Last year we launched our new flagship product: varioShore TPU. It is a 3D printing flament which is flexible in more ways than one. Even after release we keep testing filaments in our printlab to see what the best practice is. One thing we keep testing amongst others is varioShore TPU’s infill and have opted for the gyroid infill.
We used Cura’s gyroid infill setting on the Ultimaker S5. The gyroid structure, aside from having a nice wave-y pattern, ensures an even distribution of strength throughout the model. It belongs to a class of mathematically minimal surfaces, giving the same strength as a hexagon infill, but with less material.
“A gyroid is a naturally occurring structure which be found in butterfly wings and even within membranes inside cells. In 2017, MIT researchers discovered that when graphene was shaped into a gyroid structure, it had exceptional strength properties at low densities. They then discovered however, that the crucial aspect of this was actually the gyroid structure itself, and that other materials such as plastic could benefit from this.” ~ Source: Matt’s Hub
The print settings used on the Ultimaker S5 were:
0.2mm layer height
25 mm/s print speed
70% material flow
240C nozzle temperature
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.
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.
We’re not done yet with varioShore TPU. You can expect more news soon.
Contest is now closed. All winners are announced below.
In January 2020 we’re holding a #MadeWithcolorFabb contest. All our customers are invited to share their prints on social media. Every five days we select a winner who gets four spools of filament. At the end of the month we select a winning Read more about the contest here. We will select several winners during the month which will be posted below (most recent one on top).
January overall winner
The big winner is the impressive, and still on-going, Mimphonium project. Check out the website for more information. Printed parts are made with PLA/PHA Standard White. Domenico Marseglia is the winner of 10 spools of colorFabb filaments!
January 30th
https://www.instagram.com/p/B76jVxuItX0/
A holder for a monochrystalline quartz, part of a million dollar laser amplifier by YAGjunky made with PLA/PHA (original Instagram post)
When you need to use a garden hose but you don’t have a garden tap.. Ez! Just print an adaptor to a quick connector and problem solved! Printed on a @Creality3dprint CR10S with @ColorFabb PLA Economy Silver. Design by @incoog on @thingiverse # 2300683.
We’re always curious what you make with our filaments. With the holidays fresh behind us we want to know what you printed recently. With #MadeWithColorFabb we start the new year with a month-long contest. Win four, or maybe even ten (10!) spools of filament! Read the rules & start posting.
It’s easy: Share your print on social media (Twitter, Facebookor Instagram), tag us with our official accounts and use the hashtag #MadeWithColorFabb
That’s all you have to do. O, and give credit to the designer if it is not your own.
What?
Any print will do, as long as it is made with colorFabb filament. We will judge based on originality, functionality, quality and prefer new and recent prints over previously posted prints. You know you’re awesome, we know it. Now it’s time to show the rest of the world and all our followers.
Who?
You post, we judge. Judges will be fair and unbribeable and consist of colorFabb employees.
Why?
Because we like to reward great prints. Every five days we will give away four free spools of filament to what we judge is the best entry. Cut-off dates are January 5th, 10th, 15th, 20th, 25th and 30th. On the 31st we will give away 10 free spools to the best print of the entire month – which may or may not be one of those who have previously won.
When?
The entire month of January. Tag us and use #MadeWithColorFabb and you’re in. Only photos and videos uploaded until January 31st 23:59 CET apply.
Where?
We’ll re-post social media and announce winners there, in our blogs and newsletter. By participating you agree that we can use your work for promotional purposes.
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it is 2019 that flew by! It is time again for our annual end-of-the-year recap. Let’s look back at the things that defined the past year for us. Before we continue to look back, here is a list of previous recaps:
Enough ancient history already. Let’s look back at more recent history and continue with the…
2019 material releases
We added quite a few new materials to our portfolio. We also keep adding more and more Color on Demand colors to our library of colors. Early 2020 we will have most regular RAL colors directly available in our webshop.
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. (Read more)
With varioShore TPU we have created a filament that is flexible in more ways than one: variable Shore hardness, reduced weight and density and soft touch. All in one print! 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. (Read more)
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. 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. (Read more)
Our Tough PLA is a custom blend which retains the ease of use of PLA but adds serious toughness to the material. As a result the material is a lot less brittle than regular PLA filaments and has a higher impact strength. (Read more)
2019 saw several new brands being added to our webshop. In our effort to diversify and bring the best possible filaments to our customers we already added Ninjatek filaments in 2018. This year we partnered with igus and Huntsman to add their Iglidur and Iroprint filaments respectively to our webshop. Both these companies believe that functionality is key to a great material and we couldn’t agree more.
You can find igus Iglidur here and Huntsman Iroprint here in our webshop.
Custom filaments
We don’t only produce filaments that can be ordered online. We also actively develop filaments for our customers which have very specific needs. One of these filaments is a radar absorbing material for very specific applications. PLA-3DRAM allows OEMs not only to test form and fit, but also the actual radar absorbing performance of their physical design. Often radar units are mounted in brackets which need to be designed in such a way that the radar units have the least amount of ghosting. This is application is being used in, for instance, the automotive industry. (Read more)
This spring it was exactly five years ago that we launched bronzeFill, our very first metal filled 3D printing filament. The fantastic material was the first of its kind: our unique PLA/PHA compound with real bronze in it. Straight from the printer parts look almost laser sintered with a matte finish and with a bit of sanding and polishing the bronze particles will start to shine & shimmer unlike any 3d printing filament you have seen before. The weight of the material is something special as well, over 3 times heavier than our regular PLA/PHA. (Read more)
Andreas Mielonen’s ancient Greek helmet Original post
Below are some of our favorite videos we posted in 2019. Check out our YouTube channel for all our videos.
LW-PLA announcement
A 1-minute company tour
Highlighting the Stacker quality
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwHamyZTQ2I
varioShore release
Amazing prints
We print a lot in our printlab, but we love to see the prints other people make with our filaments. Below are some of the coolest we highlighted in our blogs (and one we followed via Twitter):
Car parts
John Pham from Brisbane Australia surprised us with the car parts he made with PA-CF Low Warp. Amazing prints!
The team of Eclipson in Spain has designed and printed their Model V plane with LW-PLA filament in mind. Check the blog for the spectacular footage of the maiden flight!
We have been following WillowCreative3 on Twitter a lot recently. These Lilith horns and her Mewtwo costume were made with LW-PLA, since weight matters when printing costumes.
2019 was the year we had to make some hard decisions filament wise. Over the years we have been adding and adding to our product portfolio and only sporadically eliminated filaments from our portfolio (yes, we’re looking at bambooFill and brassFill). In Q4 we took more drastic steps and decided that, to be more efficient, we would discontinue over 25 different colors in several materials. You can read more about that here. Some colors are succesfull, others are not. By focussing on the colors that the market actually demands we can work more efficiently and make sure that we ship faster than ever.
All filaments that are due to be discontinued are on sale right now and can be picked up at bargain prices, as long as stock lasts. Click on the image below to head directly to our webshop:
We took another step in making our logistics operation more efficient: Only earlier this week we announced that we would stop offering samples of our materials effective immediately. Again, efficiency was the main reason to stop the sample program for which there was less and less demand over the past few years.
Gone… unfortunately
In 2020 we will be back with a renewed sample program.
2020 and beyond
We never settle down. We don’t take anything for granted. Nothing is static and we keep moving ahead. We see the future for 3D printing materials in customization and developing functional materials according to our customers’ needs. Some of them may be niche (Laser Marking PLA) and others will find mass adoption over the new year (we’re looking at you varioShore TPU and LW-PLA!)
Early 2020 we will have all the regular RAL references added to our Color on Demand database making order your favorite color in PLA easier than ever.
We have ambitious goals for the next year and will keep you up to date via our newsletters and social media.
Happy holidays!
Team colorFabb wishes you a great holiday season with all the best wishes for 2020. We thank you for choosing colorFabb and following us through various social media channels. Keep an eye out for the latest news in our newsletter. Need some print-speration™ for the holidays, check out the Death Star ornaments or Christmas Tree:
Design by plainolddave. Printed with nGen and glowFill
Design by idig3d. Printed with nGen Clear Transparent
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. With certain FDA approvals and chemical resistance it is an engineering grade material that has been in high demand with the professional users and hobbyists alike.
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. Amphora is Eastman’s brand of co-polyesters dedicated for 3D printing. Our nGen, colorFabb_XT and nGen_FLEX are also made with Amphora materials.
colorFabb_HT is enabled by Eastman Tritan™ copolyester technology. Tritan is Eastman’s flagship product and has been succesfully added to the 3D printing portfolio with colorFabb_HT. Learn more about Tritan on Eastman’s dedicated website.
The way we see it, FDM 3D printing filaments will be all about functionality in the future. How you are going to use your prints in the real world will define what material you choose. We have found a lot of characteristics in Eastman’s range of Amphora co-polyesters that offer functionality, durability and efficiency. Added benefits compared to ABS are the low-odor while printing and that Amphora based filaments are styrene free.
Compared to PLA, Amphora features a much better heat resistance, starting at 75C for colorFabb XT, 85C for colorFabb nGen and 100C for colorFabb HT. Below is a chart how our range of co-polyesters compare to other materials like PLA and ABS:
High tech clamps, printed with colorFabb_HT on the Leapfrog Bolt by Peter de Corte
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.
colorFabb_HT prints
One of the unique features of colorFabb_HT is the ability to print near transparent parts. Due to the high flow characteristics it is now possible to print parts that are almost see-through. Check out the blog we wrote about it previously here.
Although our range of co-polyesters already look extremely good, there are quite a few way how you can perform so-called secondary operations, like glueing, painting, etc. Click the image below for more information:
Below are some of the prints we made in the past few years with colorFabb_HT:
Old and broken laundry dryer part left, new printed one on the right. Original post
As from today (December 16th 2019) we have ended our sample program… for now. No samples can be ordered anymore in our webshop with immediate effect.
Why?
It all comes down to efficiency. In recent years we have seen a steady month-on-month decline of demand for samples and an increase of materials we offer. Making samples is mostly a manual process with lots of handling and packaging. All these factors combined increase the complexity of maintaining our sampling service.
By discontinuing our sample operation we can focus our logistical efforts on the things that matter: shipping your orders faster and more efficient.
Our samples… no more.
Ending a product or a service is not a decision made lightly, but one made to improve our overall efforts to bring the right filaments straight to your printers in the most efficient manner.
How can you test our materials?
As for the time being we do not offer any samples for testing anymore. Rest assured that all materials we bring to the market have been extensively tested on the most well-known printers (Ultimaker, Prusa, Lulzbot, BCN 3D, Makerbot, etc.). If you are in doubt, please contact us at support@colorfabb.com
We have also written tutorials with recommended print settings for most of our materials. Click here to find out more. Settings can also be found at the bottom of the individual product pages:
Now what?
But you have not seen the last of our samples! In Q1 2020 we will return with a more simplified sample program. We will also use samples more for other efforts at colorFabb, like the occasional give-aways or other promotionals!
In the meantime, we have our Holiday Season Discount of 20% on selected filaments running until December 31st 2019! Head over to our webshop to see what is on sale! (No coupon code needed, we have already lowered the prices of the applicable filaments)!
Christmas starts early… 2 weeks early to be more precise. Our holiday 2019 season sale starts today with 20% discount on selected filaments! Scroll down for our current sale campaign, clearance sale and – important! – when we will be open during the Christmas holidays. Click here to go to our webshop!
Try our classics like PLA/PHA or nGen. Or colorFabb_HT, enabled by Eastman Tritan copolyester technology for engineering parts!
Or why not try one of our latest filament releases, like LW-PLA, Tough PLA, varioShore TPU or Laser Marking PLA:
We have over 25 filaments on a special clearance sale! These items are available as long as stock lasts. After that they will no longer be part of our portfolio. Get yours while you can, some of them are already sold out!
No coupon code needed – we have already lowered the price on our website. Discount does not apply to third party filaments, samples, hardware & accessories, Color on Demand and value packs. Discount does not work with other discounts! This discount applies to all orders placed until December 31st 23:59 CET!
Opening days during the holidays
Please note that we are formally closed during the Christmas holidays. There will be limited shipping of webshop orders during the week of Christmas and New Year. After Friday December 20th we only ship on Monday December 23rd and Monday December 30th this year. Normal operations resume on January 2nd 2020.
To summarize:
Shipped before December 21st: order before December 20th noon CET
Shipped before Christmas: order before December 23rd noon CET
Shipped before New Year’s: order before December 30th noon CET
Shipping depends on availability and stock levels. Please note that during the holidays deliveries can take longer. This is beyond our control.
In the past few years we have been adding and adding filaments to our portfolio. And then we added even more. At this point we have, also thanks to our Color on Demand program, thousands of products in our system. Mostly filaments. But not all filaments are equally succesfull and some of them need to make space for new innovations. That’s why we are currently having our largest clearance sale in our seven year history. Go to our Sales page on the webshop to see what filaments will be gone forever soon.
Why?
Why get rid of all these bright and fantastic colors. To be quite honest: economy and efficiency. We have a lot of great filaments that sell really well. The filaments chosen to be part of the clearance sale simply do not sell well enough to keep in stock. With every filament we asked ourselves questions that needed to be asked: Is Warm Red too close to Traffic Red to justify its existence? Is there any real demand for colorFabb_XT Pink or Purple? Although stunning, was there every really a market for nGen Transparent? All these questions were answered and tough decisions were made.
Are they bad filaments? No, absolutely not. They have been produced according to the same high standards as our other filaments and we stand with the quality of the materials we ship. We listen to the market and said market has made a choice. Demand is simply too low to keep them in stock. That is not to say there is no demand for them at all, but with an ever increasing portfolio of various filaments we have to make decisions. And we like our decision to be rational and fact-based.
So…? If your favorite material or color is among these pre-selected colors, you can now order in bulk to make sure you have plenty of stock to keep you printing for the time being. We have dropped the pricing significantly so the initial investment can be kept at a minimum.
But I really need this one filament!?! Custom production can be arranged, but an MOQ will apply for this, usually as from 25kg per material/color. Check with our team for the options.
And if I need only one spool? If it is PLA you are in luck. With our Color on Demand service we can produce a spool of PLA in RAL for you. Click here for the options. Color on Demand does not extend yet to other materials.
And when it’s gone? It’s gone. It is a clearance sale after all. We do not plan to have these products in stock again. There are more materials on the horizon (*stares at horizon*).
Below is a list of the materials which will go out of stock:
As a specialist in quality 3D printing filaments we see the need for more diverse filaments every day. Of course we have our expanding portfolio of readily available materials (like PLA, co-polyesters and Specials), as well as our Color on Demand service. With our recently launched colorFabb Labs we offer even more special filaments, often suitable for specific applications. Besides these colorFabb branded filaments, we also develop and produce custom filaments specifically tailored to meet our customers’ needs.
These days custom filaments is one of our strengths and core competences at colorFabb.
FFF 3D printing is slowly maturing and companies are actively looking for material solutions for their applications.
A perfect example of custom material development is our effort with Witcom Engineering Plastics. With Witcom we developed a filament with similar Radar Absorbing properties as the granulate material used for injection molding.
Witcom Engineering Plastics, located at Etten-Leur, the Netherlands, specialises in the development and manufacture of technically high performing polymer compounds for automotive, transportation, aviation, electrical / electronics, industrial, medical and consumer product applications.
PLA-3DRAM allows OEMs not only to test form and fit, but also the actual radar absorbing performance of their physical design. Often radar units are mounted in brackets which need to be designed in such a way that the radar units have the least amount of ghosting. This is application is being used in, for instance, the automotive industry.
This material is exclusively made for Witcom Engineering Plastics and not available at colorFabb. Interested in this specific material, please contact Witcom Engineering Plastics.
For businesses we offer the chance to have a custom filament being developed, either as a co-branded or a private label filament. Interested? Contact us here or email directly to sales@colorfabb.comso we can discuss the possibilities with you.
PLA-3DRAM 3D print service
Only interested in printed PLA-3DRAM parts? Get in touch with our 3D print engineers and we’re happy to discuss the possibilities with you. On our Stacker 3D printing systems we’re able to achieve high quality parts at lighting speed by 3D printing with 4 printheads at the same time:
About us
In our 3D Printing Application Center just south of Venlo, The Netherlands, our team of specialists are ready to answer your questions and meet your needs. colorFabb offers a unique combination of in-depth polymer knowledge in combination with 3D printing know-how for end users and businesses alike. This knowledge, combined with almost seven years of experience in the 3D printing market, ensures we can offer solutions for a wide range of applications and meet your needs.
New filaments are coming fast and strong here at colorFabb these days. Talking about strong… Today we release our latest 3D printing filament: Tough PLA.
Our Tough PLA is a custom blend which retains the ease of use of PLA but adds serious toughness to the material. As a result the material is a lot less brittle than regular PLA filaments and has a higher impact strength.
The recommended printing temperatures are 210C-230C and 50-60C heated bed temperature. The print speed can be set to 40-50 mm/s. For better overhang performance we recommend using slower outer perimeter speed, 20-30 mm/s.
We release Tough PLA in two colors: black and white, which are available now and ship from stock.
PLA Tough was developed under our new colorFabb Labs program. colorFabb Labs is dedicated to bring more innovative materials faster to the market. It is colorFabb’s aim to meet customers’ needs in terms of materials and 3D printing services. Stay tuned for more exciting developments this year.
PLA Tough is available in black and white on 750 grams spools.
