varioShore TPU is available now!

varioShore TPU is the latest innovative 3D printing filament by colorFabb and is now available. Our varioShore TPU is flexible in more ways than one!

Printing handle bars is a great application due to the soft touch characteristics of varioShore TPU.

varioShore TPU is available now. Click here to go directly to our webshop!

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.

We sent several spools to beta testers and this is what they had to say about it:

“It really is a fantastic development… Incredible innovation.” – Steve Cox

“Another astonishing FDM material development from the colorFabb team.” – Richard Horne

“Another amazing product by colorFabb!” – Bart Tangermann

 

Lubrizol co-operation

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.

Main features

The main features of varioShore TPU are:

Variable shorehardness

This material is not limited to one shore hardness, but with the right print settings you can have multiple shore hardnesses – even in one print!

Reduced weight / density

colorFabb used the technology previously used in their light weight LW-PLA in this filament as well to reduce weight significantly. Although the weight reduction of varioShore TPU is not as significant as LW-PLA, the weight of the overall print is noticeable and can make the difference for prints where weight matters.

Soft touch surface

Prints that need a soft touch, like handle bars for bikes or shoe soles are no problem anymore with varioShore TPU.

It is, in short, a filament that is flexible in more ways than one. colorFabb initially offers one variety: a very neat natural filament without colorant on spools with 700 grams of filament. For settings, tips and tricks we refer to the product page on the colorFabb website.

Retail pricing is € 41.28 excl. VAT (or € 49.95 including VAT) per spool.

varioShore TPU is available as from today from colorFabb and ships daily, worldwide and from stock. With the release of varioShore TPU, right on the heels of Laser Marking PLA, colorFabb remains on the cutting edge of material development for 3D printing.

 

Tips & Tricks

At colorFabb we have a well-equipped 3d printing studio with many popular 3d printers. Our varioShore TPU has been tested using various 3D printers, which has resulted in the following recommended settings.

Adviced 3d printing temperature: 190C-250C

Adviced 3d print speed: 20-30 mm/s

Advised Heated bed (if you have one, not strictly necessary): 20-40C

Cooling fan: Use the least amount of cooling when maximum foaming is required. For better overhang performance use 50-100% cooling.

We advise our users to use standard TPU settings as a base setting for developing your own pre-sets.

Make sure the distance between nozzle and platform is not to small, especially if the material is being foamed while printing, the pressure will need to be released from the hot-end to prevent clogging and feeder issues.

Material summary

Name: colorFabb varioShore TPU

Diameter Tolerance: ± 0.1 mm

Density: 1,2-1,3 g/cm3

Availability: Right Now!

 

Awesome designs used in this blog

OpenRC 1:10 RC Truggy Rims AirLess by 123CUT (link)

Ergonomic bike handle grips (flex/tpu) by Flying_Ginger (link)

Handle for 1966 HD M50S by barspin (link)

varioShore TPU

Innovation is not a, but the cornerstone of colorFabb. Our brand new filament varioShore TPU is the latest colorFabb development. With varioShore TPU we have created a filament that is flexible in more ways than one:

 

  • Variable Shore hardness

This material is not limited to one shore hardness, but with the right print settings you can have multiple shore hardnesses – even in one print!

 

  • Reduced weight and density

We used our LW-PLA technology in this filament as well to reduce weight significantly. Although the weight reduction of varioShore TPU is not as significant as LW-PLA, the weight of the overall print is noticable and can make the difference for prints where weight matters.

 

  • Soft Touch

Prints that need a soft touch, like handle bars for bikes or shoe soles are no problem anymore with varioShore TPU.

Handle for 1966 HD M50S design by Daniel Norée (Thingiverse link)

varioShore TPU will be available mid-October. Pre-ordering will start soon! Stay tuned for more news…

Ergonomic bike handle grips design by Flying_Ginger (Thingiverse link)

Drone canopy

3D printing and drones have gone hand in hand since the beginning of time. The quick & easy fixes, as well as the customization that 3D printing provides, make it an ideal tool for everybody into drone racing. We have seen this already with our XT-CF20 filament when we released it a few years ago (check this post on 3D Hubs Talk) or the VTOL drone we posted about last year (original post here). We are seeing it again with nGen_FLEX, which was released during the TCT Show in September last year.

For today’s print, we made the Fury X220 Race Canopy by Bas Delfos:

Design by Bas Delfos: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2232593

 

We use nGen_FLEX since we needed a great filament for absorbing impact and protecting the electronics of a racing drone (and inevitably crashing it). Our nGen_FLEX is semi-flexible with a shore hardness of 95A and is super tough,

Printed on an Ultimaker 2 with LokBuild plate, at 0.2mm layerheight and 250C printing temperature and 85C buildplate temperature.

About nGen_FLEX

nGen_FLEX was released in September 2016 at the TCT Show and is our first semi-flexible material. With a Shore A hardness of 95 it is a material that is ideally suited for functional parts. It is not soft and squishy like other flexible materials in the market, but allows for fast printing and printing on 3D printers using a Bowden tube. nGen_FLEX is a material for users looking for an engineering grade flexible filament with a high temperature resistance (over 120 degrees C) and good chemical resistance.

You can read the initial reception of nGen_FLEX here.

nGen_FLEX is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymers, a range of co-polyesters developed with Eastman Chemical Company for 3D printing. Amphora co-polyesters are low-odor, styrene-free choices that are uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient and attractive. You can find more information about co-polyesters in the article we published last summer: What we talk about when we talk about co-polyesters.

More specific information about nGen_FLEX can be found on our dedicated landing page.

Need some more ideas what you can print with our nGen_FLEX filament? How about…

And more (click here)…

Flexible pliers

Or: How to print pliers with two materials in one print. We’re having a lot of fun with our dual nozzle printers here in the brand new colorFabb HQ and today we showcase once again a great print with two different materials. Yesterday we used nGen as a support material for a drill case print in colorFabb_XT (click here for that post). Today we use nGen again in combination with nGen_FLEX. We present you the flexible pliers:

Design by: I-lab Toulon (modified by colorFabb for dual material printing)

The original concept is from a German institute that the I-Lab team re-worked. Originally intended for a single material (which works perfectly fine we found), we thought it would be more interesting to up the ante, print with two materials and use ngen_FLEX Dark Gray where it matters most while printing the rest with the more rigid nGen Silver Metallic.

This original design creates a completely functional part from a single print, straight from the 3D printer. It brings out the functionality of nGen_FLEX to its fullest by using different internal structures to create more rigid and more flexible sections in a single part.

UPDATE: the files to print your very own Flexible Pliers are now online! You can find the I-Lab design on Thingiverse and Youmagine. Our remixed version for dual material can be found here.

 

For both prints we used the BCN3D Sigma. They took only a couple of hours and we printed with a 0.15mm layer height.

We have printed before with nGen and nGen_FLEX (here) and the (layer) adhesion between these two materials is excellent! Dual extrusion printers like the BCN3D Sigma, the new Ultimaker 3 and the upcoming Stacker S2 (keep your eyes open for that one!) allow for great freedom to design and print truly functional parts.

nGen was released a little over a year ago and is an all-round filament which has many advantages over, say, a 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.

nGen_FLEX was released in September 2016 at the TCT Show and is our first semi-flexible material. With a Shore A hardness of 95 it is a material that is ideally suited for functional parts. It is not soft and squishy like other flexible materials in the market, but allows for fast printing and printing on 3D printers using a Bowden tube. nGen_FLEX is a material for users looking for an engineering grade flexible filament with a high temperature resistance (over 120 degrees C) and good chemical resistance.

You can read the initial reception of nGen_FLEX here.

Both nGen and nGen_FLEX are made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymers, a range of co-polyesters developed with Eastman Chemical Company for 3D printing. Amphora co-polyesters are low-odor, styrene-free choices that are uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient and attractive. You can find more information about co-polyesters in the article we published last summer: What we talk about when we talk about co-polyesters.

Both nGen and nGen_FLEX are available now in our webshop (click here or here) and via our network of distributors and resellers. Click here for a reseller closest to you.

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.

colorfabb_ngen_flex-tube-2

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.

colorfabb_ngen_flex-tube

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.

colorfabb_ngen_flex-tube-3