varioShore TPU is available now!

varioShore TPU is the latest innovative 3D printing filament by colorFabb and is now available. Our varioShore TPU is flexible in more ways than one!

Printing handle bars is a great application due to the soft touch characteristics of varioShore TPU.

varioShore TPU is available now. Click here to go directly to our webshop!

varioShore TPU allows users to vary the density of the material by adjusting temperature and material throughput (speed & layerheight). At temperatures between 200 and 250C the materials will start to expand to roughly 1.4-1.6 times its original volume. This means the material can be printed at low flow rates (60-70%), to compensate the active foaming, which in return gives very soft printed parts. Between 190-200C the material can be printed without foaming, resulting in different haptics and harder prints compared to foamed samples.

We sent several spools to beta testers and this is what they had to say about it:

“It really is a fantastic development… Incredible innovation.” – Steve Cox

“Another astonishing FDM material development from the colorFabb team.” – Richard Horne

“Another amazing product by colorFabb!” – Bart Tangermann

 

Lubrizol co-operation

For this development colorFabb partnered with Lubrizol Engineered Polymers, a leading global producer of Thermoplastic Polyurethane (TPU), used in everyday consumer and industrial applications, with a strong global manufacturing and supply network.

Lubrizol Engineered Polymers’ expertise in TPU chemistry was key to provide a customized TPU with a wide range of processing temperatures and adequate melt viscosity, meeting the requirements during extrusion and printing. A wider range of thermal stability and melt rheology allows an extended upper range of printing temperatures to maximize the range of densities achieved through colorFabb’s unique filament foaming technology.

The result is a filament with a base TPU of 92A, which will work with most standard extruder set-ups for both Bowden and direct drive systems.

Main features

The main features of varioShore TPU are:

Variable shorehardness

This material is not limited to one shore hardness, but with the right print settings you can have multiple shore hardnesses – even in one print!

Reduced weight / density

colorFabb used the technology previously used in their light weight LW-PLA in this filament as well to reduce weight significantly. Although the weight reduction of varioShore TPU is not as significant as LW-PLA, the weight of the overall print is noticeable and can make the difference for prints where weight matters.

Soft touch surface

Prints that need a soft touch, like handle bars for bikes or shoe soles are no problem anymore with varioShore TPU.

It is, in short, a filament that is flexible in more ways than one. colorFabb initially offers one variety: a very neat natural filament without colorant on spools with 700 grams of filament. For settings, tips and tricks we refer to the product page on the colorFabb website.

Retail pricing is € 41.28 excl. VAT (or € 49.95 including VAT) per spool.

varioShore TPU is available as from today from colorFabb and ships daily, worldwide and from stock. With the release of varioShore TPU, right on the heels of Laser Marking PLA, colorFabb remains on the cutting edge of material development for 3D printing.

 

Tips & Tricks

At colorFabb we have a well-equipped 3d printing studio with many popular 3d printers. Our varioShore TPU has been tested using various 3D printers, which has resulted in the following recommended settings.

Adviced 3d printing temperature: 190C-250C

Adviced 3d print speed: 20-30 mm/s

Advised Heated bed (if you have one, not strictly necessary): 20-40C

Cooling fan: Use the least amount of cooling when maximum foaming is required. For better overhang performance use 50-100% cooling.

We advise our users to use standard TPU settings as a base setting for developing your own pre-sets.

Make sure the distance between nozzle and platform is not to small, especially if the material is being foamed while printing, the pressure will need to be released from the hot-end to prevent clogging and feeder issues.

Material summary

Name: colorFabb varioShore TPU

Diameter Tolerance: ± 0.1 mm

Density: 1,2-1,3 g/cm3

Availability: Right Now!

 

Awesome designs used in this blog

OpenRC 1:10 RC Truggy Rims AirLess by 123CUT (link)

Ergonomic bike handle grips (flex/tpu) by Flying_Ginger (link)

Handle for 1966 HD M50S by barspin (link)

Laser Marking PLA

In our effort to bring you the most innovative materials, we release a brand new 3D printing filament today: Laser Marking PLA.

Laser Marking PLA contains a laser-sensitive additive optimized to work within a 980-1064 nm wavelength. The material has been tested successfully with a Nd:YAG- and fiber lasers. Laser marking PLA will not work with CO2 lasers. A proper laser is required to use this filament.

Laser Marking PLA is available now and ships from stock! (Click here!)

Our latest filament innovation makes laser markings more stunning than ever! One great application can be to create mementos and souvenirs, or give your 3D print an extra touch with a very special message:

Another great application is to create bar codes and QR codes, as well as other unique product information on items that were produced in a limited series. It gives your products a more professional and distinguished look:

 

The material features all the benefits you already know from a regular PLA material. Ease of printing on many platforms, no warping when printing large parts and very good fine detail 3D printing. Laser Marking PLA is our first step into laser marking materials for FDM printers and are interested to know what our community needs are with regards to these materials.

Laser Marking PLA is available in a light grey color to start with, close to RAL 9018 but not an exact match.

(An actual representation of laser marking)

Our unique filament has various advantageous over conventional marking technologies:

  • Markings are permanent, waterproof, wear and heat resistant, lightfast and resistant to chemicals,
  • Flexibility in marking designs,
  • No pre or post-treatment required.

Laser Marking PLA is available now as 750 grams spools and part of our colorFabb Labs program where we release new innovative filaments that meet very specific needs. Click here to go directly to our webshop.

 

(Not an actual representation of laser marking)

Light Weight Plane

November 15 update: Now with video of the first flight! Scroll down to see the spectacular footage!

When we launched our light weight filament LW-PLA earlier this year we saw a lot of handy applications: cosplay, medical instruments, grips. Every print where weight is of the essence. The most positive replies we got were from the drone and RC plane community. One of the companies specialized in RC planes, Eclipson Airplanes from Spain, contacted us and were very interested in our latest offering. During the summer the Eclipson team worked on a light weight plane design specifically made to be printed with LW-PLA. Here is a first look at their Model V plane:

All designs and images by Eclipson Airplanes

A few details about the Model V plane:

  • Total weight of the printed parts 170 gr
  • Ready to flight weight (estimated) 380 gr
  • Wing span 1.370mm
  • Wing area 16 dm2
  • Wing loading 24gr/dm2

You can find more information about this design on the dedicated Model V page.

“This means that this airplane holds a new world record, it is the lightest RC plane in terms of wing loading.”

  • Team Eclipson

Rendering with Eclipson logo

When printed with regular PLA, the plane would weigh twice as much and as we all know: every gram counts in aviation. As Eclipson states on its homepage:

“Drag and weight are the two main enemies of any flying machine, reduce those two forces to the minimum was one of the main goal of this project since the conceptual phase.
The drag was reduced thanks to its streamlined shapes, clean design, V tail, high aspect ratio or winglets. Special mention deserves the wing, which is simply the best we have ever designed, this wing has a great balance between safety (docile stall characteristic) efficiency (high lift to drag ratio) maneuverability (high roll rate) and strength. Landing gear, tail and wing can be detached from the fuselage allowing you to print only damaged parts in case of crash.”

Not only did the LW-PLA reduce weight significantly, the Eclipson team also found out that LW-PLA worked extremely well for them when printing the landing gear thanks to its flexibility.

The Model V light weight plane will be for sale from Eclipson from mid-October. Keep an eye out for this excellent plane!

Located in Madrid, Spain, Eclipson Airplanes is specialized in the design of RC Planes and they have already several models available (click here to see their portfolio).

The Model V design is available for purchase at Eclipson (follow this link) and it has already made its maiden flight!

 

About LW-PLA

LW-PLA is the first filament of its kind using an active foaming technology to achieve lightweight, low density PLA parts. At around 230C this material will start foaming, increasing its volume by nearly 3 times. Users can decrease material flow by 65% to achieve lightweight parts, or use the expanding properties to effectively reduce print time by using big layer heights or single extra thick perimeters.

 

Decreasing flow means using less filament. Therefore users can expect to print 2-3 times more parts using LW-PLA compared to a regular PLA spool. LW-PLA prints in a fantastic matte looking surface finish and is very easy to post process. Any oozing or stringing artifacts rub right off and the surface is easily sanded for a smooth finish. Find out more here.

Curious how to print with LW-PLA? Find out more in our tutorial!

LW-PLA is available in Black and Natural and is available now. We ship daily, worldwide and from stock.

varioShore TPU

Innovation is not a, but the cornerstone of colorFabb. Our brand new filament varioShore TPU is the latest colorFabb development. With varioShore TPU we have created a filament that is flexible in more ways than one:

 

  • Variable Shore hardness

This material is not limited to one shore hardness, but with the right print settings you can have multiple shore hardnesses – even in one print!

 

  • Reduced weight and density

We used our LW-PLA technology in this filament as well to reduce weight significantly. Although the weight reduction of varioShore TPU is not as significant as LW-PLA, the weight of the overall print is noticable and can make the difference for prints where weight matters.

 

  • Soft Touch

Prints that need a soft touch, like handle bars for bikes or shoe soles are no problem anymore with varioShore TPU.

Handle for 1966 HD M50S design by Daniel Norée (Thingiverse link)

varioShore TPU will be available mid-October. Pre-ordering will start soon! Stay tuned for more news…

Ergonomic bike handle grips design by Flying_Ginger (Thingiverse link)

igus

In our effort to offer the widest range of 3D printing filaments possible we are proud to announce that now also offer igus® iglide filaments in our webshop!

 

igus filaments are all about functionality. The iglide® range of filaments are 3D printing materials for maximum service in moving applications. You can create custom parts with significantly higher wear resistance than standard filament. The iglide materials benefits include:

  • High degree of wear resistance, similar to that of injection molded iglide® components
  • Igus has more than 30 years of experience in the development of high-performance plastics for moving applications
  • Tested in Igus’ own laboratory

Click here to go to our webshop!

igus filaments range of 3D print materials for simple processing with very good wear values, and filaments with very good friction properties, high strength and elongation, up to chemically resistant materials and those that are suitable for FFF/FDM 3D printing. Igus uses its innovative polymer materials to develop products that provide creative solutions and exceed customers’ expectations while delivering fast, accurate service.

3D print materials from igus are stable and wear-resistant materials made of iglide high-performance plastics. They guarantee a long service life of the individual wearing parts due to an exceptionally high degree of resistance to abrasion.

Their tribologically optimized filaments are up to 50 times more abrasion-resistant than standard 3D print materials. This results in higher levels of effectiveness. So you can produce prototypes and small series more quickly and cost effectively. Printed components can also quickly replace wear parts and reduce downtime periods. At colorFabb we offer now 3 filaments, in both 1.75mm and 2.85mm:

 

iglide® I150-PF filament for 3D printing (webshop)

  • The Tribo-filament that is easiest to process
  • igus® adhesive film is required for a non-heated print bed
  • Very good wear values up to a p*v value of 0.2 N*m/s
  • Good mechanical properties
  • igus® adhesive film is required for a non-heated print bed
  • Flexural strength: 54 MPa
  • Color: White

 

iglide® I180-BL-PF filament for 3D printing (webshop)

  • Excellent wear behaviour
  • Flexural strength: 46 / 33 MPa
  • Color: Black

iglide® I180-PF, filament for 3D printing (webshop)

  • Excellent wear behaviour
  • Flexural strength: 46 / 33 MPa
  • Color: White

 

About Igus

“igus® plastics for longer life”

Günter Blase began igus back on 15th October 1964 in a double garage in Cologne. For the first 20 years, the company worked as a supplier of complex technical polymer components. However, in 1983 Frank Blase established reinforced plastic energy chain systems and injection molded polymer bearings as two distinct product groups and set up a network of sales engineers. These seemingly unrelated products are linked together through the belief in making functionally advanced, yet affordable polymer components and assemblies. Between 1985 and 2016, igus® grew from 40 to more than 2,950 employees distributed between the head office in Germany and 35 subsidiary companies around the world. igus also has representative partners in more than 35 other countries. igus will continue to invest in expansion in the coming years, thanks to the opportunities for growth provided by modern materials.

Mission statement:
igus uses its innovative polymer materials to develop products that provide creative solutions and exceed our customers’ expectations while delivering fast, accurate service.

 

PLA Economy Light Gray

Almost three years after we have launched our PLA Economy range we are happy to announce a new color to one of our most popular products: Light Gray. PLA Economy Light Gray is very close to RAL 7035.

Pre-ordering starts today (click here), September 13th and shipping starts as from Tuesday next week!

Jon Snow bust design by David Östman (Design link)

This print was made on the Stacker S4 XL and took 3 days and 4 hours to make, printing with 0.2mm layer height. PLA Economy is very reliable and works extremely well for long projects!

With the addition of this very nice subtle gray shade we offer our users another much requested color. PLA Economy is available on 2.2kg, 4.5kg and 8kg spools only. It is very well suited for the maker who needs quality filament at an affordable price. It is a perfect material for large volume and small series production, made with the guaranteed colorFabb quality that we are known for.

 

PLA Economy is now available in six of the most popular colors. 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.

Settings

A good starting point for the settings is:

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.

PLA Economy Light Gray is available to order now and ships as from September 17th.

Lamp Shades

There is no restriction these days where one can find 3D printed parts: gadgets, end parts, tooling, prototypes and, more and more, design pieces that you can find in any home these days. One great application is to use 3D printing to make unique and customized lamp shades. Companies like Gantri are doing amazing things in this field and we recently came across the work of Nicolas Muller, who designed the Shiny Leaves Lamp Shade.

Design and all images by Nicolas Muller

Nicolas uses our nGen Clear to print the lamp shades on his self-built printer using E3D extruder and hot ends. He even used nGen to print parts of the printer, so he is clearly a fan! The ease of use and clarity of the filament has made it the go-to filament for Nicolas.

Nicolas is an architect and enjoys working on lamp shades and other designs when he finds the time. He is located in Strasbourg, France. From time to time he publishes his work on his Facebook page.

Nicolas’ website is still under construction but you can contact him if you would like to have more information: contact@acidstudio.fr. We will definitely follow him and his amazing work!

ABOUT NGEN

A little over three years ago, by the end of 2015, we released a new all-round material called nGen, next Generation, based on Eastman Amphora AM3300. We believed then (and still do) that this filament was a next step for 3D printing materials. It was our goal to bring a filament to the market that has functional properties, looks astonishingly good and prints like a dream.

nGen has been a hit ever since. This is not without reason. It is true all-round material suitable for most day to day 3D printing activities. Its chemical make up ensures a very consistent quality. An advantage over PLA is its elevated temperature resistance: 80 degrees instead of 45 degrees, so even in hotter climates (or a hot summer day) the material holds up extremely well. Below is a comparison chart of several of the Amphora based filaments compared to commodity materials like ABS and PLA.

You can read more on our dedicated landing page or our blog about co-polyesters.

nGen is an amazing material which enables users to create parts with gorgeous detail and the benefit of long term stability. Don’t just take our word for it. Below are some of the reviews that our users posted in our webshop:

“Its just the perfect Filament for me!”

“Printing as easy as PLA, but with better material properties.”

“nGen is very predictable and strong.”

“nGen is always my “go to” filament. It just prints beautifully. It’s strong, handles heat well, reliable, and just looks great.”

“… prints like butter 🙂 and the finish is absolutely perfect.”

Water Tap Splitter

In the past few years we have written several times about the advantages that 3D printing has for the casting industry. You can find the links to those articles at the end of this blog. Today we show you a practical example of a water tap splitter and how 3D printing not only saves time in the development process, but also saves costs significantly.

Water tap splitter design by colorFabb

Go to our Landing Page to find out more!

Using 3D printing in investment casting reduces cost and adds flexibility to the process. PLA/PHA is a natural choice for this process where the entire print is burned out. What started thousands of years ago with beeswax has now evolved to patterns made with 3D printing. The printed pattern is coated with ceramic, then the printed pattern is burned out and the metal poured into remaining shell leaving a complete casting.

 

The original which we replicated for this blog

Instead of investing in tooling to produce a wax pattern, foundry companies can choose to 3D print their patterns in a material suited for investment casting. ColorFabb PLA/PHA Natural is a material uniquely suited for investment casting. It’s an easy printing material capable of creating complex shapes with great smooth surface finish and will work with most desktop and industrial type FFF 3D printing machines.

For this print we used the Stacker S4 XL. Printing 4 pieces at a time took about 22 hours at 0.12mm layer height and each part weighs approximately 140 grams (and is eventually turned into a 1kg of stainless steel part when all is said and done).

With the colorFabb PLA/PHA filament we can enable the investment casting with more easy access to small volume production. Prototyping and small batches of patterns can now be 3D printed, eliminating the need for mould making to save both the costs and time needed for this process. This also ties in nicely with new design trends such as Generative Design, allowing Investment Casting to be an interesting alternative to 3D printing metal for various applications.

Below are the steps taken after we finished the print:

Putting the print on the wax tree

 

Putting the tree in the sand

 

Drying the tree

 

Filling the tree with steel

 

The end result

One of the big advantages of FDM/FFF 3D printing in this case is the decrease of costs. This part was made for about € 100 (compared to much higher costs elsewhere for a similar one-off production:

 

About Stacker

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 recently published two blogs about Dutch companies Optima and Mifa and their use of Stacker 3D printers.

The Stacker printers 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 Minneapolis, USA, based manufacturer produces highly reliable printers 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.

The Stacker S4 XL has a bigger build volume than its smaller siblings and other advantages:

  • Huge Build Volume 610 x 610 x 610mm (24 x 24 x 24″)
  • Closed loop servos for ZERO lost steps
  • Compatible with Stacker’s Direct Direct drive extruder
  • Four Print Heads for 4X print speeds
  • High Precision Linear Motion
  • Amazing Print Quality
  • Works with almost any Filament

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.

Interested? Get a quote or contact us!

Previous posts about investment casting:

Batman bust

Our filaments already look great when printed, but we get a lot of questions about post-processing. Not only materials where this is kind of necessary (like bronzeFill or copperFill), but also other materials are often the subject of some serious post-printing work to make the printed object truly unique. For this post, our technical development manager (and part of the Team colorFabb from the very beginning) Gijs Houdijk takes you by the hand to show how he post-processed this awesome Batman bust, designed by David Östman.

Design at MyMiniFactory

To begin with, we used our very own PLA Semi-Matte White as the basis for this print, using the standard PLA settings on the Makerbot Replicator 2. For this print we used a 0.15mm layerheight, lower layerheights equals less sanding to get smooth areas.

Well, this Batman bust already looks pretty great, but Gotham’s Caped Crusader can even look better! Below are the post-processing steps that Gijs took.

1. Primer & Sanding

I usually start with a couple of layers of primer. After this I’ll start with sanding, using 220 grit. Then add another layer of primer and continue with sanding. My goal is to smooth out af much as possible the exposed area’s, without loosing detail in the print. The smoother the exposed area’s are, the better they will look after Step 3 ‘Wheathering’.

2. Silver base coat

I used Vallejo Acrylic Metal Color for the base silver metal coat. Instead of using an airbrush I used regular brush to apply paint to the model. It’s a very thin paint which coats really really well. It also dries super fast and is very easy to get an even coat.

3. Weathering the model

After the base coat I apply black spray paint to the model and immediately remove as much as I can with a soft cloth. Don’t let the pain dry, you want to wipe it off while it’s still wet. You can do this one side of the model at the time. The smooth exposed area’s will be wiped clean, revealing the metal looking surface. All the nooks anc crannies will stay dark because of the black spray paint, creating a nice contrast with the metal looking surfaces.

4. Glue both parts together

I used LOCTITE® 3DP INSTANT BONDER. Great feature of this glue is that it hardly turns white after it’s set, which some CA glues do tend to have. Loctite is available in the colorFabb webshop.

 

PLA Semi-Matte White is a great material for architects and model makers looking for a different aesthetic. Our semi-matte PLA filament eliminates the glossy appearance seen on most PLA 3D prints. The highlights on the surface will be less visible, resulting in an overall cleaner and much higher quality look. This makes it also a good choice to use as a base for prints that need to be post-processed.

As with its black sibling PLA Semi-Matte White contains no fibers and prints at regular PLA temperatures and settings. The material is as reliable and easy to work with as any other PLA type material.

Want to read more about post-processing other materials? Check out the links below:

Sand casting

We have written several times about using 3D printing for investment casting, but we also see an increased use of our filaments for sand casting. It is a metal casting process where sand is being used as the mold material. With around 60% of all metal castings being made with sand casting, it is a very interesting technology for 3D printing.

Design by Slogaholik (Grabcad link)

The sand casting process employs techniques that produces shaped parts of nearly any design, including very large parts and those with internal passageways. The process is referred to as sand casting because the mold that contains the cavity into which metal is poured is made of compressed or compacted sand. The mold cavities and gate system are created by compacting the sand around models called patterns, by carving directly into the sand, or by 3D printing.

We have printed one halve of a pattern for the sand casting process, here using PLA Economy Silver on the Stacker S4 XL. The pattern is used to form the cavity in sand in which metal can be poured afterwards.

The total printing time was 4 days and we used 3.1kg of material for this print, using a 0.8mm nozzle, 0.16mm layer height and 13% infill every 2 layers.

ABOUT THE FILAMENT

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 which lowers the costs per spool immediately.

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. It has been one of colorFabb’s most popular filaments ever since launching 3 years ago.

 

ABOUT STACKER 3D PRINTERS

The Stacker 3D printers are industrial grade FFF 3D printers. Recently the even larger Stacker S4 XL was added to the portfolio. 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 printers on display in our print lab

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 6 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.

Interested? Get a quote or contact us!