Our metal filled filaments have great aesthetic characteristics. They look awesome when printed, even stunningly beautiful when post-processed, but one aspect that you cannot see – but all users agree on – is the added weight of the filament. This makes a great filament to create visual prototypes that also need that added weight. Like the inverted bucket steam trap we recently printed:
Inverted Bucket Steam Trap based on the 3D model by Tamas Cserto
Design: https://grabcad.com/library/inverted-bucket-steam-trap-1
Printed in steelFill, copperFill and bronzeFill, this cross-sectioned model beautifully shows the inner workings of an inverted bucket steam trap.
It’s screw threads are fully functional straight out of the printer so you can assemble it whilst showing the different aspects or even change out parts on the fly.
The metal filaments have a nice aesthetic and give the parts a genuine feel both in terms of added weight as well as the look and feel of the parts. Note however that this is not a functional part, working in real life, but a visual prototype.
We printed this model on the Ultimaker 2+ with Ruby nozzle (which is recommended for steelFill) on 0,10mm layer height.
One of the aspects of steelFill is that it has magnetic properties. steelFill is the latest in our range of special metal filled filaments, being launched in 2016 after bronzeFill and copperFill (both in 2014) and brassFill (in 2015). You can find some post-processing tips here.
We have also written handy tutorials on how to print with these special filaments:
The high steel content of the steelFill material makes this filament quite abrasive to brass nozzles. Therefore it’s recommended to print with abrasive resistant nozzles. For the nozzle we chose the Olsson Ruby nozzle 2,85mm 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 XT-CF20, but also our steelFill.
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
colorFabb’s metal filled filaments are available online.
