We’re having our annual spring break sale this week for a limited time. Now it’s time for you to try our latest filament or get back to some of our classics like PLA/PHA, bronzeFill or woodFill!
Here is the current sale:
10% off on all value packs! – A great deal has just been made greater! We even have a value pack containing all our latest filament… Click here.
Some, not all, of our value packs on sale right now.
20% off on all spools! – One spool or a dozen: 20% off right away! Go straight to our webshop!
10% off on all desktop 3D printers – Both Robo3D and Lulzbot printers, all of them shipping from stock and with free spools of filament!
This sale does not work in combination with other discounts and does not apply to samples. Sale lasts for the entire long weekend until Sunday (May 13th 2018), midnight CET. We ship worldwide and from stock!
Use coupon code SPRINGBREAK in our webshop or simply click here.
Can’t choose? Make life easier by flipping through our updated catalogue. Our filaments, nicely sorted and with all the information, tips and tricks you need:
Another application that 3D printing has made more accessible is the creation of 3D maps. We all have seen the 3D maps at tourist attractions and information centers of mountainous regions. Making these maps is quite expensive. We were recently approached by a customer to look into the possibilities of making a 3D map for the region he is active in. We may publish about that project later, but in the meantime we produced a map of our own, using the full print bed of the Stacker S2 and using PLA Economy White. When choosing a mountainous region to print we settled for nothing less than the mountain range on this planet – the Himalayas to be exact.
The black thread indicates the Everest base camp trek, approximately, and in real life takes about 8 days.
The region printed here is the Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal, the region where one can walk the Everest Base Camp trek. From Lukla airport, at the bottom of the print it takes up to 7 or 8 days to reach base camp – a stunning trek in real life and marked in black on this printed model.
We created the file by using Terrain2STL – a great online application to make your own custom 3D maps. We printed on the Stacker S2 at 0.16mm layer height, using a 0.8mm nozzle. The making of the print took 67 hours, using the full print bed size of the S2.
For this print we used our trusted PLA Economy, a highly popular filament used for bulk projects by many of our users… and ourselves.
PLA Economy is a fantastic PLA grade which we launched in November of 2016. 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. 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!
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.
About the Stacker
Both the Stacker S2 and its larger sibling Stacker S4 are industrial grade FFF 3D printers. Multiple print heads and a large build volume make them versatile printers. Small series production or large scale prototyping are no problem for the Stacker printers! This US based printer is very reliable and is a perfect match for any professional looking for serious 3D printing. You can find the full product specifications on our dedicated Stacker page.
For Stacker the term “industrial grade” is not a hollow marketing term. It means their printers are designed for extra long service life, extremely low maintenance and that the printer will maintain its positional accuracy throughout its life cycle. This printer has been designed to be used in a professional environment, be it for large prototypes or small series production.
The Stacker S2 in the middle
As many of you know, we are the distributor of Stacker 3D printers in Europe. We have been working with Stacker ever since their first prototype and now have several in our print lab. In the past 5 years we have seen 3D printing emerging from a hobby market to more professional uses. A lot of our users are using 3D printing to make a living or at least support their business in one way or another.
We like our challenges and for once we ask you to challenge us. With PA-CF Low Warp we think we have developed one of the most durable and functional filaments in the market. And we want to demonstrate that it. We ask you, the creative community, to send us your designs that we will then print with PA-CF Low Warp.
Why PA-CF Low Warp?
We launched PA_CF Low Warp late last year. It is a one of a kind polyamide formulation with the ability to print nearly warp free on non heated buildplatforms. Low infill prints come out perfectly flat on cold bed for higher infill prints 40/50C temperature is enough to obtain flat prints. The formulation has been modified to reduce the uptake of moisture by half compared to PA6 and it also takes about 4 times longer to reach the saturation point. This makes PA-CF Low Warp less sensitive to moisture than most other nylon filaments available in the market.
This tailormade formulation of polyamide features the mechanical properties of a PA6. Tensile strength was measured at 77,99 MPa and impact strength (notched) was measured at 5,44KJ/m2, test specimens both printed on Ultimaker 2+, 260C 0.1mm layerheight with 100% infill.
PA-CF Low Warp allows continues use at 120°C while retaining sufficient properties for the intended application. For those looking to print with nylon, moisture is a serious topic. PA-CF low warp has been modified to lower the uptake of moisture and slow down the time it takes to fully saturate by 4 times. In practice this means the filament is quite forgiving and user should be able to print with the material without noticing extreme influences of moisture uptake.
Users can now print high strength material without the need of heated chambers. The materials shows very good results for 3D printed parts compared to injection molded data, with only minimal loss in performance. This is a result of the excellent printability of the material, enabling users to acquire optimal performance on desktop FFF 3d printers.
What are we looking for?
There are filaments for vases and trinkets and there are filaments that need to be functional. This is the latter one. With this design contest we aim for original designs that, when printed, can be used in real life. We’re not going to make it easy for you. Below is a summary what we are looking for:
The design needs to be functional
The design needs to be for everyday use (in a domestic, business or industrial environment)
The design needs to be original (no copy-pasting existing parts without any adjustments – you can however make an existing part “better”)
The design needs to be IP-free
The design needs to be printable within a day 24-48 hours on a normal printer
The application needs to be suitable for the toughness of the filament (nothing that can also be done in, say, PLA)
Preferably the application of the print can be done by us, in-house so we can test your design
You can send in multiple entries (one by one, please)
Who’s judging?
Of all the entries we will receive, a jury will pick out the five best and those will be printed by us. These five winning designs will be picked by a jury of experts and your peers. The jury is:
Brent Wright, US – founder of LifeNabled and changing lifes by using 3D printing. See some of his amazing work here.
Gijs Houdijk, NL – technical development manager at colorFabb, knows 3D printing and our filaments better than you know yourself.
Check out our recent blog about printing with PA-CF Low Warp to see some excellent examples of the filament is being used in real life.
What’s in it for you?
For the five entries we choose and will print:
You’ll receive the print
You’ll receive 2 spools of PA-CF Low Warp filament
We’ll share your mad design skills with the world
So even if you don’t have a printer, you can have your design(s) printed by our team!
All valid entries will receive a 15% discount on colorFabb filaments. For life.
How?
The hardest part is desiging… and that is entirely up to you. Remember, we are looking for awesome ideas. After that it’s simple. Click here to go to our form. Fill it out, upload the files and sit back.
You can submit your entry until May 31st 2018. After that we will choose five designs to print and test in real life. We will keep you updated through social media of the progress of the prints, etc.
When it comes to printing large and colorful objects, the combination of nGen_LUX on the Builder Extreme is hard to beat. The Extreme series of printers by Dutch printer company Builder are large scale printers for professional, but affordable 3D printing.
nGen_LUX works really well with the color mix tool of the Builder Extreme. Various Builder Extreme customers use nGen_LUX for printing outrageous art which bring the object to life.
How does color mixing work? Exclusive to the Builder printers, Builder has developed software that is able to change the percentage of both extruders in your gcode while printing. For example, printing from 100% yellow (bottom) to 100% pink (top) will create an orange hybrid along the way. On their website they compare it with squeezing out different colors of tooth paste through one opening.
In the words of the Builder team: “nGen_LUX is the perfect material when looking for a shiny finish with almost no visible lines.”
The vases were sliced with Simplify and printed at 0.2mm layer with a 0.4mm nozzle and with general nGen settings. With nGen_LUX we were already able to make amazing prints, but with the color mixing process unique prints are possible that would stun everyone!
When size matters…
nGen_LUX is a unique development based on our best-selling co-polyester nGen, made with Eastman Amphora AM3300 3d Polymer. The excellent clarity of the base AM3300 makes this material uniquely suited for the extremely rare pigment used in nGen_LUX. The material uses diffuse reflection to scatter light in all directions. For the eye it’s nearly impossible to spot layering, even at 0.2mm layerheight. nGen_LUX allows users to print visually appealing models without the need of post processing. nGen_LUX features all the characteristics of our regular nGen, good chemical stability, elevated temperature resistance (85C) and thus allows users to print creations that are functional, durable, efficient and attractive.
It is now available in 5 awesome colors:
nGen_LUX is our new standard in how a 3D printed object can look. It is the filament for the users who wants to bring something extraordinary their work. It is the filament that needs to give that added value. 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. Believe us when we say that the photos don’t do the prints real justice…
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. It can be printed with the very same settings as nGen.
Click here to go directly to our webshop. For a bit more information, click here.
In the south of the Netherlands and neighboring regions we have the carnaval tradition. Worldwide known for the Brazilian variety, the version known to us is a different affair. It is an annual festival, celebrated widely, of Catholic origin in which people go wild and party one more time before Lent. It is a tradition chiseled into the fabric of society. It features mocking of establishment amongst other things, represented by clowns, demons and jesters.
The original statue
A local carnaval society needed a copy of a statue they use annually. The best way we found was to scan it, print it with bronzeFill and post-process it.
The scanning was done by local specialists at Hagenaars. This engineering company from nearby Roermond was founded in 1994 and specializes in 3D scanning solutions, amongst other things. They bought the first FARO laser scanning equipment in 2007 and this meant that 3D scanning and measuring became the main focus of this small family owned company. Their engineering background gives them an advantage over competitors since their customer base is more technical minded. You can visit their website here (Dutch only) and give some specific attention to their project page.
Scanning in progress…
With the .stl file generated we went to work and printed a copy on the Ultimaker 2+. (Before you ask, we are not allowed to share the .stl) Settings used:
Layer Height: 0.2mm
Speed: 30mm/s
Temperature: 215C
Material Flow: 106%
After that, the crucial phase of post-processing commenced.
The model was first sanded and polished. After that, we post-processed (and give it the old patina look) by using a mixture of salt, vinegar and ammonia. To achieve accelerated aging, add salt to the vinegar until the salt does not dissolve anymore and the vinegar is saturated. The Lulzbot team already did an extensive blog about this, which you can read here.
Post-processing these kind of prints require a lot of work and effort, but the results are rewarding and quite good, if we say so ourselves and the model aged quite nicely.
bronzeFillwas 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. Last year we published quite a bit about bronzeFill, like the enormous Octolamp, the museum worthy Greek helmet 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.
We love it when our users design their own creations and use our filaments to bring their ideas to life. Sebastien Carcone from Luxembourg based NewOne shared his Black Panther (not the movie) with us and printed it in nGen_LUX.
Sebastien used Cinema 4D and the model was printed with supports on a Raise N2+.
The settings used were:
Layer height: 0,2 mm
Infill: 15%
Shells: 3
Extruder temperature: 235° C
Heated Bed: 85° C
Size: 27 cm
Total print time: approx. 21 hours
The Panther was printed with nGen_LUX Diamond Black. Original post can be found here.
NewOne not only prints, but also advices companies in regards to 3D printing and additive manufacturing. Check out their site here (French).
nGen_LUX is a unique development based on our best-selling co-polyester nGen, made with Eastman Amphora AM3300 3d Polymer. The excellent clarity of the base AM3300 makes this material uniquely suited for the extremely rare pigment used in nGen_LUX. The material uses diffuse reflection to scatter light in all directions. For the eye it’s nearly impossible to spot layering, even at 0.2mm layerheight. nGen_LUX allows users to print visually appealing models without the need of post processing. nGen_LUX features all the characteristics of our regular nGen, good chemical stability, elevated temperature resistance (85C) and thus allows users to print creations that are functional, durable, efficient and attractive.
It is now available in 5 awesome colors:
nGen_LUX is our new standard in how a 3D printed object can look. It is the filament for the users who wants to bring something extraordinary their work. It is the filament that needs to give that added value. 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. Believe us when we say that the photos don’t do the prints real justice…
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. It can be printed with the very same settings as nGen.
Click here to go directly to our webshop. For a bit more information, click here.
This month, April 2018, we will highlight one filament per day until the end of the month and give you an extra discount on that filament for 24 hours. Discounts can be as high as 50%!
Every day at or around 9 CET we will post the new Filament of the Day on our social media channels (Twitter, Facebook and Instagram) and from then on it will be on sale for 24 hours. The next day, another filament will go on sale.
The sale is:
Buy 1 spool of that particular filament: 15% discount
Buy 4 spool of that particular filament: 25% discount
Buy 8 spool of that particular filament: 35% discount
Buy 16 spools of that particular filament: 50% discount
Does not work in combination with other discounts!
We will not announce ahead what filament we will have in store for you so you will have the check in every day. Today’s (April 11th) Filament of the Day is PLA/PHA Blue Grey!
PLA/PHA Blue Grey has been a favorite ever since we launched it 5 years ago. It comes very close to Pantone 7545C and gives every print a very solid and neutral look. With just a dash of blue our grey is much more interesting looking then most standard grey colors. Click here to get yours now!
If Blue Grey is not your color, stay tuned and keep an eye out in the next few weeks – we will have a new one lined up every day!
In an age where time is of the essence and mostly against us, it helps to treat your smartwatch to a nice looking stand. That’s why we have printed not one, but two charger stands for our smartwathes and we printed them in nGen_LUX.
Both prints were made on the Ultimaker 3 at 0.16mm layer height and using the standard nGen settings.
nGen_LUX is a unique development based on our best-selling co-polyester nGen, made with Eastman Amphora AM3300 3d Polymer. The excellent clarity of the base AM3300 makes this material uniquely suited for the extremely rare pigment used in nGen_LUX. The material uses diffuse reflection to scatter light in all directions. For the eye it’s nearly impossible to spot layering, even at 0.2mm layerheight. nGen_LUX allows users to print visually appealing models without the need of post processing. nGen_LUX features all the characteristics of our regular nGen, good chemical stability, elevated temperature resistance (85C) and thus allows users to print creations that are functional, durable, efficient and attractive.
It is now available in 5 awesome colors:
nGen_LUX is our new standard in how a 3D printed object can look. It is the filament for the users who wants to bring something extraordinary their work. It is the filament that needs to give that added value. 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. Believe us when we say that the photos don’t do the prints real justice…
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. It can be printed with the very same settings as nGen.
Click here to go directly to our webshop. For a bit more information, click here.
The future is finally here! We are excited to announce that as from this week we will offer drone deliveries in most of Western Europe for orders placed in our webshop! Together with DHL and Universal Exports we have started a joint venture called Drones Unlimited Holland to bring your filaments right to your doorstep on a date and time you want it!
We have been secretly working on this project for over a year now (code name “Icarus”) and are happy to finally announce this next step in customer oriented delivery! Customers in the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, UK, France and Denmark can opt for drone deliveries – with southern Europe, the US and Canada following within a few months!
Although a bit costlier, the drones will bring up to 8 spools to your chosen address within hours after ordering your filament.
Last week’s final test flight
For the countries that apply there is a new shipping option which you can choose:
Pricing is based on distance and requested delivery time. Since the drones will be charged every night in our solar powered plant, the carbon foot print will be reduced even further! You can find more information here.
Of course all drones will be mostly 3D printed with PA-CF Low Warp, XT-CF20 and nGen_FLEX. Our fleet will consist twenty drones of different sizes to start with.
Part of a drone being printed
One of our drones, specifically designed to send samples:
Note the impact resistant nGen_FLEX canopy
Excited? So are we! Click here to find out more about this exciting new delivery option, pricing and availability.
One of the DHL branded drones which will fly our filaments to your door
Also, because it is Easter you get a 15% discount on all spools of filaments. Use coupon code EASTEREGG or click the image below:
Another field where 3D printing excels in is the replacement of parts. With the right materials 3D printing is a great tool to extend the life of many everyday items. Crucial to this are various factors like modeling skills (if the file of the part is not readily available) and the right material. A functional filament like our PA-CF Low Warp is a perfect match when it comes that latter part.
About a year ago we posted abouy the laundry dryer part printed with colorFabb_HT:
This week we saw two examples on Twitter of users making parts with PA-CF Low Warp, our highly functional engineering grade nylon based filament.
First up is Brent Wright. We recently wrote a blog about the use of 3D printing in the field of prosthetics. Brent has been doing fantastic work at a hospital in Guatamala by printing prosthetics making it more accessible and cheaper for local people. You can read the original blog here.
Turns out that Brent is using his 3D printer for other parts as well:
As you can see the original part is no longer available and instead of replacing the entire bed or having an expensive spare part made, Brent went to work and modeled & printed it. This way one saves money, time and also the environment. A small piece of plastic ensures not only that an entire bed is made obsolete, but a new bed also does not need to be transported through the Guatamalan jungle.
Brent has been using PA-CF Low Warp for a bit now, especially for prosthetics:
And we’re happy he has found yet another use for this great filament!
But the need to repair stuff can be found everywhere in the world. We make a small leap from the jungle of Central America to the UK, where Steve Cox resides. Steve is of course no stranger to 3D printing and colorFabb as his excellent skills with bronzeFill have shown. (Click here and here for examples).
Now, Steve was already working with PA-CF Low Warp (see this thread here for an excellent example) and when the vacuum cleaner broke he had the right material in house to print a new part:
When we contacted Steve about this he said: “I think this particular way of utilising 3D printing is something that should get more publicity, especially as we have such environmental pressures on us now. I think it can definitely play a part in the circular economy because it puts us in a position where we are able to repair and reuse things more effectively than ever before.”
We couldn’t agree more. Steve was so generous to send us some high-res pictures:
All images courtesy of Steve Cox
Interestingly the vacuum cleaner head is now even stronger than it was before it broke.
Steve also notified us about a website called Happy3D: https://www.happy3d.fr/en/ This website specializes in designs to repair every day objects. You should definitely check this one out!
This was the second Dyson part Steve printed. Before he printed a part that went in the front of the head and held the bearings for the rotating brush. He modelled the part from photographs they sent him and a few critical dimensions. He then printed the repair part in white nGen and it worked perfectly – the material cost for the part was around 16 Euro cents!
The CAD design by Steve Cox
The printed part, made with nGen White
We thank Brent and Steve for sharing their work on Twitter and their ultra fast responses after we contacted them. True makers and problem solvers who are showing us how 3D printing can and should be used. Great job, guys!
It is a well established fact by now that our new PA-CF Low Warp filament is all about functionality. We developed this filament with only one goal: to make sure a lot of users have the ability to print high quality printed parts. Even on a cold bed. PA-CF Low Warp is, due to its stiffness and strength, a perfect material for replacement parts and custom made parts.
The PA-CF Low Warp filament is a one of a kind polyamide formulation with the ability to print nearly warp free on non heated buildplatforms. Low infill prints come out perfectly flat on cold bed for higher infill prints 40/50C temperature is enough to obtain flat prints.
PA-CF Low Warp allows continuous use at 120°C while retaining sufficient properties for the intended application. Most high heat resistant materials will be difficult to print and require heated chambers and / or heated platforms to keep parts from warping the bottom layer. PA-CF Low Warp shows a very low tendency to warp, even at ambient temperature platform.
Eager to get started? Click here to get the basics on how to print with PA_CF Low Warp.
PA-CF Low Warp is available now in our webshop and ships from stock. We currently stock spools of 700 grams, but as from late next week large spools containing 2kg of material will be available as well.
You can also opt to get a unique bundle package, containing one spool of PA-CF Low Warp and the Olsson Ruby Nozzle 0.4mm in our webshop.
