CashMag

3D printing allows more businesses to bring their products to the market faster and more efficiently than ever before. The technology, although around for many years, has been a true game-changer in the past decade. At colorFabb, almost eight years young at the time of writing, we have seen 3D printing grow from a mainly hobby-oriented market, originating from the Reprap movement, to a confident additive manufacturing industry where more and more companies have not only made it part of their production and prototyping process, but even it made it their main way of producing.

One company using 3D printing as a way of producing their products is the French company CashMag, which is using various colorFabb copolyesters as their main material to print with. We asked them to tell a bit more about themselves and the way they work.

 

 

The desktop Cash Recylcer by CashMag – all images by CashMag and used with permission

 

About CashMag

CashMag is a leading French company in cashing solutions. They provide to their customers products like POS (point of sale) systems, cashing software with specific certifications for the French market and since 2008 Cash Recyclers!

 

 

What is a Cash Recycler?   “A Cash Recycler removes the need for staff to handle cash at the POS. It automates the payment process at Point Of Sale, improving the hygiene, deleting errors and shrinkage while enhancing security and staff productivity.”

 

The 5K Cash Recycler

With the Cash Recycler in the market they searched for a way to give a boost in productivity. The Cash Recycler was originally made of steel and they found it took long to improve existing products and to prototype new ones. So they turned towards 3D printing: “We started with 15 PRUSA i3 MK3 for our first try, and after several tests and improving our skills to this new technology we were able to produce good results. It lead to the production our first cash recycler 3D printing the 1F. Nowadays, we have 53 3D printers with different sizes and characteristics like Stacker 4 XL, RAISE PRO2+, MODIX BIG 60 etc… In 2018 we created the world first 100% 3D printed cash recyclers: the Desktop, the 5K and the 5T.”

Printing parts on the Stacker S4 XL

 

 

 

Our team found colorFabb and asked them for a solution. The nGen filament was the golden key!

 

CashMag’s material choice

CashMag explains further: “After a long time of tweaking our skills, we searched for a filament with the same characteristics of PETG but a little bit stronger and easy to print without warping. Our team found colorFabb and asked them for a solution. The nGen filament was the golden key! In February 2019, our CEO visited colorFabb in Netherlands to see how filament is produced and met with the colorFabb team in order to establish a good business relationship.”

They have also started working with PETG Economy with great results!

 

 

At colorFabb we value our working relationships with business partners and actively help to find the best possible material for their application. With CashMag we found that our range of co-polyesters, especially nGen, was the best fit for them. Custom development, as recently highlighted with Gantri is also a possibility. Interested to find out what material suits your needs best? Contact us!

 

About nGen

Almost 5 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: 85 degrees C instead of 55 degrees C, 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.”

Gantri

At colorFabb we not only produce our own high quality colorFabb-branded filaments, but also work closely with various customers to create bespoke filaments for their specific application. Gantri is the world’s first digital manufacturer for designer lighting and were looking for a manufacturer to develop a filament to suit their needs. With the creation of Gantri Plant Polymers, colorFabb has co-developed a sustainable material to print their lights with.

Designer light, printed by Gantri. All images by Gantri

Already being featured on websites like CNET and Additive Manufacturing, Gantri has been expanding their San Francisco-based company in a serious way!

“Gantri Plant Polymers is a reflection of our commitment to innovation and sustainability,” says Gantri founder and CEO, Ian Yang. “Our goal is to create great designs that you can feel good about. With our sustainable means of manufacturing, you can enjoy your new light knowing that it’s a better choice for the world.”

Gantri Plant Polymer, fresh of the spool

Says Ruud Rouleaux, founder and CEO of colorFabb: “Gantri’s need for a bespoke 3D printing filament fits perfect with colorFabb’s philosophy to develop materials for specific
applications, like the high quality lighting products Gantri produces. Innovation is in colorFabb’s DNA and what we are known for. By utilizing our 3D printing experience, material knowledge and a sustainable way of manufacturing, with 480 solar panel array and geo-thermal installation powering our production plant, we are able to produce the exact right material Gantri needs.”

Gantri Plant Polymer in production at colorFabb

 

The materials consist of two custom compounded PLA blends that are created to be durable, heat tolerant and diffuse light evenly. First is the diffusive blend that offers a frosted glass-like effect when lit. Second, the opaque blend — finished with a premium water-based paint, is 50% more temperature resistant than traditional PLAs and safe to use near electronics. Gantri Plant Polymers also offer similar tensile strengths to common plastics such as ABS and PET. The base of Gantri’s materials are raw polylactic acids derived from non-GMO, sustainably farmed sugar crops such as corn, sugar beets and sugar cane. The resulting compounded blends produce 75% less carbon dioxide per kilogram than conventional plastics and emits no carcinogens during production.

https://twitter.com/gantridesigns/status/1288235222991945728

Gantri Plant Polymers are used exclusively in Gantri lighting products.

 

About Gantri

Gantri’s mission is to empower design. Why are good designer lights so expensive? asks Gantri. Because traditional manufacturing makes it too difficult and costly for designers to bring groundbreaking ideas to market. This stymies human creativity and contributes to environmental concerns such as overproduction and shipping pollution. Gantri has completely reimagined the way lighting is developed, made and sold, empowering the world’s best designers to create design-forward, functional pieces for your life. Their manufacturing technologies are drastically more efficient, making good designers lights radically more attainable and sustainable.

Read more on Gantri’s website.

 

Custom materials at colorFabb

At colorFabb we meet the needs of our customers. Some applications require custom solutions and e like to think beyond what is already on the market and co-develop with you, like we did with Gantri.

One of the ways you can distinguish your print is with color. Color on Demand is our unique service where we produce PLA filaments in your preferred color. With nearly 200 RAL colors matched we probably have that color you are looking for! And if not, we can match your specific color for you.

Color on Demand is just the most visible part of our custom material offering. We produce specific materials and filaments for various customers like Gantri. Interested in your bespoke filament solution? Contact us!

6 years colorFabb_XT: A Look Back

This week it has been exactly 6 years ago that we launched colorFabb_XT at the 2014 edition of the 3D Print Show in London (remember those days?). With all the new materials, growth of colorFabb (& 3D printing in general) and our relentless goal to keep innovating it is sometimes easy to forget how special this moment was for colorFabb. Not only was this the first time a large chemical company (Eastman Chemical Company from Kingsport, TN) publicly partnered with a filament producer – something which is the norm today – but it also meant shifting our focus to functional materials.

Image

Our launch event booth at the London 3D Print Show 2014

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Eastman’s Amphora 3D polymers are low-odor and styrene free materials specifically developed for 3D printing. With Amphora based filaments, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

 

“Is Amphora a good material to 3D print? Absolutely – just make sure you have a heated build surface before you order some.”- Fabbaloo’s initial review

 

Platform Jack printed with colorFabb_XT by Intentional3D

 

colorFabb teamed up with Eastman Chemical Company to create colorFabb_XT, made with Eastman Amphora AM1800 3D Polymer. colorFabb_XT’s unique formulation features excellent properties: high strength, very high toughness, odor neutral processing and improved temperatures resistance. With its styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance and BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation colorFabb_XT allows the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way.

 

After launching colorFabb_XT we launched several other copolyester filaments: nGen, colorFabb_HT, nGen_FLEX, PETG Economy and nGen_LUX. To read more about what the differences are and what the best applications for each material are, check out our blog What We Talk About When We Talk About Co-Polyesters.

 

Toyota engine made with colorFabb_XT by Korneel Bullens

 

With colorFabb_XT we have seen quite some amazing applications: from garden sprinklers to prosthetics (more below). As a functional material goes, it is one of the workhorses of the filament world. It does not end with the print itself. We have received numerous requests about post-processing. Together with Eastman we made a handy secondary operations guide for those who feel their finished print needs more work.

Read: How to post-process co-polyesters

 

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Although we have phased out some colors of the colorFabb_XT product line – with a few still on sale at the time of writing – we still ship the most popular ones daily, worldwide and from stock. Head to our webshop for your daily dose of XT!

 

Previous colorFabb_XT posts

Below are a few of the prints we made with colorFabb_XT over the past years.

Scissor Snake with our colorfabb_XT

Lamp hanger in colorFabb_XT

Garden sprinkler

Drain exit

Micrometer holder

GoPro Bike Mount

Prosthetic design

Upgrading our equipment

Prosthetic prototypes

Car door handle

NEMA 17 4:1 reduction gearbox

Remote control housing

3D printed pennyboard

 

 

 

Brachiosaurus

It’s dino time! Recently Marcos Pérez contacted us and showed us an amazing project he has been working on: a brachiosaurus skeleton entirely made with our PLA/PHA Natural:

All images by Marcos Pérez, used with permission (and that’s a normal book for scale)

If the skeleton itself or the excellent print quality doesn’t impress you already, the size will. It measures 1.5 by 2.3 meters, weighs a whopping 7kg and consists of 23 pieces. The reason Marcos printed the brachiosaurus model is quite original – and awesome: “The model can be assembled and disassembled, and will be used in a children’s shelter, where the kids will search for the parts and then assemble it with some tools.”

And we thought it was merely a very cool print…

Originally the brachiosaurus roamed the plains of what is now North America. In real life, back before their demise about 66 million years ago, the brachiosaurus measured about 18 – 21 meters in length (head to tail), making this an approximate 1:10 scale model.

 

The story behind the brachiosaurus print

It all started with an order made by a Catalan company that is dedicated to creating themed hostels. One of them, which is dedicated to archeology, has a large area with sand. The idea was to make a large dinosaur skeleton (in terms of 3d printing) and several fossil replicas so that the children could accomplish archaeological work with their brushes and other tools. Marcos was advised by the Asturian company Geolag, with extensive experience in geology and archaeology ,that proposed me a series of models to replicate. One of those was the brachiosaurus: A dinosaur that, due to its large size, already represented a huge challenge.

He found a model, but it needed some rework. The file format had to be converted to multiple stl files, corrected and modified in Fusion 360 and later in Meshmixer before being sent to the Simplify3D slicer.

One of the biggest challenges was that the skeleton had to be mountable and removable, even by children. Therefore, it should have a simple mounting system and also be strong enough.

Printing all the parts wasn’t easy. Says Marcos: “The printing process was really tough. I needed a very large number of supports, considering that absolutely all the pieces had overhangs, some of them truly complex. With Simplify3d support system and filament’s pretty finish there was actually little post-processing. Just a slightly sanding and not much more.”

To give you an idea of the scale of this dinosaur print, here is the entire print in the garage:

Let this sink in: 2.3 x 1.5 meters and 7kg of filament…

Marcos continues to explain the printing proces: “For all this I used two Ultimaker 2+, and a pair of Creality cr-10s pro and cr-10s. I used 0’8 and 0’6 nozzles for most of the printings. And 0.2 to 0.24 layer height in some parts. This was not a problem again, due to the beautiful finish of the filament. In order to join the pieces, I made some pla stud, printed horizontally by a large nozzle. I drilled joint areas and fixed them with silicone. Being printed horizontally with a large nozzle, the ribbed surface that was formed in the studs helped me to keep the pieces in place. It was easier than I had thought. Because at first I thought of steel rods, but it was quite dangerous for children. For the very heavy cervical spine joints, and the ribs joints, I designed and printed much thicker curved studs.”

The printing process took about 450 hours!

Marcos started 3D printing about 10 years ago and has been acquiring prints ever since and, he explains “researching to be able to offer products to companies in this northern region of Spain, Asturias, mostly dedicated to the manufacture of steel. I have worked making molds for impellers manufacturing in smart lighting companies and others companies that need any type of pieces, always finished products and rarely prototypes and medium production runs. I also make artistic pieces and specific orders such as dinosaurs.”

He also sometimes teaches 3D printing classes and is very passionate about this technology, as we can see! Marcos always tries to convince business people how they can save on costs by using 3D methods.

 

We thank Marcos for sharing his very cool brachiosaurus project. Keep up the great work!

 

About PLA/PHA

Marcos explained to us why he chose PLA/PHA: “I chose natural pla by colorFabb, because I had already used it in other projects and it’s a very silky touch filament, even with high layer heights, has a great finish, it’s quite easy to print, resistant, and, most of all because it doesn’t come from petroleum.”

PLA/PHA is our signature PLA filament which was the basis of colorFabb’s first product line. The added PHA makes our grade of PLA tougher and less brittle than generic PLA grades in the market. PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate) is like PLA a bio-polyester, so our unique blend is still 100% biodegradeable. This material is available in multiple colors, but today we focus on the one without a color: PLA/PHA Natural.

We posted a dedicated blog back in 2017 to celebrate PLA/PHA Natural’s fourth anniversary. Read it here.

PLA/PHA Natural is available from stock and ships daily and worlwide for nearly 8 years already! Check the different spool sizes which are available in our webshop.

 

Fun fact: the brachiosaurus was the first digital dinosaur shown in the original Jurassic Park film. 

 

More images

 

Falcon 9

The sky is the place to be this summer… We’ve already shot some new drone footage and are heavily into RC planes (with some exciting news to come soon!). The sky, however, is a pretty big place and there is plenty to explore beyond the stratosphere. Enter SpaceX and its continuous news grabbing headlines with one succesfull launch after the next and, granted, some unsuccesfull ones. To honor them we decided to print the Falcon 9 rocket since our trusted Saturn V was feeling a bit lonely at the office.

Printed to scale

The Saturn V was printed by Korneel Bullens four years ago and it has survived multiple trade shows, one office relocation, a curious dog and the occassional cleaning accident. Now it’s time to extend the space port here at colorFabb with SpaceX’s famous Falcon 9.

Inspired by the latest Falcon 9 Crew Dragon launch we decided to print a model in the same scale as the Saturn 5 so we can get a great sense of scale between the two rockets.

 

The Falcon 9 is SpaceX’s highly succesfull two-stage rocket. Click here to have a good view on all sides of this rocket.

We combined files from two projects into one build:

  • The “Falcon 9 Model” by Anthony Williams (link here)
  • The “Dragon – M3” by An Duong (link here)

With some quick internet research we figured out the scale for the Falcon 9 and adjusted all the parts in the slicer software. Now, as printed, the Falcon 9 stands a proud 109cm but seems small compared with its 1960s classic brother the Saturn V which measures 180cm (rocket alone).

Unfortunately we had to scale down the Dragon M3 model too much for all the fine detail to be properly displayed. The model by An Duong is very detailed and would be best printed without scaling down. An Duong also offers an even more detailed version DRAGON – MS

 

For this model we used:

All three filaments are available now and ship daily from stock.

(The Saturn V was printed entirely with nGen – check out the original blog here).

 

 

More rockets and space ships will be added later…

Channel Wing

We have explored our LW-PLA filament being used for RC Planes before (here, here and here). Today we want to share Tom Stanton’s video where he continues researching the Channel Wing principle which was developed by Willard Ray Custer in the 1920s. The printed parts of the Channel Wing were made with LW-PLA. Now Tom will be building his own RC controlled channel wing aircraft and see how well it flies:

 

3D printing was used to create the curved airfoil shape of the channel wing. Using our LW-PLA the part is roughly 50% lighter then regular plastic as explained in Tom’s video.
The channel wing section it self was just shy of 28 grams.

In full flight. All videos and images by Tom Stanton

The full scale Channel Wing concept

Granted, a lot was made using foam, but it’s cool to see LW-PLA being used this way in addition to the more traditional method.

 

ABOUT LW-PLA

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.

 

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.

 

About Tom Stanton

Tom Stanton recently graduated with a degree in Aerospace engineering and has a huge interest in all aspects of engineering. But what he enjoys most is designing and building various projects that either he hasn’t seen done before, or at least hasn’t been carried out using a unique design/manufacture method.

His popular YouTube channel is being followed by over 400 thousand people and there is absolutely no reason you should not follow him as well. Check it out here.

 

Tom’s work can be supported on his Patreon page.

Custom crutch grips

With varioShore TPU‘s first anniversary coming up in a few months we are glad to see that this unique material has found a steady following. Users from all over the world find new applications for our innovative 3D printing filament with active foaming technology. Researches at the Manchester Metropolitan University, together with PrintCity, have investigated the possibilities of custom crutch grips made with 3D printing.

A printed custom grip, made with varioShore TPU. All images by the researchers, re-used with permission

The article written by Elen J. Parry, Joshua M. Best and Craig E. Banks investigates the viability of digital technology, circular design approach and making bespoke parts. During their research to make a custom crutch grip the material of choice was varioShore TPU.

Read the full article here.

 

The paper investigates the viability of using digital technologies, including 3 dimensional laser scanning, reverse engineering techniques and additive manufacturing in order to create bespoke, on demand, customised accessories through re-usable materials to enforce a circular design approach. Crutch users with arthritis are identified as a patient user group who’s needs are not met by current solutions.

Rendering of a bespoke crutch grip

The researchers have demonstrated that 3D printing is an appropriate method of fabrication to provide bespoke and rapidly manufactured low-cost solutions. As per the paper:

… the total timeframe to complete digital scanning and file creation is approximately 20 min. Additive manufacturing can be leveraged 24/7 with the customised crutch grip rapidly fabricated within ∼10 h, with only material costs of £4.92/∼US$6.15/∼Є5.65. 

 

A finished crutch grip

The researchers opted for varioShore TPU as it was “the most optimal” of the materials tested: “The density of the material can be varied by adjusting the temperature and material flow rate. An increase in temperature and reduction in flow rate causes active foaming, reducing the part density. Through iterative experimentation, a set of printing profiles has been determined to deliver variations of density, allowing the creation of a highly customisable accessory.”

 

The success criteria decision matrix used for the paper

“In considering materials, Varioshore TPU offers interlayer adhesion that is significantly better than comparable materials.”

 

As support material Breakaway by Ultimaker was used, although these materials were not designed to work together.

Conclusion of the proof-of-concept study is that additive manufacturing is a valid low-cost method to make custom crutch grips, but “the findings are highly transferrable, and the same workflow could be applied to multiple crutch or walking stick variations.”

The study was made in co-operation with Manchester Metropolitan University and PrintCity (the university’s digital manufacturing centre)

 

About varioShore TPU

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.

varioShore TPU is available now in Black and Natural and ships daily, from stock and worldwide.

 

DPA-100

Today we announce a brand new colorFabb material: DPA-100 – our first dissolvable support filament, specifically made for engineering materials.

colorFabb_XT and colorFabb PETG Economy printed with DPA-100. Topology optimized shelf bracket – by toms3dp

 

Learn more about the how-to and technical details here.

 

Beyond PVA

Unlike PVA our DPA-100 is less sensitive to moisture uptake and offers better shelf-life and print performance over time. It is a Dissolvable Polyacrylate material made to work specifically with engineering grade materials which are not suited for PVA, like PETG, ABS, ASA, PC and PA filaments. We have extensively tested DPA-100 on various 3D printing materials available in the market, both colorFabb and non-colorFabb branded.

DPA-100 is also perfectly suited for our range of co-polyester filaments: nGen, colorFabb_XT, colorFabb_HT and PETG Economy.

Quick guide: Which material and how?

Match Hotend temp Support Bed temp
nGen Yes 250 C 90C
colorFabb_XT Yes 250 C 90C
colorFabb_HT Yes 260 C 110C
PETG Economy Yes 250 C 90C
Generic ABS Yes 250C 100C
Generic ASA Yes 250C 100C

Read our full DPA-100 guide about the technical specifications and how to print.

 

Design by Ken Schulze

How to dissolve

Printing with DPA-100 is the first step. Dissolving the material is the second one. In order to dissolve DPA-100 you need a mild alkaline solution which is heated and stirred. At higher temperature DPA-100 will dissolve faster than at lower temperature. The temperature you choose depends on the temperature resistance of your build material. In general 20c below the temperature resistance of your build material is a safe settings. Thicker models would be less likely to deform and can handle temperatures closer to softening temperature. The minimum pH value for the alkaline solution is >10. We recommend using our DPA Detergent for making the alkaline solution.

The DPA Detergent is sold seperately from the DPA-100 filament.

 

Bicycle Helmet by Neomek

 

Detergent disclaimer

The detergent, dissolved in water, produces a mild alkaline which usually, together with the dissolved support material, can (in limited quantities) be disposed of via the wastewater. Please check your local regulations. You can acquire our waste profile datasheet by contacting support@colorfabb.com

Availability

DPA-100 and DPA detergent are available now exclusively from colorFabb’s website. Please note they are to be purchased separately.

DPA-100 is available as a 0.5kg spool and retails at € 120 ex VAT. Click here to head to our webshop.

DPA Detergent can be purchased per 1 kg drum at € 18 ex VAT and can be found here.

You can find all the relevant data sheets on the product pages.

 

How to print with DPA-100

What is DPA-100

DPA-100 is a dissolvable polyacrylate support material. A mild alkaline solution is needed to dissolve DPA-100 support material. Unlike PVA our DPA-100 is less sensitive to moisture uptake and offers better shelf-life and print performance over time.

Our DPA-100 support material is engineered to match with a variety of materials which can’t be supported by PVA due to bad adhesion to the build material. DPA-100 shows strong adhesion to PETG, ABS, ASA, PC and PA materials.

This means the DPA-100 is uniquely suited to match our co-polyester filament offering, nGen, colorFabb_XT, colorFabb_HT and PETG. DPA-100 is not recommended for use with PLA as build material due to the relatively high water temperature needed for dissolution.

colorFabb nGen supported by DPA-100 on the Ultimaker S5 – Bicycle Helmet by Neomek

How to Print with DPA-100

General settings

In order to successfully print with DPA-100 make sure your printer and slicer are able to set the below recommended settings.

Parameter DPA-100
Nozzle temperature 230-250C
Platform temperature 90-110C
Print speed 40-80 mm/s
Cooling fan 0% for best adhesion between layers
Standby nozzle temperature ~190C
Platform material PEI/BuildTak/Glass + adhesion promoter

Design by Ken Schulze

Avoid layer delamination – DPA-100

Make sure the printing temperature is high enough so you avoid the support structures from delaminating during the print. For most machines we would recommend  printing temperature of 240-260C, if your printer doesn’t feature a closed build chamber you would likely print at the higher range to avoid delamination of layers during the print.

If you do have a heated chamber, the temperature can be set to 70-90C. Without heated chamber the recommendation is to have the Platform temperature set to 90-110C.

Print a brim!

Use a brim around your model and support structures. If your slicer has the option select the build material to be used for printing the brim. This will help to keep the DPA-100 support structure in place. This is useful for thin and tall support beams to make sure these won’t tip over during the build. It also reduces warping of the DPA-100.

Design by Christopher Tenelsen

Solid support interface layer and 0 offset.

This might not be a surprise for most users, but make sure to enable the interface support layers and make these solid for the best surface quality on the build material. In our testing we also set the support structure offset to 0, to ensure best chance of good adhesion between support material and build material.

 

Which materials does DPA-100 support.

Match Hotend temp Support Bed temp
nGen Yes 250 C 90C
colorFabb_XT Yes 250 C 90C
colorFabb_HT Yes 260 C 110C
PETG Economy Yes 250 C 90C
Generic ABS Yes 250C 100C
Generic ASA Yes 250C 100C

Our DPA-100 support material is engineered to match with a variety of materials which can’t be supported by PVA due to bad adhesion to the build material. DPA-100 shows strong adhesion to PETG, ABS, ASA, PC and PA materials.

Prepare your prints

For a faster dissolving cycle try to remove as much support material before putting the model in the dissolving device. Wear eye protection and gloves when removing support material. If your model has fine detailed features do not try to attempt removing support material, you will risk damaging the model.

It’s good idea to keep note how much support material is removed so you know how much is going to be dissolved. Once the alkaline solution is saturated it can’t dissolve anymore support material and you will need to renew the alkaline solution.

colorFabb_XT to the left and colorFabb PETG Economy to the right. Topology optimized shelf bracket – by toms3dp

How to dissolve DPA-100

In order to dissolve DPA-100 you need a mild alkaline solution which is heated and stirred. At higher temperature DPA-100 will dissolve faster than at lower temperature. The temperature you choose depends on the temperature resistance of your build material. In general 20c below the temperature resistance of your build material is a safe settings. Thicker models would be less likely to deform and can handle temperatures closer to softening temperature. The minimum pH value for the alkaline solution is >10. We recommend using our DPA Detergent for making the alkaline solution.

At colorFabb we experimented with a low cost set-up for dissolving DPA-100. We used a sous-vide stick and a plastic containter with lid. The sous-vide stick will heatup the water to desired temp and circulate water.

 

The process step by step:

  • Fill up your dissolving device with water, use 4 l of water to dissolve 100 g of DPA deterent.
  • Heat the bath to the required temperature and start the recirculation process.
  • You can add your models as soon as the bath has reached the correct temperature and DPA detergent has been dissolved in water.
  • The dissolving process usually takes between an hour and 9 hours, depending on the amount of DPA-100 supportmaterial being dissolved, the geometry of the model and the temperature of the water. It’s a good idea to periodically check the process and if necessary change the position of the model in the device. Make sure the model is submerged for the duration of dissolving DPA-100 support material.
  • When the support material is full dissolved, let the model dry for at least 15 minutes, rotating the model a couple of times to make sure the detergent can drain off.
  • After initial drying, rinse the model thoroughly using warm, running water to remove the remaining detergent and then let dry completely.
  • After completely drying white residue could appear, if so, put the model into a warm (30 – 50 °C) water bath for at least one hour. Add rinsing agent for dish washers to speed up the process.
  • 1 kg of DPA-100 can dissolve at least 1 kg of support material. The more support material is dissolved, the slower the material will be able to dissolve. It’s a good idea to keep track of how many grams of support material has been dissolved so you know when to renew the alkaline solution.
  • Before disposing the solution, it must be neutralized. For this, we recommend 5 – 10 g citric acid per litre of used up solution. When foam formation occurs, the solution has reached a neutral pH area.
  • The detergent, dissolved in water, produces a mild alkaline which usually, together with the dissolved support material, can (in limited quantities) be disposed of via the wastewater. Please check your local regulations. You can acquire our waste profile datasheet by contacting support@colorfabb.com

For complete operating instruction on using DPA Detergent please click here.

Design by ISIFC

T-Rex

Our very first special filament, woodFill, remains one of the most fun materials to print with. Not only does it print easily, it also makes your printing room smell like a woodshop due to the fact that we used real wood in our unique PLA/PHA blend. One of our colleagues, Paul (he who ships all your spools in logistics) printed a large T-Rex entirely made with woodFill with awesome results:

T-Rex Design link

Paul printed the T-Rex on the Prusa i3 using the woodFill settings. The entire print measures 39cm high and is 76cm tall. It took about 150 hours to print all the parts.

Lego minifig for scale

Launched in 2013, woodFill was our first special 3D printing filament. It has been a bestseller for over 6 years and we fully understand why: the ease of printing, the authentic wood structure and the smell of wood while printing make it a fan favorite. Read more about woodFill and its origins in last year’s blog.

 

 

As said, woodFill is a great filament to print with. Very easy and it makes for great decoration, like the world map we printed recently.

woodFill color disclaimer: due to the natural origin of woodFill (wood fibres) slight color variations may occur from batch to batch. We do not chemically process or color the filament in any way and aim to maintain the original wood look of the material.

 

woodFill is available now and ships daily from stock on spools containing 600 and 1800 grams. Click here to head directly to our webshop.