We proudly present our brand new 3D printing filament: LW-PLA

LW-PLA is the first filament of its kind using an active foaming technology to achieve lightweight, low density PLA parts.

“We need challenging materials, we need to work with or find ways around the limitations and allow more people to experiment with exciting developments like this foaming PLA.” – Richard Horne, aka RichRap3D

Read Richard’s review of LW-PLA here.

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.

LW-PLA, with the LW standing for Lightweight, is available as from today in two colors: Black and Natural.

 

 

Recently we held a contest where people from all over the world sent in their ideas what they wanted to print with our brand new LW-PLA. Ideas ranged from cosplay to drones and from wheelchair aides to wind turbines. Every print where weight matters can benefit from LW-PLA.

For the filament to expand it is necessary to put a certain amount of energy into the filament. The amount of energy a filament can absorb during printing depends on the length of the hot-zone and the time it takes for the filament to pass through the hot-zone. The longer a filament will reside inside the hot-end, the more energy it can absorb which will increase the amount of expansion.

Assuming nozzle size and layerheight are fixed, our main input variables are Temperature, speed and flow to determine the amount of expansion. Find out more about how to print by checking our LW-PLA print tutorial.

Read more: How to Print with LW-PLA

Material

colorFabb LW-PLA

Diameter Tolerance

± 0.1 mm

Density

1.210-1.430 g·cm-3 (non activated density)
0.403 – 0,476 g·cm-3 (maximum activated density)

Glass Transition Temperature

55C

Material data sheets can be found here. Click on the images below to go directly to our product pages or click here:

 

You can also find all relevant information on our dedicated information page.

At colorFabb we have always been active in developing new filaments for FDM/FFF 3D printing, like the first metal filled filament bronzeFill, the one of a kind nGen_LUX and the unique Color on Demand service where customers choose their own colors to print with. LW-PLA is our latest offering in an ever expanding portfolio.

LW-PLA 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.

LW-PLA ships as from today, April 12 2019, from our webshop and can be found under the Specials, as well as colorFabb Labs. Samples and XL spools will be available at a later date.