Replacement pedal

3D printing allows for a lot of applications, DIY repairing being one of them. This weekend we wrote about replacing a part for a laundy dryer, which was printed with colorFabb_HT. Today we have another case, made with colorFabb_XT, which started in our very own print lab!

A couple of weeks ago the pedal of the garbage bin in our printing lab broke. One of the pins that is used as a rotation point broke off. So we decided to model and print it ourselves!

On top: the printed version, below the original broken version.

Printed with colorFabb_XT Dark Gray, this model has been designed in SolidWorks, during which the printing orientation has been kept in mind.

When you print parts for mechanical or functional use, the direction of the printed layers is important in order to maximize the mechanical properties of the print. It also incorporates the original foot pedal, which snaps on nicely. The part itself also fitted to our bin without any problems.

colorFabb_XT is a perfect material for functional prints like this, due to the excellent mechanical and printing properties of the material. The printed parts also show a high glossy finish which can also be used for visual aspects in functional prototypes.

Printed on the Lulzbot TAZ 6 with the standard nozzle on 0,2mm layerheight.  Scroll down for more information on the Lulzbot TAZ 6.

colorFabb_XT is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM1800. Launched in September 2014, it is a fantastic functional engineering material. With colorFabb_XT we achieved to produce a filament that provides good strength and toughness, as well as certain FDA food contact compliances. It has found a wide audience amongst users looking for extra functionality. With a temperature resistance of 75+ degrees, this filament offers (aside from its high strength and very high toughness) odor neutral processing, a styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance and BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation.

colorFabb_XT is available in 14 colors (including clear) and we ship from stock. Order yours now!

 

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!

 

Laundry dryer part

Last week we posted about a real-life problem (although not a problem on a global scale). It is an annoyance that every household encounters: a part of, say, a laundry dryer breaks. And that is exactly what happened.

Normally what happens next: you call the service guy (or girl), they take their good time to come over, try to fix the problem, have to order in a spare part, etc. etc. But we prefer not to be stuck in the 20th century mechanics of everyday life. Let’s get disruptive. Let’s design the part ourselves, print it and replace it.

Original broken part on the left, newly printed part with colorFabb_HT Dark Gray on the right.

First, of course, we needed to model it in Solidworks and then we set out to print it.

Printed on the Ultimaker 2 we made this part with colorFabb_HT Dark Gray (printing at 260 degrees and the heated bed at 100 degrees at a 0.1mm layer height).

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.

Inverted bucket steam trap

Our metal filled filaments have great aesthetic characteristics. They look awesome when printed, even stunningly beautiful when post-processed, but one aspect that you cannot see – but all users agree on – is the added weight of the filament. This makes a great filament to create visual prototypes that also need that added weight. Like the inverted bucket steam trap we recently printed:

Inverted Bucket Steam Trap based on the 3D model by Tamas Cserto
Design: https://grabcad.com/library/inverted-bucket-steam-trap-1

Printed in steelFill, copperFill and bronzeFill, this cross-sectioned model beautifully shows the inner workings of an inverted bucket steam trap.
It’s screw threads are fully functional straight out of the printer so you can assemble it whilst showing the different aspects or even change out parts on the fly.

The metal filaments have a nice aesthetic and give the parts a genuine feel both in terms of added weight as well as the look and feel of the parts. Note however that this is not a functional part, working in real life, but a visual prototype.

We printed this model on the Ultimaker 2+ with Ruby nozzle (which is recommended for steelFill) on 0,10mm layer height.

One of the aspects of steelFill is that it has magnetic properties. steelFill is the latest in our range of special metal filled filaments, being launched in 2016 after bronzeFill and copperFill (both in 2014) and brassFill (in 2015). You can find some post-processing tips here.

We have also written handy tutorials on how to print with these special filaments:

The high steel content of the steelFill material makes this filament quite abrasive to brass nozzles.  Therefore it’s recommended to print with abrasive resistant nozzles. For the nozzle we chose the Olsson Ruby nozzle 2,85mm version. The ruby nozzle retains the excellent heat conducting properties of brass, while being extremely resistant to wear. This means that you can print your standard materials as usual, but also very abrasive materials such as XT-CF20, but also our steelFill.

The Olsson Ruby is a high-tech nozzle with a carefully designed ruby tip, which makes it have unique properties. The ruby nozzle is designed by Anders Olsson, inventor of the popular Olsson Block that is also part of the Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printers.

This nozzle was generously supplied to us by 3DVerkstan, our distributor and partner in the Nordic regiona and manufacturer of the Olsson Ruby Nozzle. For more information about the nozzle, contact 3DVerkstan: info@3dverkstan.se

colorFabb’s metal filled filaments are available online.

Micrometer holder

In our production and in our print lab we need to be accurate.  We use our micrometer quite a lot, but we are only human and have only two hands. A custom designed (by our own print team) micrometer holder was a great solution, printed with colorFabb_XT.

Micrometer holder by colorFabb: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2258819

We printed the micrometer on the Stacker S4 with colorFabb_XT Light Gray.

For clamping down the micrometer without damaging it we designed two bendable sections. Using M6 screws that come in from the bottom the two sections can be bend outwards to hold the micrometer in place.

colorFabb_XT is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM1800. Launched in September 2014, it is a fantastic functional engineering material. With colorFabb_XT we achieved to produce a filament that provides good strength and toughness, as well as certain FDA food contact compliances. It has found a wide audience amongst users looking for extra functionality. With a temperature resistance of 75+ degrees, this filament offers (aside from its high strength and very high toughness) odor neutral processing, a styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance and BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation.

colorFabb_XT is available in 14 colors (including clear) and we ship from stock. Order yours now!

 

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

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

A little over a year ago we followed that up with colorFabb_HT, a high-temperature resistant filament that allows for functional engineering projects that need lasting parts. At last year’s TCT Show in Birmingham we introduced nGen_FLEX to the market, a flexible filament with a Shora A hardness of 95 allowing for functional and flexible parts to be printed.

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

Valve

Eearlier this week we printed a head storage for the Stacker 3D printer with XT-CF20. Aside from its stiffness due to 20% of added carbon fibres, the matte finishing of the print is one of the reasons why customers choose this product. It is a terrific filament for visual prototyping as well, if the print needs a tough and industrial look. Like today’s solenoid valve for water and gas:

Design: https://www.mcmaster.com/#catalog/123/472/=172c6i1

This print was made for visual prototyping only, but it shows what can be done with 3D printing to showcase a model. This print is based on CAD files from McMaster-Carr Supply Company part 2660K12.

It was printed on the Ultimaker 2+ in our very own printlab in 3 seperate parts and glued together for a HQ visual representation. Due to the abrasive nature of XT-CF20, we printed with the brand new Olsson Ruby nozzle, provided to us by its manufacturer and very own distributor for the Nordic Region: 3DVerkstan.

The print was made with a 0,1mm layer height. For the nozzle we chose the Olsson Ruby nozzle 2,85mm version. The ruby nozzle retains the excellent heat conducting properties of brass, while being extremely resistant to wear. This means that you can print your standard materials as usual, but also very abrasive materials such XT-CF20, but also our steelFill.

The Olsson Ruby is a high-tech nozzle with a carefully designed ruby tip, which makes it have unique properties. The ruby nozzle is designed by Anders Olsson, inventor of the popular Olsson Block that is also part of the Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printers.

This nozzle was generously supplied to us by 3DVerkstan, our distributor and partner in the Nordic regiona and manufacturer of the Olsson Ruby Nozzle. For more information about the nozzle, contact 3DVerkstan: info@3dverkstan.se

XT-CF20 is our first Amphora based special filament, launched nearly two years ago, made with colorFabb_XT and 20% carbon fibres. More information can be found here. XT-CF20 has received some really good reviews on our website. It may not be the easiest filament to print with, but the results can be stunning. The functionality, stiffness and the matte finish are true selling points of this material.

XT-CF20 is available online.

 

Tiny Hellboy

Before the start of the weekend we printed big. Today, right after the weekend, we go small. We ususally use our colorFabb_HT for technical parts that need excellent functional performance. For the mini Hellboy we went very small to achieve a highly detailed print… without any visible layers:

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:374298

The design is the Hellboy Resculpted by Geoff W. / Hex3D (you can visit his site here). The original design by Raphael Gatt aka Masterclip can be found here.

We printed with colorFabb_HT at 0.06mm layerheight on the Ultimaker 2+ with a 0.25mm nozzle.

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 today’s post shows, is the ability to print with extreme detail.

 

Another small model we made is the Impeller Housing by Nick Burns a.k.a. PolyVinalDistillate. Again it shows the details and no visible layers that can be achieved:


Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:229657

You can find out more on how to print with colorFabb_HT in our handy tutorial: How To print with colorFabb_HT

colorFabb_HT is available in five varieties: clear, black, white, dark gray and light gray. It is available in our webshop and through our distributors and resellers worldwide.

Hyper Soccer Ball

The print we feature today is the Hyper Soccer Ball, designed by Jose Almeida a.k.a. Dalpek.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:638568

Dalpek created this design by joining three truncated icosahedrons by their vertices.

We printed this complex print of a soccer ball with nGen on the Lulzbot TAZ 6 at a 0.2mm layer height. We did not use any support for this print and the print as you see it, is as it came from the printer.

We recently added the Lulzbot TAZ 6 to our collection of printers in our print lab. The LulzBot TAZ 6 is an extremely reliable, easy-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.

Aside from that, we also started reselling both the TAZ 6 and the Lulzbot Mini in Europe.

You can find more information about these great additions to our webshop here, as well as Richard Horne (RichRap) and Joel Telling’s (3D Printing Nerd) review videos.

Both the Lulzbot Mini and TAZ 6 have free shipping in Europe and two free spools of nGen filament! You can order online now.

Why do we add two free spools of nGen with these printers? Because they are a perfect fit. And we want to make sure that everybody who purchases a Lulzbot printer knows it too!

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!

And again, no support was used for this print.

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.

nGen is available through our webshop and our network of distributors and resellers worldwide as well as our partner Lulzbot.

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:

Moveo upgrade

A project we have been working on for quite some time now is the Moveo Robotic Arm by BCN 3D Technologies in Barcelona. It is a great project which we already teased in November and December.

Original design: https://www.bcn3dtechnologies.com/en/bcn3d-moveo-the-future-of-learning/

Almost a month ago, during the RapidPro in Veldhoven, we showed the functional arm to the audiences of that show:

But this project is far from finished. We have decided to upgrade the robotic arm with some new parts:

The parts we printed on the Stacker S2 are:

Mantis Gripper by 4ndreas (Andreas Hölldorfer – http://chaozlabs.blogspot.nl/)
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1480408

Moveo Adaptor plate for Mantis Gripper by drmaettu
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1783754

Moveo 5th axis body piece to replace current print.
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1693444

The Mantis gripper allows for a more versatile grip for the Moveo robot arm and it looks cool. Andreas even has the gripper picking up a full mug of coffee on his YouTube video in his blog:

And that’s exactly what we need here at colorFabb: More efficient ways to get our coffee! Using the Adaptor plate designed by drmaettu we should be able to mount it easily to the Moveo Robot arm.

We will write a final and complete blog post on the entire project soon.

As with the previous parts, we have printed with colorFabb_XT Yellow and Dark Gray.

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

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

In 2016 we followed that up with colorFabb_HT, a high-temperature resistant filament that allows for functional engineering projects that need lasting parts. Half a year ago at the TCT Show in Birmingham we introduced nGen_FLEX to the market, a flexible filament with a Shora A hardness of 95 allowing for functional and flexible parts to be printed.

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

You can find our entire portfolio of co-polyesters in our webshop or via our distributors and resellers worldwide.

We printed these parts on the brand new Stacker S2. The S2 is still available on Kickstarter, but only for a few more hours.

colorFabb is proud partner of Stacker and official distributor for the EMEA region. At colorFabb we have been extensively testing with both the S2 and S4 in our print lab with our entire range of filaments. What makes this printer so different from the rest? First of all, it is based on the technology that has made the Stacker S4 such a success.

You can also expect the following:

  • Copy mode for printing two objects at once for 2X print speeds
  • Dual print heads can be offset to prevent the idle head from dripping on the print when not in use to achieve super clean dual material prints
  • Large build volume: 395mm (X) axis, 325mm (Y) axis, 525mm (Z) Axis
  • Built-in mobile base, essential for EDU and work groups
  • Superior print quality
  • STACKER designed and manufactured hot ends and filament drives produce a superior finish, and work with all filaments, including flexible and metal filled
  • Uses 1.75mm filament for high-speed printing.
  • Quick change nozzles in a range of sizes from .25mm to 1mm
  • Comes with a single license of Simplify3D slicing software
  • Includes a sheet of BuildTak print bed surface but will accept glass

Although the Kickstarter pledges will be delivered in May / June of this year, you can already pre-order the S2 through us, as the official Stacker distributor in the EMEA region, or Stacker itself. Delivery of the pre-order printers will be in April. Get your quote now!

 

Spherical roller bearing

Late last year we discovered in our printlab a golden combination: nGen on the Leapfrog HS. Our all-round 3D printing filament performed remarkably well on the printer and today’s print is another great example:

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2093991

Spherical roller bearing  is designed by Filip Sjöö a.k.a. filiptheking, the Swedish mechanical engineer that likes to create stuff.

As said, the print was made on the Leapfrog HS at a 0.2mm layer height. Look at the stunning details of this print:

nGen is one of our most successful materials. It was developed with Eastman Chemical Company and based on their AM3300 co-polyester. After launching it almost a year and half ago, it has been widely adopted by 3D printer users all over the world as a go to material and replacement for PLA. You can find all information you are looking for on our dedicated landing page.

Earlier prints we made on the Leapfrog HS are:

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

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

But there is more…

Do you have a Leapfrog HS and want to try nGen? Now is your chance! We partnered with Leapfrog to offer a unique deal for Leapfrog users: 15% discount on nGen filaments in our webshop!

This is how it works: Leapfrog has sent out an email to all its subscribers with a unique discount code that can be used on our site. This discount code should be entered when checking out and can be used up to 5 times per code. The discount only applies to nGen filaments.

Did you not get this email? Check your spam folder for yesterday’s (Thursday March 23rd) Leapfrog Newsletter.

Still having problems? Contact Leapfrog for more information and your personal discount code.