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.
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
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.
In our effort to bring you the most innovative materials, we release a brand new 3D printing filament today: Laser Marking PLA.
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.
Laser Marking PLA is available now and ships from stock! (Click here!)
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:
Another great application is to create bar codes and QR codes, as well as other unique product information on items that were produced in a limited series. It gives your products a more professional and distinguished look:
The material features all the benefits you already know from a regular PLA material. Ease of printing on many platforms, no warping when printing large parts and very good fine detail 3D printing. Laser Marking PLA is our first step into laser marking materials for FDM printers and are interested to know what our community needs are with regards to these materials.
Laser Marking PLA is available in a light grey color to start with, close to RAL 9018 but not an exact match.
(An actual representation of laser marking)
Our unique filament has various advantageous over conventional marking technologies:
Markings are permanent, waterproof, wear and heat resistant, lightfast and resistant to chemicals,
Flexibility in marking designs,
No pre or post-treatment required.
Laser Marking PLA is available now as 750 grams spools and part of our colorFabb Labs program where we release new innovative filaments that meet very specific needs. Click here to go directly to our webshop.
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)
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
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.
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.
Update April 3rd 2019: winners have been selected!
Over 130 ideas were submitted in the past two weeks & we have selected 6 winners. We opted for one extra winner due to the high quality of entries and when it came down to the last six we simply could not choose. We will hopefully soon share the awesome things they have been able to print. We have selected winners in the following categories:
Drones (50+ entries who submitted drone ideas)
Cosplay
Laminated composite parts
Sound absorbing modules
Writing aides
Wheelchair parts
The winners have already been contacted and spools will be shipped this week ahead of the public release soon. We cannot wait to see the results! The submission form has been closed. We will announce more information (release date, pre-ordering, pricing, etc.) very soon!
Original post:
At colorFabb material development never stops. We’re starting the 2019 with a fascinating new material, first of its kind in FFF 3D printing materials.
We’re proud to announce colorFabb LW-PLA. This light weight filament uses an active foaming technology which is triggered by temperature. At it’s peak the filament will expand 3x it’s volume, meaning users can decrease flow by 60-65% to obtain light weight parts, or use the expanding properties to speed up print time by using big layer heights or single extra thick perimeters.
Late March of this year we launched PLA Semi-Matte Black. Where most of our filaments have a classy shine to it, we recognized the demand for a less glossy filament and we released PLA Semi-Matte Black. It has been a bestseller since. In recent months we have worked hard to make a new variety, which is available as from today: PLA Semi-Matte White
PLA Semi-Matte White is a great material for architects and modelers looking for a different aesthetic. Our semi-matte PLA filament eliminates the glossy appearance seen on most PLA 3D prints. The highlights on the surface will be less visible, resulting in an overall cleaner and much higher quality look.
It is a bit hard to capture on camera, but the difference is very well noticable with the bare eye.
As with its black sibling PLA Semi-Matte White contains no fibers and prints at regular PLA temperatures and settings. The material is as reliable and easy to work with as any other PLA type material. Below are some of the examples we printed in our print lab:
PLA Semi-Matte White is a great addition to our ever expanding portfolio of filaments and available now on spools containing 750 grams of filament. Samples and XL spools will follow in due time. Shipping starts today. Go directly to our webshop by clicking button below.
When developing our semi-matte PLA we’ve been looking for a solution which doesn’t involve fibers to achieve a less glossy surface finish. We did not want to loose the ease of use our PLA and keep print settings and parameters as close to regular PLA setttings. For a full matte finish our XT-CF20 and PA_CF Low Warp do the trick, but they need a hardened steel nozzle to print with. The brand new PLA Semi-Matte Black will bring a new aesthetic quality to our range of PLA filaments.
Our semi-matte PLA filament eliminates the glossy appearance seen on most PLA 3D prints. The highlights on the surface will be less visible, resulting in an overall cleaner and much higher quality look.
The example below shows the difference between PLA Economy Black and PLA Semi-Matte Black. The part was printed on the Prusa I3 MK2s using the material switch option. The entire part was printed with 210C.
Left: PLA Economy Black / Right: PLA Semi Matte Black
If you’re looking to upgrade your 3D printed projects to the next level, our PLA Semi-Matte will do the trick.
PLA Semi-Matte contains no fibers and prints at regular PLA temperatures and settings. The material is as reliable and easy to work with as any other PLA type material.
This season has nGen written all over it. Right after our very successful launch of the long awaited nGen_LUX last week are adding new colors to our “regular” nGen portfolio. And they are all transparent colors!
In the past two years we have had quite some demand for transparent colors in the nGen range. As from today we offer the following colors:
The colors are added to a rich mix of 17 colors, bringing the total to 23 colors of nGen filament you can choose from as from today! With nGen Transparent colors you can print objects that have a great shine and stand out from the crowd, even from far away.
nGen is a true all-round material suitable for most day to day 3D printing activities. At the core of its reliability is the special chemical make-up of the Eastman Amphora™ AM3300 3D polymer, which results in a good melt stability. From pellet to filament to 3D print, nGen retains its material properties very well, meaning more stable results with less waste of time and material.
It was launched over two years ago and 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: 80 degrees instead of 45 degrees, 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.
Our brand new nGen transparent colors are available now in our webshop and ship from stock. Click here to go directly to our webshop. Samples will be available end of next week.
In November 2016 we launched our PLA Economy line. PLA Economy filament was the result of many requests for a more cost-conscious filament in the colorFabb portfolio. After a lot of testing we released a brand new PLA grade, available now in 5 colors and only on 2.2kg spools. Today it is time to take the next step and we proudly announce PETG Economy.
We have received a lot of requests for PETG in our portfolio and have added this under our Economy banner as from today. We initially start with 3 colors: Black, White and Red. All of these are available exclusively on 2.2kg spools. Shipping starts on Monday. You can buy PETG Economy here.
Material specifications
Material: colorFabb PETG Economy
Diameter Tolerance: ± 0.1 mm
Density: 1.28 g/cm3
Glass Transition Temperature: 70C
Full data sheets will be available as from mid June.
colorFabb Economy: Large volume, High quality, Low price
colorFabb’s Economy line is developed for users who need a lot of filament. By adding a specifically sourced PETG to our portfolio we are adding more functionality and diversity to our range of filaments.
As with PLA Economy we have extensively tested this filament in our print lab. Both in production and print lab we have adhered to the highest colorFabb quality – this is something we simply do not compromise on.
The idea behind these filaments is to keep it at a very competitive price. Retail price of PETG Economy is € 40 excluding VAT and shipping. This works out to be a little over € 18 per kg for high quality filament.
Tips, tricks and settings
At colorFabb we have a well-equipped 3D printing studio with many popular 3d printers. Our grade of Economy PETG has been tested using various 3D printers, which has resulted in the following recommended settings:
Advised 3d printing temperature: 235C-255C
Advised 3d print speed: 30 – 50 mm/s
Advised Heated bed: 70-80C
Cooling fan 75/100% fan cooling for best aesthetics, this gives best performance on overhangs and small details. For best mechanical performance try printing with the least amount of cooling needed, for optimal layer adhesion.
