Skin tone

With Color on Demand we have already matched hundreds of colors. We have published the RAL references (over 100 already) online which can readily be ordered. But we can match more than only RAL colors. Some customers send us physical references, others send us well-known color references like CMYK, Pantone or other standards which we then try to match as close as possible.. There are many series of colors & varieties and the one we focus on today is the skin tone color:

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2774477/files

With skin tone references 3D printed prosthetics are no longer limited to the basic colors, or subject to extensive post-processing like painting. For today’s print we used the Kwawu 2.0 Prosthetic Hand by Jacquin Buchanan, who is specialized in designing and printing prosthetics. You should definitely check out his website, One Monk Clapping.

We printed this hand on the Makerbot Replicator 2, with a 0.2mm layer height and at a print temperature of 195C.

By using skin tone colors designers and people wearing prosthetics have more options than ever beyond the standard color palette.

 

About Color on Demand

With Color on Demand we re-invented the way makers can choose colors. No longer you are bound to the colors that have been pre-selected by filament manufacturers anymore. Now you can order the color you actually need and want.

We have already matched over 100 RAL colors, which can easily be ordered online. Click here to see our collection. You can order as from one 750 grams spool! If we have not matched your favorite color, request it by using our online form. Starting from a 2kg spool we match the specific color you want, based on RAL, other well-known color references or a physical reference.

With Color on Demand you can say “yes” to that print job which needs a specific color or a look you have been waiting for. Stun your colleagues, family or other makers with your prints. You could already print one-of-a-kind designs, now you can also make them look unique!

Check out more recent Color on Demand prints by clicking here. Make sure you read our color disclaimer. Want to know more about Color on Demand, check our our FAQ page.

Acorn Planter

To stay in the autumn theme we have printed an acorn planter. Designed by and printed on the Makerbot with corkFill.

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:292854

Printed on the Makerbot Replicator+ using the Experimental Extruder with the 0.6mm brass nozzle. “Sow a seed within a seed with the Acorn Planter.”

Recently we have been testing a lot with the brand new Experimental Extruder. The Makerbot Experimental Extruder was recently announced and allows for more experimenting on the existing Makerbot printers. Over the course of several months, we participated in a beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

After woodFill was launched exactly 4 years ago this week during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament we saw the need for more biofilled filaments. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill (which we discontinued earlier this year) and corkFill. corkFill has been a hit from the moment we launched due to easy processing and its fantastic looks.

As it happens, corkFill is on sale now. Click here to get corkFill with a 15% discount (for a limited time only).

 

Poly Cup

Low Poly designs have been 3D print favorites for many years. And with good reason: Nice and clean designs that allow for great prints. Designers like Flowalistik specialize in low poly designs. For today’s print we used the Low Poly Cup by HummusBird.

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2548981

Printed on the Makerbot Replicator+ using the Experimental Extruder with the 0.6mm nozzle. We used corkFill and woodFill and combined it with our transparent PLA. Simply use the change filament routine during print to conveniently switch between materials during print.

The Makerbot Experimental Extruder was recently announced and allows for more experimenting on the existing Makerbot printers. Over the course of several months, we participated in a beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

woodFill was launched exactly 4 years ago this week during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill (which we discontinued earlier this year) and 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.

As it happens, corkFill is on sale now. Click here to get corkFill with a 15% discount (for a limited time only).

It is not said often enough, but the transparent and translucent colors we offer in our PLA range offer stunning results. You can choose from Red, Green, Yellow, Orange and Violet. All these filaments ship from stock!

corkFill Experimental Extruder Jig

Makerbot designed a simple jig which makes it easier to swap nozzles on the Experimental Extruder. It also has three slots to store the nozzles, making it easy to keep everything together.


Experimental Extruder Jig
by MakerBot

This model was printed using corkFill filament and the 0.6mm brass nozzle. At 0.2mm layerheight and 200C printing temperature we got a beautifull finish.

The Makerbot Experimental Extruder was recently announced and allows for more experimenting on the existing Makerbot printers. Over the course of several months, we participated in a beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

These new nozzles are the key to printing in this range of materials. We recommend that users use the 0.6 mm brass nozzle for woodFill and corkFill, and the 0.6mm steel nozzle for bronzeFill and copperFill.

 

corkFill was one of our special filaments we launched 2 years ago, after woodFill and bambooFill (the latter one has been discontinued), that allow for a truly special look of any print. The unique look and finish have made this filament a great success ever since and found a large audience of fans ever since launching.

The Fish Vase is another print we recently made with corkFill on the Makerbot Replicator+.

If you have not tried it, you can find the tips and tricks to print with this filament in our handy tutorial.

corkFill is available in our webshop and ships from stock. Incidentally, at the time of writing corkFill is on sale. Get this awesome filament now at a great price!

A wooden cup barrel on the Replicator+

We’ve been searching Thingiverse for great models to show the aesthetic quality of woodFill filament. One model we particularly  liked is this Cup Barrel. It’s a cool model and we can see this being used for many different purposes. It could be used as a dice cup, a desk organizer for pens and pencils and perhaps even a planter.

Cup Barrel
design by kevin Grijalva

This model is printed on the Replicator+ using the Makerbot Labs Experimental Extruder equipped with a 0.6mmm brass nozzle.

The Makerbot Labs Experimental Extruder

As a leader in the 3D printing materials space, we at colorFabb were excited to be part of the beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

corkFill Fish vase

Makerbot recently announced the new Experimental Extruder and surfaced various colorFabb materials on their landing page for Makerbot labs. We’re excited to be working with Makerbot on this endeavour.

Meanwhile at colorFabb 3D printing lab we’re busy with printing more models which show the potential of our materials using the new Makerbot Labs Experimental Extruder.

Fish Sculpture Vase
by 3DWP

Printed with the 0.6mm brass nozzle using our one of a kind corkFill filament. The texture of the print is smooth and silky and shows a great surface finish.

The four materials which we selected with Makerbot to surface for the Experimental nozzle are listed below.

colorFabb corkFill

 

colorFabb woodFill


colorFabb bronzeFill

colorFabb copperFill

 

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder.

The MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder is an exciting new offering that brings MakerBot’s current selection of 3D printers into the world of experimentation and custom creation.

As a leader in the 3D printing materials space, we at colorFabb were excited to work with MakerBot on this endeavour. Over the course of several months, we participated in a beta-test program that included a select group of MakerBot’s Thingiverse power users. During this time the new Experimental Extruder was tested using a range of colorFabb specialty materials – including the corkFill, copperFill, bronzeFill, and woodFill.

The new MakerBot Labs Experimental Extruder like all MakerBot Labs products is community supported, and allows users to swap nozzles and comes complete with two nozzle wrenches and 4 nozzles:

  • 0.4 MM Brass
  • 0.6 MM Brass
  • 0.6 MM Stainless Steel
  • 0.8 MM Brass

These new nozzles are the key to printing in this new range of materials. We recommend that users use the 0.6 mm brass nozzle for woodFill and corkFill, and the 0.6mm steel nozzle for bronzeFill and copperFill.

The new MakerBot Labs Community will allow advanced users of MakerBot 3D Printers to share new Custom Print Modes – allowing users to now save and share their custom settings from MakerBot Print.

Our profiles.

We’ve been testing various settings for our materials and will share the profiles we liked best on Makerbot Labs. You can share your own profiles for our materials at Makerbot labs with fellow users.

Augustus by CosmoWenman printed on the Replicator+ using the 0.6mm steel nozzle.

bronzeFill and copperFill

bronzeFill and copperFill are a special type of PLA filament which is infused with metal powder. It will print with settings very similar to normal PLA filament, so users will be able to get a first print quickly.

When the 3D printer is done printing the model, the surface will look matte and dull. With some post processing such as sanding and polishing the parts will start to look like real polished metal. For more information on post-processing our metal infused filaments have look at this article – post-processing-gcreates-rocket-ship.

Apart from the unique aesthetics of the material, it’s also three times heavier than a regular PLA material. The added weight makes every print feel much more real and valuable.

Apart from polishing these materials there’s also an aging technique which will make your prints look like true antiques with a beautiful patina. Have a look at this article to learn more about this method.

Boot Planter by MakerBot

 

woodFill and corkFill
woodFill and corkFill are a special type PLA filament which is infused with very fine pinewood and cork fibers, which make up for about 30% of the content. It will print with similar settings to PLA.

The texture of printed parts are one of a kind, objects no longer look like shiny plastic, but have a great matte texture. During printing users can even notice the subtle smell of wood.

Users are recommended to keep good flow of material while printing, 0.2m – 0.27mm layer height at 50 mm/s – 65 mm/s will serve as a good starting point. Our profiles for the Replicator+ have been developed with this in mind.

Boot Planters printed with 0.6mm nozzle using the Replicator +.

Good to know.

The standard colorFabb spools will not fit the Makerbot Replicator+ machines. This means users will need to top mount our spools for easy and efficient unloading of filament. There is many variations on thingiverse to topmount filament spools on your Replicator+ and these can be found in the Hardware Mods section of MakerBot Labs on Thingiverse.

When printing woodFill and corkFill, we’ve found that applying blue painters tape to the surface of the Replicator+ platform can improve adhesion, resulting in less warping.

With bronzeFill and copperFill we’ve seen good adhesion on the grip surface that is standard on the Makerbot Replicator+.

For more information on Makerbot Labs visit: https://makerbot.com/labs/

ATTRIBUTIONS

Moai by ET-Huang
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:144668

Propeller by dreyfusduke
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:986079

Fibonacci Vase by mnemo80
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1054598

Boot Planter by MakerBot
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:293223

Augustus by CosmoWenman
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:196044

 

steelFill

Back in June 2016 we announced steelFill to the world. In September we launched steelFill officially. Today we have printed an aptly themed object with steelFill : the Man of Steel logo.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:246349

Modelled by Filippo Panza, this design is based on the current Superman series and quite appropiate for our steelFill.

With steelFill we are added a fourth metal based filament to our portfolio after succesfully releasing bronzeFill in 2014, copperFill later that year and brassFill in early 2015. As with these other filaments, the key is post-processing and you can use similar techniques as with our other special metal based filaments.

You can find the full tutorial on how to print with steelFill here.

This part was printed on the Makerbot Replicator 2 with a 0.2mm layer height at 210 degrees C. steelFill is an abrassive filament and not kind to the standard brass nozzles.

For the nozzle we chose the Olsson Ruby nozzle 1.75mm version. the ruby nozzle retains the excellent heat conducting properties of brass, while being extremely resistant to wear. This means that you can print your standard materials as usual, but also very abrasive materials such as steelFill but also our XT-CF20.

The Olsson Ruby is a high-tech nozzle with a carefully designed ruby tip, which makes it have unique properties. The ruby nozzle is designed by Anders Olsson, inventor of the popular Olsson Block that is also part of the Ultimaker 2+ 3D Printers.

This nozzle was generously supplied to us by 3DVerkstan, our distributor and partner in the Nordic regiona and manufacturer of the Olsson Ruby Nozzle. For more information about the nozzle, contact 3DVerkstan: info@3dverkstan.se

There will be a separate blog about post-processing this piece later on. You can find more prints made with steelFill, which have been post-processed, here:

Yeah, we like our superheroes…

steelFill is available in our webshop and through our network of distributors and resellers worldwide.

Small Part Storage Crates

With so many projects going on in our print lab it is sometimes hard to keep track of all the parts that we use to finish prints. Especially big prints like the Formula 1 car we printed a few months ago or the Moveo Robotic Arm we are working on right now. To organize all the screws, the nuts, the bolts and fasteners we need, we print our own little storage things. Earlier this summer we posted about the little hinged boxes but now we have printed little drawers: the Scifi Small Part Storage Crates, designed by Andrew Bougie.

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1489606

We printed these small crates on the MakerBot Replicator 2 in our print lab, using standard print settings. We used our new PLA Economy filament for these prints.

PLA Economy was launched only a month ago and we’ve been sold out ever since. With all the back orders having shipped now, we are creating a stock situation. We have been printing quite a lot with our new PLA Economy line. A few examples are:

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, for the remainder of the year, because it is colorFabb’s fourth anniversary, we continue our Buy 4, Pay 3 promotion. Use coupon code colorfabb4you on our website to get the fourth spool you order for free! Some conditions apply though: cheapest spool is for free and samples and PLA Economy are exempt from this part of the promotion. Since it is less than two weeks before Christmas, don’t forget to order in time!

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.

colorfabb_pla_economy_apple_watch_dock-2

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.

colorfabb_pla_economy_apple_watch_dock-3

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.

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