang
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:144668

Propeller by dreyfusduke
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:986079

Fibonacci Vase by mnemo80
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1054598

Boot Planter by MakerBot
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:293223

Augustus by CosmoWenman
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:196044

 

New intern learning how to print!

In August of this year our intern started with his 6 month internship. We challenged him to 3D print two models containting multiple parts, without ever having 3D printed a part before. PLA/PHA and PLA Economy are perfect materials for novice users, so we selected these for his project.

The Jet propulsion pump by toto45  is a great design with many parts which can be bolted together. Ofcourse the parts need to be printed accurate to ensure all parts fit together as one assembly. It’s a very cool model to explain how Jet propulsion works.

 

Our second project is the Powerful 3d printed Water-pump designed by Adolph Smith his design also features multiple parts which need to be assembled to form one part. Our intern added his own motor design, with colorFabb in 3D attached to the side of the surface.

For these two projects we used the Ultimaker 2 and Ultimaker 2+ machines. Getting to know the Ultimakers makes a lot of sense, after this introduction it’s easy to move onto different machines and materials.


PLA/PHA 

Our first development for the 3D printing market was a tougher and less brittle PLA filament. Through a process called compounding a polyhydroxyalkanoate is added to a carefully selected PLA. The result of this process is a completely homogenous blend, which is the base material for our PLA/PHA filament.

PLA/PHA filament is available in 30 colors with great brilliance and excellent opacity.

With increased toughness and better layer-to-layer adhesion, PLA/PHA is a premium filament.

PLA Economy

PLA Economy is our solution for those users looking for a reliable source of quality material available on large spools. For this material a specific PLA type is selected which features great quality at reasonable cost. Five popular colors have been selected for this range of PLA Economy material.

It’s the perfect material for high volume users which require reliability and constant performance.

Ancient Greek Helmet

Back in August we came across the Instagram account of Andreas Mielonen and were immediately blown away by the work he had posted there: An ancient Greek helmet, printed with bronzeFill on his Ultimaker 2+:

All images in this blog post by Andreas Mielonen

We contacted Andreas to share a bit more about this fantastic print and he was very gracious in sharing his pictures and the process of printing. Andreas (31) lives in Stockholm, Sweden, and has been interested in 3D graphics since watching the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Andreas: “I was 3D-modeling as a hobby until five years ago when it became my job. Since then I’ve been involved in making commercials, illustrations for science articles and infomercials. A couple of years ago I started getting interested in 3D-printing and started to go to 3D-printing meetups in Stockholm which spurred my interest even more.”

After attending some workshops he decided to buy an Ultimaker 2+.

About the fantastic print of the Greek helmet he says: “I got the idea for the helmet when I got a roll of colorFabb’s bronzeFill and checked out what other people had done with it and saw how good it looked with the blue/greenish patina. So, instantly I thought of the amazing greek bronze helmets. I  designed the helmet in Maya and sculpted in the details in Mudbox. Before I started to print the helmet in bronzefill I made a test print in standard PLA in 1:4 scale, the scale I wanted for the bronzefill version was 1:3 but knew that if the helmet prints well in 1:4 scale the larger version won’t be a problem.”

The settings Andreas found working best on the Ultimaker 2+ were:

Layer Height: 0.2mm
Speed: 30mm/s
Temperature: 215C
Material Flow: 108%

Andreas used the Olsson Ruby Nozzle. Although not necessary for bronzeFill, he used it nonetheless. Also because the stand was printed with our carbon filled XT-CF20 which requires nozzles that can withstand extra wear due to its abrassive nature. (We wrote about our experiences with the Olsson Ruby Nozzle before).

 

Post-processing

Of course where bronzeFill, and our other metal filled filaments truly shine, is in the post processing of the prints.

Andreas explains the way he worked: “I started the post processing with sanding under water to prevent heat buildup using grit 240 sandpaper and finishing off with grit 600. When I was happy with the sanding I made a mixture of salt and vinegar sprayed the helmet two times a day for a week with the mixture, and kept it in a bucket with a lid to contain the smell and enhance the effect of the salt-vinegar mixture. After one week it had a nice patina and I used black oil paint to make the finishing touches.”

“I like the look of the ColorFabb XT CF20 both when it comes straight off the print bed and when it’s been sanded, so I choose that to print the stand for the helmet.”

We thank Andreas for all his input and the images he so kindly provided to us! Please follow Andreas on Instagram (link here) to see his latest creations. As you can see his love for Lord of the Rings has also translated into a terrific print of a small salt box from the Two Towers, made with woodFill. We will write another post about this soon!

 

bronzeFill was our first truly special filament, launched over 3 years ago and still one of our most popular filaments. The added weight and unique aesthetic properties have made this an extremely popular material. Before this fantastic ancient Greek helmet we have seen other great projects come to life in this year alone made with bronzeFill like the enormous Octolamp and the stellar fountain pen.

If you want to have more information on how to print with bronzeFill, visit our handy tutorial: How to print with bronzeFill

If you are looking for more tips and advice regarding post-processing bronzeFill and our other metal filled filaments, we have a nice collection of articles collected on our site.

Interested in bronzeFill? It is readily available in our webshop as 750 grams and 1500 grams spools.

nGen_LUX

Today we proudly announce a new, unique 3D printing filament:

nGen_LUX

With nGen_LUX we put years of experience in development, 3D printing, R&D and production into a single 3D printing filament that will bridge the gap to production with unmatched surface quality.

As the name indicates, nGen_LUX is based on nGen – the highly successful co-polyester based filament we launched nearly 2 years ago. nGen is currently our best-selling filament and go-to material for all your prints. It is a truly all-round filament made with Eastman Amphora™ AM3300.

Years of development, unique light diffusion additives and compounding know-how have lead to nGen_LUX. The “Lux” not only stands for luxurious – which is definitely the look of the prints – but also refers to the unit of illumination used worldwide. And light is what makes this filament truly special.

Raven Skull | design by sprocket1597 | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2479682
Printed on RoboC2 | 0.2mm layerheight | 230C | with support

nGen_LUX uniquely features diffuse reflection, which means that the light that shines on the print scatters to many directions and allows for a perfect surface quality that looks like nothing you have ever seen before.

colorFabb’s unique special metal filled filaments (bronzeFill, copperFill, steelFill and brassFill) already allow for prints that have a distinctive non-printed look, but for these require post-processing. With nGen_LUX prints look like production parts right off the printer.

eachine tx03 housing | by Lefty9 (Elefterios Karakostas) | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2380562
Stacker S4 | 0.2mm layerheight | 240C – 80C bed

OpenRC F1 2017 updates | by barspin | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2123450
Robo C2 | 230c | 0.2mm layerheight

At colorFabb we are always looking to meet our customer’s needs and offer filaments with added value. The aesthetics of nGen_LUX allow for a new step in production and prototyping, especially for cosmetics, packaging, interior parts, electronics housings and many more applications.

nGen_LUX is the first special filament based on nGen and the second one in our range of co-polyesters after XT-CF20, our carbon fibre enforced filament based on colorFabb_XT.

We have been testing the filament in our print lab on the most popular printers in the market right now: the Prusa i3, both the Stacker S2 and S4, the Lulzbot TAZ 6 and Mini, the Robo R2 and C2, the Ultimaker range of printers and the Mass Portal Pharaoh (pictured).

Origami Vase Nr2 | by KRISP3D (Kristaps Politis) | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2503199
Mass Portal Pharaoh ED | 0.2mm layerheight 230C – 80C bed temp – 85% cooling

Rest assured that if your printer works with nGen (and most of them with a heated bed do) you can achieve the stellar results we have seen so far.

The brand new nGen_LUX fits perfectly in colorFabb’s portfolio that consists of both functional and aesthetical filaments.  Pictures can say more than a thousand words, but prints made with nGen_LUX have to be seen!

Longclaw beer tap handle | by jakkyl | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2400630
Robo C2 | 230c | 0.2mm layerheight

 

 

See nGen_LUX as soon as next week!

You will have the chance to see nGen_LUX next week. nGen_LUX will be featured in public for the first time at the TCT Show in Birmingham, UK, and at the Kunststoffenbeurs in Veldhoven, NL, next week. At the Kunststoffenbeurs, please look out for Helian Polymers, our sister company specialized in the masterbatches and additives.

At both shows 3D printers will be printing with nGen_LUX on various 3D printers.

Raven Skull Statue | design by kevin dyllong | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2077239
Printed on the Prusa I3 | 0.2mm layerheight | 230C | with support

Guardian Character Class | by Brendantang | https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2469923
Mass Portal | 230c | 0.2mm layerheight

 

Availability and pricing

nGen_LUX is not available yet. The filament will be available as from early 2018 and pre-ordering will start right before that. Pricing will be announced soon.

 

colorFabb at the TCT Show, Hall 3 stand H39 – Sept. 26 – 28

Helian Polymers at the Kunststoffenbeurs, stand 13, Sept. 27 – 28

 

 

 

Last week we launched our new website and our brand new catalogue, Read more about it in our blog post or click on the links below:

colorFabb.com                              Catalogue

The first injected molded plaques of our color tests

nGen on the Robo R2

Today we feature not one single print, but rather a filament on a particular printer. As the title vaguely suggests, it’s all about nGen on the Robo R2 today. When we received the Robo R2 for testing purposes we immediately started with nGen instead of the default PLA. And the results are amazing!

Y pipe connector M20/27 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2045452
Material: nGen Gold Metallic – 0.1mm layerheight

The Robo R2 printer is available at colorFabb as from this week. As recently announced we act as Robo’s distributing partner in the Benelux and you can order the Robo R2 now with a free spool of nGen! We feel that the right combination of hardware and material makes for a great user experience and with the Robo R2 combined with our nGen we have once more found this synergy.

With a printer like the new Robo R2 you have a reliable machine that works flawlessly with our nGen filament, enabling end users to make durable and good-looking parts! The compact, but professional looking printer allows for prints of 20x20x25cm & accepts a lot of different materials. Together with Robo we are currently testing all of our materials on this printer.

 

The Robo R2 is currently available in our brand new webshop and we ship from stock. For € 1399 (excluding VAT) you get a terrific printer with a free spool of nGen filament to make that awesome print right away!

If you are at the TCT in Birmingham this year, do not hesitate to drop by. We are in stand H39 and one of the featured printers is the R2! Visit us to see this printer in action, look at our latest offerings or just have a chat!

nGen has proven itself to be a very versatile material that can be used for a lot of applications, visual prototyping being one of them! It has become our default, all-round filament for printing all sorts of prototypes and prints just have to look damn good!

Shelf Bracket by Starscream83 https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1428665
Material: nGen Red – 0.2mm layerheight

nGen is an all-round filament which has many advantages over 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. You can find more information on our dedicated landing page.

Right Fractured Lateral Tibial Condyle By Hamish Mead https://www.youmagine.com/designs/right-fractured-lateral-tibial-condyle
Material: nGen Dark Gray – 0.2mm layerheight

Batman by LeoDDC https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:352540
Material: nGen Dark Gray – 0.2mm layerheight

Ever since launching in november 2015 (and later in a big way during the CES Show early 2016), nGen has been a bestseller and a material that has been adopted by users worldwide very rapidly. In a recent survey we have seen it is regarded as one of the most popular materials in our portfolio. This is not without reason. For instance, nGen Black has nothing but solid 5 star reviews.

 

nGen is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM3300. It is part of our range of Amphora based filaments. Other grades are: engineering grade colorFabb_XT, high temperature resistant colorFabb_HT and semi-flexible nGen_FLEX. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

You can find more about what co-polyesters are by clicking here or check the table below how the rigid filaments compare to ABS and PLA:

 

Our new website

It was about time colorFabb got a make over. We are proud to launch our new website today! The new website and catalogue, that has been released today as well, mark the next step for colorFabb.

You immediately peek inside our factory when you get to our page

We started colorFabb back in 2013 with a fairly simple webshop:

Back in the day…

Over a year later we re-designed the webshop to a more professional look. This is the website, basically, that you know and love:

 

But as colorFabb grew we felt the website could do with a make over to truly represent our company and the brand. We are very happy with the result! What strikes immediately is that we made the website more visual. On the landing page you immediately see the three focal points of colorFabb: Filaments, Printers & Services.

It is colorFabb’s vision and strategy to be a provider of complete 3D printing solutions: both in-house developed filament, as well as carefully selected hardware partners added with all our experience creates a unique synergy.

The landing page is not the landing page of the webshop anymore. Fear not! You can still order your favorite filaments with us, but due to our expanding portfolio (with more to come soon!) we needed to approach it a bit differently.

To go to the webshop, go to Materials on the top right corner of the website and a menu expands where you see everything:

From there the ordering process is the same as it ever was.

We also redesigned the product pages. What you notice immediately is that the primary image is a close up of the filament and not of the spool. We did this for a reason: this shows the actual color much better than when a full spool is shown with a white background:

As you can see, the spool picture did not disappear, but we moved it a bit. Ordering is as straight forward as ever from here.

With the launch of the new website we also add a new product: the Robo R2 is available as from today and ships from stock!

We recently announced our partnership with Robo and are happy to celebrate our new website with the availability of this printer. The Robo R2 high-performance smart 3D printer with Wi-Fi lets you tackle large-scale projects and make whatever you can imagine right from your mobile device using the Robo app. Below are some of the features:

  • Built for serious printing
  • Sizable 20 x 20 x 25cm print size
  • 12.7cm built-in color touch screen
  • On-board camera for remote print monitoring
  • Class-leading print speed
  • Removable, heated and automatic self-leveling print bed
  • Ability to add an additional extrusion head and print two materials at once

The Robo R2 ships with a free spool of nGen – our all-round 3D printing filament made with Eastman Amphora AM3300. You can see the Robo R2 printing at the colorFabb stand H39 at the TCT Show on September 26 – 28!

The smaller Robo C2 will be available soon.

Speaking of printers, as with the Robo printers we also sell Lulzbot and Stacker printers. All relevant information regarding these printers are featured on the product pages! Check out the available printers!

 

Our brand new catalogue

Together with our website we are also releasing our brand new catalogue! All our products are represented in our first real catalogue. You can flip through it in your browser or download it as a PDF. In the catalogue you can click on an item in the catalogue and go straight to the webshop!

In the catalogue you can see that we presented the products per article group, the colors clearly visible, a short introduction, specifications and our printing tips and tricks.

 

Both the website and the catalogue have been designed to be expanded and they will. We will add more information, features and products in the weeks and months to come. Keep your eyes open for more!

colorFabb.com

Vase with the MOARstruder

When speed matters it is hard to beat the Lulzbot TAZ 6 in combination with the MOARstruder. 3D printing is a great tool to create on the spot, but it can sometimes be painfully slow. Aleph Objects, the makers of the Lulzbot 3D printers, have acknowledged this and released the MOARstruder, which is advertised as Bigger, Faster, Stronger. The LulzBot TAZ MOARstruder Tool Head is a high output tool head with an extra-long heater block, dual print cooling fans, and a 1.2 mm diameter nozzle. These features enable high-speed printing and tough 3D printed objects.

As their reselling partner we have been testing extensively with this tool head, designed for prints that need to be finished fast. As a test case we chose the Curved Honeycomb Vase by Eggnot:

Design by Eggnot: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2376777

We printed the vases with nGen Clear on the Lulzbot TAZ 6. With the Moarstruders big 1.2mm nozzle we printed this vase with only a single perimeter in vase mode, in under 2 hours.

To give you an idea about the scale, let’s place the vase on one of our XL spools (30cm diameter):

 

 

 

About nGen

 nGen has proven itself to be a very versatile material that can be used for a lot of applications, visual prototyping being one of them! It has become our default, all-round filament for printing all sorts of prototypes and prints just have to look damn good!

nGen is an all-round filament which has many advantages over 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. You can find more information on our dedicated landing page.

Ever since launching in november 2015 (and later in a big way during the CES Show early 2016), nGen has been a bestseller and a material that has been adopted by users worldwide very rapidly. In a recent survey we have seen it is regarded as one of the most popular materials in our portfolio. This is not without reason. For instance, nGen Black has nothing but solid 5 star reviews.

nGen is available through our webshop and our network of distributors and resellers worldwide. Also, check out Lulzbot’s webshop for nGen availability.

nGen is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM3300. It is part of our range of Amphora based filaments. Other grades are: engineering grade colorFabb_XT, high temperature resistant colorFabb_HT and semi-flexible nGen_FLEX. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

You can find more about what co-polyesters are by clicking here or check the table below how the rigid filaments compare to ABS and PLA:

 

Lulzbot TAZ 6

Engineers, designers, educators, and makers agree: The LulzBot TAZ 6 is the most reliable, easiest-to-use desktop 3D printer ever, featuring innovative self-leveling and self-cleaning, and a modular tool head design for flexible and multi-material upgrades. With proven 3D printing technology and one of the largest print volumes in its class, the LulzBot TAZ 6 is ready to work.

3D printing is more reliable than ever with the integrated automatic bed leveling system, all metal LulzBot v2 Hot End, and heated PEI print surface.  With the all metal hot end, you can take advantage of the cutting edge market for new materials. Perfect for both large and small objects, the heated PEI build surface keeps your 3D printed objects in place when hot and releases when cool. With Cura LulzBot Edition, you have hundreds of quickprint profiles built in for seamless 3D printing.

The Lulzbot TAZ 6 is now available in our webshop at € 3.025 including VAT / € 2.500 excluding VAT.

Not sold yet? The TAZ 6 was recently reviewed by Richard Horne (RichRap) and Joel Telling (3DPrintingNerd). See their videos below:

You can find Richard’s full blog here.

And of course Joel Telling‘s review:

Richard and Joel have convinced you, we’re sure, but we’ll throw in a bit more:

  • free shipping in Europe
  • 4 (four!) free spools of our nGen filament!

Interested in the Lulzbot TAZ 6 and the MOARstruder? Contact us at sales@colorfabb.com to discuss the options.

BB-8

We have all seen 3D printed Star Wars gadgets before. Ever since 3D printing took off years ago, Star Wars memorabilia have been printed by the community. Popular YouTuber and avid 3D printer Dave Bagnall (online known as DaveChaos) has taken this to a whole new level by printing a full scale BB-8! When he recently posted on Twitter that he finished the project we got in touch with Dave and asked him for more details, knowing he had used quite a bit of colorFabb filament while making the replica of the beloved Star Wars character.

Dave is a true maker and obviously a Star Wars fan. He was kind enough to share a lot of pictures of the proces with us.

Without any further delay, here is the final result, which is frankly awesome:

The finished BB-8 by Dave Bagnall

For a project of this magnitude, Dave needed a lot of quality filament, which lead him to colorFabb’s PLA Economy. Our low cost PLA Economy filament was used for 95% of the prints.

You can find Dave’s playlist of the build on YouTube here:

We’ll let Dave talk a bit more about himself and the project:

So a little about myself, I’m a home dad and I’m also a Youtuber. My channel is here I have been making videos on Tech for quite a few years. I originally reached out to Ultimaker to review their 2+ printer but I decided to pitch them my grand idea of 3D printing BB8 and they agreed to loan me their Ultimaker 2+.

In July last year I joined the BB8 Builder Club and started printing.

All the BB8 body files are provided by the club, the drive train that I’m working (but heavily modified) on for him is designed by Ed over at Ed’s Junk

I had a few ups and downs of bad decisions (like the time I spent a 1000 hours on a inner sphere only to trash it in favor of an aluminium one) and failed prints but ultimately I finished all the printing spread over 12 months. all in all it took me  a total of 2500 hours of print time and an unspeakable about of PLA. I used the colorFabb Economy while on about 95% of the project.

I worked on the project in bursts as I was busy with my regular YouTube videos and looking after my two children it took me 12 months to finally finish him as a static droid to the tune of £3000 (this figure includes all PLA, material cost of primer, paints, glues, nut & bolts and all the parts needed for the dive)

I have a drive train for him that I have been working on on and off for the past 6 months.

And finally a video showing BB8’s dome working with audio:

BB-8 and his proud creator

We thank Dave for sharing this with us. Don’t forget to follow Dave on Twitter and YouTube.

 

About the filament

PLA Economy is a fantastic PLA grade which we launched in November last year. Initially we released four colors: white, red, black and silver.

Recently added the always popular Dark Blue, which is similar to our very own Ultra Marine Blue that we offer in our portfolio of PLA/PHA filaments.

PLA Economy offers a great value for your money. One spool consists of 2.2kg of filament for a dirt cheap price of a little over € 35 (ex VAT and shipping). It is a different grade than our range of PLA/PHA, but we guarantee the same colorFabb quality. Our filaments are readily available from our webshop.

Here are some print settings to get started:

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.

Or: You can use the standard PLA settings if your printer has these pre-defined and these should work fine.

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.

Air gun adapter

Nozzles need cleaning. It is a fact of 3D printing life. An innovative way to clean nozzles on a 3D printer is to use an air gun. We have air guns in our production facility and use them to keep our operations dust free. To use the air gun to clean the nozzle one would need an adapter to make a perfect fit between the air gun and the push-fit connector of the bowden tube.

As for the material, we used colorFabb_HT – our high temperature resistant engineering grade filament.

The adapter was designed by the colorFabb team for this particular application.

We printed this part with colorFabb_HT Dark Gray on the Ultimaker 2+ with a 0.25mm nozzle. The layer height is 0.06mm and we chose 100% infill for maximum strength and almost airtight threads.

3D printing has allowed for the creation of gadgets, cosplay and other fun stuff, but materials like colorFabb_HT, enabled by Eastman Tritan™ co-polyester technology, allow for truly disruptive uses in day to day life.

colorFabb_HT is made with Eastman 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. This opens up new areas in which 3D printed applications can be successfully applied.

colorFabb_HT is uniquely suited for advanced 3D printing users, particular those who need their creations to exhibit excellent durability, toughness and temperature resistance. You can find more information on our dedicated landing page.

Aside from its functionality in practical prints, colorFabb_HT Clear also allows to print near transparent prints. Another feature, as a recent post shows, is the ability to print with extreme detail.

colorFabb_HT is available in our webshop.