ColorFabb Learn - Featured Print Archives

Apple watch dock

The holiday season is about the start and that means a lot of expensive gifts. You cannot print fully functional wearables yet, but you can print the dock for a, say, Apple watch. And why spend a small fortune on a dock by buying it? Print one. Or dozens! Life is all about making and it’s easy with our PLA Economy.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:882810

Designed by Uwe Dauernheim this small print holds your Apple Watch (which will you get from Santa, we’re sure!) safely and on a prominent place. We printed these docks on the Makerbot Replicator 2 on a 0.2mm layer height with standard PLA settings.

With one 2.2kg spool you can produce up to 81 of these docks (weighing at 27 grams each). Effectively this will cost you about € 0.43 (excl VAT) per piece for the material.

Our new grade of low cost PLA Economy was launched last week and it has been a runaway success from the beginning. You can find the full details of our latest offering here.

We have been testing this material for the better part of the summer and have found this filament a great alternative those customers who need a lot of PLA. We are initially releasing PLA Economy in four colors: White (RAL 9010), Black (RAL 9005, Red (RAL 3020) and Silver (RAL 9023). This PLA grade has been tested extensively and is being produced and shipped by the same colorFabb team you are used to so you know we are not compromising on quality. You can rely with this filament on the same high standards that colorFabb is known for. It is available only on 2.2kg spools.

PLA Economy is an addition to our range of PLA/PHA, which is available in 30 colors (and on 750 grams spools).

And remember that during Black Friday we have a special deal on all our filaments: 15% off! Find out more by clicking here. Some conditions apply though: cheapest spool is for free and samples and PLA Economy are exempt from this part of the promotion. Other than that, you can get two awesome discounts during the Black Friday weekend!

Please note: Due to the high demand of our filaments during the Black Friday sales promotion we have run out of stock on certain items sooner than we thought. ur production and logistics teams work around the clock (and even during the weekend) to produce new filaments and prepare them for shipment. Delays may occur, but we try to minimize the time you have to wait.

Ultimaker hand drill

Recently, Ultimaker launched their latest printer: the Ultimaker 3. It is no secret that we print a lot with our Ultimaker printers: the original, the Ultimaker 2 and the 2+ are all printers we frequently test our filaments on. So it was only natural that we would also give the latest Ultimaker 3 a spin. One of the primary features of Ultimaker’s latest machine is the dual extrusion ability. We thought it would be a great opportunity to give our nGen filament a spin and make a very cool dual nozzle print.

Design: https://www.youmagine.com/designs/hand-drill

Printed on the Ultimaker 3 with nGen Black and nGen Silver Metallic at a 0.1mm layer height. This print succeeded on its first try and the entire print, made in one go, lasted 4.5 days. Yeah, we do have that kind of time. Rest assured that more prints will be made on this printer in the near future!

We found nGen to be a perfect material for Ultimaker’s latest printer!

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 last year, 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.

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.

Amphora 3300 has been made into high-quality filament that exhibits advanced overhang ability, excellent looks, and large printing temperature range—empowering large panel of users to create durable and useful items. With the unique combination of a low processing temperature and an elevated temperature resistance, nGen can quickly print creations that are functional, durable, efficient, and attractive.

nGen is available in 17 colors.

Don’t forget we have a Black Friday promotion going on: Buy 4, Pay 3 and on top of that 15% on all our filaments. You can find all the details in yesterday’s post. Click on the banner below to go directly to our website.

3d printing colorfabb dual nozzle hand drill ngen prototyping ultimaker 3

Sir Fill

Pop quiz: What is taller than 3 spools of colorFabb PLA Economy? There is only one answer: Sir Fill printed extra large on the Delta Tower!

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:501831

You may or may not know Sir Fill. Sir Fill is our mascotte, proud protector of the printers. A fearless filament fan. Our guardian and true knight. Designed by Swedish character artist and digital sculptor Ola Sundberg a few years ago especially for us, it has been a print we keep printing with all our filaments.

Last week we launched our new grade of low cost PLA Economy and it has been a runaway success from the moment we launched it. You can find the full details of our latest offering here.

Printed on the Delta Tower with a 0.8mm nozzle and a 0.2mm layer height, Sir Fill weighs nearly 2kgs and measures 45.5cm. As you can see, PLA Economy is perfectly suited for the task.

PLA Economy is an addition to our range of PLA/PHA, which is available in 30 colors (and on 750 grams spools).

And remember that during Black Friday we have a special deal on all our filaments: 15% off! Find out more by clicking here.

3d printing colorfabb delta tower ola sundberg pla economy sir fill

Flexible tubes

Almost two months ago during the TCT Show we launched our brand new semi flexible nGen_FLEX filament. With a Shore A hardness of 95 and the high glass temperature of 120+ degrees C this is a truly functional 3D printing filament. For today’s featured print we custom designed tubes that needed a certain flexibility.

nGen_FLEX is our first foray in flexible filaments. We aimed for a more functional, semi-flexible filament. The first reactions after launching were unanimously positive and we have seen fantastic prints with nGen_FLEX in the wild ever since.

These tubes were printed on an Ultimaker 2+ on 0.16mm layer height., proving once again that nGen_FLEX can easily be printed on printers working with a Bowden tube.

Printing multiple tubes at once with connecting sections enables us to print the full height of the printer without becoming to flexible to properly print. These tubes are 190mm long and are connected by a single wall thickness of 0,4mm to create the stiffness. After printing these connectors can be easily cut away with a hobby knife.

With an outer diameter of 6mm these tubes are compatible with regular tubing of the same size. Its 2 perimeter thickness ensures a watertight print whilst remaining flexible enough to use in a variaty of applications.

These tubes will be part of a bigger print we are working on. Keep your eyes open in the weeks to come!

nGen_FLEX is a new elastomer material added to our existing range of co-polyester functional 3D printing filaments. It is made from Eastman Amphora™ Flex 3D Polymer FL6000 and the fourth filament in our range of Amphora based co-polyester, following colorFabb_XT, nGen and colorFabb_HT.

nGen_FLEX is available in our webshop: Click here.

nGen_FLEX is best described as a semi-flexible material with good printability on most 3D printers eliminating the use for specialized flex extruders. It’s rated at a Shore A hardness level of 95. By adjusting infill and perimeter settings it’s possible to influence how flexible a part should feel after printing. You can find more information on our dedicated nGen_FLEX landing page.

3d printing colorfabb flexible ngn flex tubes ultimaker

Lighthouse

Last week we released PLA Economy, our new grade of PLA filament. PLA Economy is only available on 2.2kg spools, in a limited amount of colors, but very competitively priced. Perfectly suited for printer owners who use large volumes of PLA. It is ideal for making great looking prints, like this Lighthouse On A Rock, designed by Jukka Seppänen.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1379330

The light house was printed on our Makerbot Replicator 2 with 0.2mm layer height. We used the Makerbot standard PLA settings for this print and the results are very good. We experienced a perfect raft seperation from the model.

The new economy line of PLA filaments by colorFabb delivers a good quality PLA filament in four great colors at very reasonable pricing. 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.

Spool holder design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1862683

You can order PLA Economy right now from our webshop. Due to the overwhelming success, not all items are in stock but will be produced soon. Order now to make sure you will receive your filaments as soon as possible.

3dprinting colorfabb light house makerbot pla economy

Thumb book holder

Sometimes the handiest prints we make are also the smallest. One struggle every avid reader has is to keep a book open while lying on the couch and trying to sip that well-earned coffee at the same time. Luckily there’s Michael_B who has designed a thumb book holder, finally bringing this struggle to an end!

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:650623

We used woodFill for this print. woodFill was launched exactly 3 years ago this month during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill and more recently corkFill. our woodFill has been a hit from day one due to easy processing and its fantastic looks. Added bonus is that your print room smells like a wood shop when printing with woodFill.

We printed the book holder on one of our Ultimaker Originals at a 0.2mm layer height.

woodFill is available in our webshop. Why not combine woodFill with our other specials and take advantage of our November promotion. This month, colorFabb celebrates its 4th anniversary. By using the coupon code colorfabb4you when checking out you buy 4 spools, but pay only 3! read more on colorFabb’s 4th birthday here or check out the timeline of what we have done in the past four years.

Go to our website to take advantage of our “Buy 4, Pay 3” promotion today!

(Coupon code does not work with samples or colorFabb PLA Economy spools)

3d printing alan turing colorfabb reading special thumb book holder woodfill

NEMA 17 4:1 reduction gearbox

Today we feature this fully 3D printed gearbox for a NEMA 17 stepper motor with a 4:1 reduction ratio in colorFabb_XT. Designed by Youmagine user Kevin, it utilizes herringbone gears and it performs great.

This print was done using a 0,25mm nozzle width and 0,06mm layerheight on an Ultimaker 2+. colorFabb_XT was used in both light and dark gray to ensure a durable and strong gearbox. The fine detailing meant that the print took a full day to complete. But it’s gears fit together very precisely and there is only minimal play in the system.

colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and was the first material we launched together with Eastman Chemical Company back in 2014.

It has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties : High strength and very high toughness, Odor Neutral processing, High Tg / improved temp. resistance, Styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance, BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation. It will allow the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way. Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer is 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.

Learn how to print with colorFabb_XT: https://learn.colorfabb.com/print-_xt/

3d printing amphora colorfabb colorfabb_xt eastman functional

Filament Duck 2,2kg Spool holder

With the launch of our new Economy PLA on 2,2kg spools, we needed something to hold those big spools during printing. So we used our new material to print our remix of the Filament Duck which was originally designed by Thingiverse user Bold.

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

2,2kg Spools are big! So unfortunately they won’t fit on every printer without help. This Filament Duck allows you to store the spool whilst hanging freely with just enough friction to allow for easy unwinding by the printer. You can place it outside of your 3D printer and feed the filament in just as normal. Now you can enjoy our new Economy line of PLA almost as easily as our other materials.

This new economy line of PLA filaments by colorFabb delivers a good quality PLA filament in four great colors at very reasonable pricing. 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.

Economy PLA is available on 2.2kg spools only, delivering a whopping 740 meters of 1.75mm filament and 270 meters of 2.85mm filament.

We have been testing this material for the better part of the summer and have found this material a great alternative those customers who need a lot of PLA. We are initially releasing PLA Economy in four colors: White (RAL 9010), Black (RAL 9005, Red (RAL 3020) and Silver (RAL 9023).

Other colors that will be added at a later date.

3d printing colorfabb economy filament pla spools

Moveo sneak peek

A quick sneak peek of the BCN Moveo Robot arm we are printing right now on the Stacker S4 printer. We recently started this project with our Amphora based co-polyesters to make a very cool and functional print. You can find the full details on the site of BCN3D who supplied the design.

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.

Earlier this year we followed that up with colorFabb_HT, a high-temperature resistant filament that allows for functional engineering projects that need lasting parts. Recently 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.

3d printing amphora bcn3d colorfabb eastman functional moveo robot arm stacker

VTOL Drone

From time to time we feature prints that have not originated from our own print lab, but were printed with our filaments. We love to see user cases like the one that follows which show the potential of 3D printing. In this case, our carbon re-inforced filament XT-CF20 was used to bring a prototype for a VTOL drone to a customer in the shortest time possible.

The company responsible for this is nSize, located in Rotterdam. They produced the VTOL drone prototype for Aerovinci in Delft. In their own words:

“AeroVinci is a company based in Delft, whose mission it is to build a fully autonomous network of drones, able to deliver data and services without human interaction. On their delegation to Israel with the Dutch Embassy they showcased their VTOL drone that should work with their drone-in-a-box concept.”

“BerkelaarMRT teamed up with nSize to build this prototype. With a wingspan of exactly one meter, flight case restrictions and a short deadline this was not an easy task. We chose to print this on our Ultimakers in carbon filled filament. This material is strong, creates consistent prints and is easy to sand. We’ve managed to complete this project in just over two weeks.”

“First task was to make the prototype fit in a standard Pelicase flight case, without having to charge for extra oversize luggage. So we had to split the model, which needed to be assembled and disassembled on site without any tools. We opted for some strong magnets and metal pins, carefully aligned. We have had some good results in the past with pausing prints, inserting magnets with our project for Boskalis.”

“With our first split lines in place, we set out to further divide the wing in more parts so that they fit our printers. Respecting of course the print direction so there was minimal overhang. We carefully crafted some extra splits and insert parts to keep all the surfaces as clean as possible. We ended up dividing the total wing into 27 pieces.”

“In less than one week we had printed all the parts with the colorfabb XT-CF20 filament, with only one misprint due to power outage. Next step was to glue the components together and fill up the remaining gaps with some black filler. The real reason we chose this filament was down to the last step; it was easy to sand and gives a killer look! With some days left in our process we’ve added some extra details as wiring and presented the wing to AeroVinci.”

You can find more information about nSize on their company page.

XT-CF20 was introduced early 2015 by colorFabb and is based on colorFabb_XT with 20% carbon fibres. This filament is perfect for parts which need high stiffness. XT-CF20 has a beautiful matte surface finish when printed.

XT-CF20 is available in our webshop and through our network of worldwide resellers.

3d printing aerovinci colorfabb drone nsize prototype vtol xt-cf20