Memento

memento / məˈmɛn toʊ. an object or item that serves to remind one of a person, past event, etc.; keepsake; souvenir.

Recently we posted a blog about the great work many of our users did printing lithophanes. Head over here to see what they made. At colorFabb we were immediately inspired and a lot of our colleagues sent their favorite photos to the print team to have their own special mememto created.

All lithophanes were printed on the Ultimaker 2+ with PLA Economy White (with one notable exeption, scroll to the bottom for a special guest appearance).

 

 

Meet colorFabb’s extended family

Below are the results: sons, daughters, a pregnancy, dogs: loved ones now immortalized as a 3D print.

 

 

 

 

 

 

More examples will be added soon!

And with a dash of green…

All of the above lithophanes were made with PLA Economy White. White is the color most suited for this application. As seen in our previous blog various materials like PLA/PHA, nGen and colorFabb_XT can be used aside from PLA Economy. But that does not mean you cannot experiment with color:

 

Printed on the Prusa i3 with PLA/PHA Intense Green

 

Credit where credit’s due

All lithophanes were created by our former colleague Sven Hacken who has continued his career in law enforcement. Thank you, Sven, for all these prints and being an amazing colleague in the past few years!

Sven used Gadunky’s lithophane profile (click here) and 3DP Rocks’ lithophane generator (link here) for all of the family memento prints.

Hulk print by our colleague Paul. You can find the Thingiverse link here. Design by JohnC55.

We used the TRÅDFRI E27 LED light from IKEA as backlight to play with the colors a bit and achieve the best possible effect.

 

About PLA Economy

PLA Economy is available on 2.2kg, 4.5kg and 8kg spools only. It is very well suited for the maker who needs quality filament at an affordable price. It is a perfect material for large volume and small series production, made with the guaranteed colorFabb quality that we are known for.

PLA Economy is now available in six of the most popular colors. ColorFabb PLA Economy is not a standard PLA. It has been modified for better layer adhesion and flow properties to get better performance over other basic PLA filaments. Because it’s made with the same processing technology used for other premium colorFabb products, this PLA Economy will be just as reliable.

Motorcycle suspension part

As we add more materials to our portfolio we see more possibilities. With our proven XT-CF20 and the recently added Igus Iglidur I150 for instance. We printed a motorcycle suspension linkage prototype:

Design by colorFabb

Both materials were printed on the Ultimaker 2+ with the Olsson Ruby Nozzle. Both components were press fitted together with a tight tolerance. This model was made as a fitting prototype and was not part of a working motorbike. We used the following print settings:

XT-CF20
Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
Layerheight: 0.2mm
Printing speed: 40mm/s
Nozzle temperature: 255C
Bed temperature: 80C
Infill: 90%

Igus Iglidur I150
Nozzle diameter: 0.4mm
Layerheight: 0.2mm
Printing speed: 40mm/s
Nozzle temperature: 255C
Bed temperature: 90C
Infill: 60%

About the filaments

XT-CF20 is our first Amphora based special filament, launched nearly two years ago, made with colorFabb_XT and 20% carbon fibres. More information can be found here. XT-CF20 has received some really good reviews on our website. It may not be the easiest filament to print with, but the results can be stunning. The functionality, stiffness and the matte finish are true selling points of this material.

A special point of attention is the abrasive nature of the carbon fibers. In general these fibers will accelerate the nozzle-wear of brass nozzles, much faster than unfilled filaments. Therefore we  recommend to use hardened steel nozzles. XT-CF20 is available online

 

igus filaments are all about functionality. The iglide® range of filaments are 3D printing materials for maximum service in moving applications. You can create custom parts with significantly higher wear resistance than standard filament. The iglide materials benefits include:

  • High degree of wear resistance, similar to that of injection molded iglide® components
  • Igus has more than 30 years of experience in the development of high-performance plastics for moving applications
  • Tested in Igus’ own laboratory

Components made of igus® Tribo-Filament are up to 50 times more wear-resistant than standard materials for 3D printing and therefore have an extremely long service life. Due to their excellent tribological properties, they are suited for 3D printing of replacement parts, for example bearings, drive nuts, gears and other wear parts. The igus® Tribo-Filaments can be processed on 3D printers that are based on the fused-deposition-modelling method (FDM/FFF) and that allow the nozzle temperature to be set as required.

Cryptex

If you ever feel the need to go full Dan Brown, but lack the necessary myths and conspiracy theories we recommend the print a Cryptex to ensure any secret (past or present) is safe. We used the Letter-Cryptex by Hiob and went wild with unique Color on Demand colors!

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3090603

All parts were printed on the Ultimaker 2+ with standard PLA settings and we used 13 unique Color on Demand colors and PLA Economy Black to make this print:

The cryptex is an excellent design to showcase a lot of colors which we can with our brand new Color on Demand service. We have already matched hundreds of colors and have nearly one hundred RAL references matched an available online.

In June we launched Color on Demand and 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 many RAL colors, which can easily be ordered online. Click here to see our collection. You can order as little as a 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 color you want.

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.

Read our color disclaimer. Want to know more about Color on Demand, check our our FAQ page.

 

How does it work?

Once an order is placed the team of specialists at colorFabb then go to work to start matching this color request if is a new color. You can opt to receive an injected molded plaque to verify the color first, before the spool is produced. This is optional. If the color has already been matched, we plan production right away.
Expected lead times are:

Color on Demand is produced on spools containing either 2kg or 750 grams. The 750 grams option is only available for colors already matched. All new colors are produced on 2kg spools only. Curious about the spool size? Check out this post.
But we do not stop there. At the same time Color on Demand is being offered for granulates as an extra supply option besides filament.

Important: If you order a Color on Demand spool, as well as regular stocked products, we will ship these together as one shipment.

How is color matching being done?

Check our disclaimer! We use the RAL Classic references as our guide. All filaments produced are optically checked by our specialized production and QA team. You can order an injected molded plaque before commiting to order a full spool. Please check in the webshop!

Please be aware that we use the actual RAL reference. Colors on a computer screen, printed images and promotional art can give a misrepresentation of the actual color. Injection molded color plaques can be ordered for a quality check before ordering a full spool.

If the color is then accepted production will be planned. Whenever a color has been matched, it will be added to the colorFabb website for future references.Pricing is as low as € 75 (ex VAT / shipping) for a 2kg spool of custom made filament, with tier pricing available: 10% discount when 4 spools are purchased, 20% when 10 spools are purchased.

Color on Demand is a first new step into the direction of customization of filaments for the end users. Starting with PLA and RAL, the possibilities to expand to other materials and color references are plenty and will be implemented at a later stage.Basically, color on demand will enable the maker / 3D Printer user to pinpoint specific projects and claim a different position in the supply chain with exactly that color that is requested.

Users can send your requests to colorFabb or visit our website:

More questions that need answering? Contact us through sales@colorfabb.com

Jet engine nozzle

3D printing is first and foremost an excellent tool for prototyping and modelling. Especially for complex prints. With that in mind we have printed an example of a jet engine nozzle, the variable-area nozzle for use on EDF RC airplanes designed by Marco Colucci to be more specific. Benefits of 3D printing are how complex designs can be seen, held and assessed early in a development process.

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2991269

As Marco explains in his Imgur post how this project came to be: “The idea for this project came from a friend and RC airplane enthusiast suggesting the “crazy” idea of mounting a variable-area nozzle on his next build. Of course, me being me, as soon as I heard the word crazy he had my full attention.” You can find more information in his detailed post on Imgur.

This model consists of 23 individual parts and it is an excellent example of a complex print with moving parts. A Hackaday article has been written about the functional application of the jet engine nozzle as it was designed.

We printed all parts on the Ultimaker 2, using PLA Semi Matte Black and colorFabb_XT Light Gray and Dark Gray. As for the settings we used the standard PLA settings for PLA Semi Matte Black and we used CPE settings for colorFabb_XT.

We launched colorFabb_XT almost 4 years ago at the London 3D Print Show together with Eastman Chemical Company. Eastman is our material partner for co-polyesters. colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties: High strength and very high toughness, odor neutral processing, high Tg / improved temperature resistance, styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance and BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation.

colorFabb_XT is available in 14 colors, including clear.

Our range of Amphora based co-polyesters are perfectly suited for a project like this. In 2014 colorFabb teamed up with Eastman Chemical Company to develop unique grades of co-polyesters suited for 3D printing. Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer are a low-odor, styrene-free choice that is uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

More information can be found in the blog we wrote about co-polyesters last summer.

 

 

When developing our PLA Semi Matte Black 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, released earlier this year, will bring a new aesthetic quality to our range of PLA filaments.

If you’re looking to upgrade your 3D printed projects to the next level, our PLA Semi-Matte will do the trick.

This filament 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.

PLA Semi-Matte Black is available now.

Safety glasses holder

Safety first! Whenever printing, in daily life and also in our production plant safety is of our highest concern. That’s why we require all our guests when they enter the production area to wear safety glasses. Since this should not be forgotten we have them ready to grab at the entrance of our building and made a safety glasses holder to display them well:

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2756873

We chose the Snap together sunglass holder by rockah as the basis and created the footing ourselves (design by our print engineer Sven Hacker). It is an ideal design and easy to print. Perfect for safety glasses or for your collection of sunglasses.

Settings used on the Ultimaker 2+ were:

  • 0.4mm nozzle
  • 0.2mm layerheight
  • Printspeed: 45mm/s

For this print we used our trusted PLA Economy, a highly popular filament used for bulk projects by many of our users… and ourselves.

PLA Economy is a fantastic PLA grade which we launched in November of 2016. Initially we released four colors: white, red, black and silver. We added the always popular Dark Blue slightly later, which is similar to our very own Ultra Marine Blue that we offer in our portfolio of PLA/PHA filaments.

PLA Economy offers a great value for your money. One spool consists of 2.2kg of filament for a dirt cheap price of a little over € 35 (ex VAT and shipping). It is a different grade than our range of PLA/PHA, but we guarantee the same colorFabb quality. Our filaments are readily available from our webshop. You can use the standard PLA settings if your printer has these pre-defined and these should work fine.

You can also opt for the PLA Economy Value Pack: order four spools as a value pack and receive an immediate 10% discount!

Buy PLA Economy                                      Buy PLA Economy Value Pack

PLA Economy is very well suited for the maker who needs quality at an affordable price. It is a perfect filament for large volume and small series production, made with the guaranteed colorFabb quality that we are known for.

Printing with PA-CF Low Warp

Earlier this week we launched our brand new, functional filament PA-CF Low Warp. The PA-CF Low Warp is a one of a kind polyamide formulation with the ability to print nearly warp free on non heated buildplatforms. Low infill prints come out perfectly flat on cold bed for higher infill prints 40/50C temperature is enough to obtain flat prints. This tailormade formulation of polyamide features the mechanical properties of a PA6. Tensile strength was measured at 77,99 MPa and impact strength (notched) was measured at 5,44KJ/m2, test specimens both printed on Ultimaker 2+, 260C 0.1mm layerheight with 100% infill.

We have been testing a lot with this filament, with our focus on functional parts. On Tuesday we published a video where we printed a wall mount with cable hanger:

J1772 Wall Mount with Cable Hanger by BenTheRighteous

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2446369

We printed on the Ultimaker 2+ with an Olsson Ruby Nozzle. Settings used for this print were: 0.3mm layerheight, 260C, 50C bed, 30/40 mm/s speed.

Today we have posted a new video, once again printing on the Ultimaker 2+ with an Olsson Ruby Nozzle:

This is an adapter to make carbon blasting the intake valves on a Mini Cooper R56 / N14 much easier. Normally you have to custom make you own, and that can be very difficult. This replaces a $90 adapter made by Mini. The design we used was made by Geofox.

We printed with 22% infull, 0.3mm layer height on a glass plate and used 3DLac and a brim on a cold bed.

With PA-CF Low Warp functional prints can be made on most printers.

The formulation has been modified to reduce the uptake of moisture by half compared to PA6 and it also takes about 4 times longer to reach the saturation point. This makes PA-CF Low Warp less sensitive to moisture then most other nylon filaments available in the market. You can find more information about the printability of PA-CF Low Warp on our dedicated landing page.

PA-CF Low Warp is available now in our webshop and ships from stock.

The Olsson Ruby Nozzle – One nozzle for all materials

Due to the abrassive nature of the filament we recommend the use of hardened nozzles for the best performance of the material and printer. For this reason we are offering the Olsson Ruby Nozzles with the purchase of PA-CF Low Warp. You can find the combined offer here.

We have published about the use of the Olsson Ruby Nozzle before and we are very enthusiastic about the use of this filament combined with abrassive materials like PA-CF Low Warp, but also XT-CF20 and steelFill.

The ruby mounted at the tip assures that even the toughest materials will be printable. It was originally designed for printing with a composite of Boron Carbide (B4C), the third hardest known material in the world. Since most of the Olsson Ruby is made from brass, with its excellent heat conductivity, performance and throughput is first-class.

This nozzle, soon on your printer!

The Olsson Ruby is manufactured, assembled and tested in a high-quality facility in Sweden. This is why 3DVerkstan – also colorFabb’s partner in the region – guarantees the very best quality and tolerances.

As from now you can purchase the Olsson Ruby Nozzle 0.4mm in combination with PA-CF Low Warp in our webshop.

Air gun adapter

Nozzles need cleaning. It is a fact of 3D printing life. An innovative way to clean nozzles on a 3D printer is to use an air gun. We have air guns in our production facility and use them to keep our operations dust free. To use the air gun to clean the nozzle one would need an adapter to make a perfect fit between the air gun and the push-fit connector of the bowden tube.

As for the material, we used colorFabb_HT – our high temperature resistant engineering grade filament.

The adapter was designed by the colorFabb team for this particular application.

We printed this part with colorFabb_HT Dark Gray on the Ultimaker 2+ with a 0.25mm nozzle. The layer height is 0.06mm and we chose 100% infill for maximum strength and almost airtight threads.

3D printing has allowed for the creation of gadgets, cosplay and other fun stuff, but materials like colorFabb_HT, enabled by Eastman Tritan™ co-polyester technology, allow for truly disruptive uses in day to day life.

colorFabb_HT is made with Eastman Amphora™ HT5300 and is a low-odor and styrene-free material uniquely suited for advanced 3D printing users, particularly those who need their models to exhibit excellent durability, toughness and high temperature resistance with a Tg of over 100⁰C. colorFabb_HT empowers professional users to create more durable and useful items, making prototyping truly functional. This opens up new areas in which 3D printed applications can be successfully applied.

colorFabb_HT is uniquely suited for advanced 3D printing users, particular those who need their creations to exhibit excellent durability, toughness and temperature resistance. You can find more information on our dedicated landing page.

Aside from its functionality in practical prints, colorFabb_HT Clear also allows to print near transparent prints. Another feature, as a recent post shows, is the ability to print with extreme detail.

colorFabb_HT is available in our webshop.

Back to school kit

At colorFabb we have stressed again and again and again and again that it is more fun to print the things you need than to buy them. It is September 1st and for most of the younger colorFabb users it is back to school again. No worries, younger colorFabb users, this will change when you grow up: you will go to work instead of school.

Anyhow, we thought it would be fun to print a few much needed things that are useful for everybody heading back to school: a drafting set and a pencil case. For these prints we used nGen, our all-round 3D printing filament made with Eastman Amphora™ AM3300 3D polymer.

Back to Basics Drafting Set by asbeg
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:152531

Nested Pencil Case by Gyrobot
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:146792

Both prints were printed with nGen on the Ultimaker 2+ at 0.2mm layer height. Temperature was 230 degrees C with the heated bed at 85 degrees C.

The protractor handle was printed with nGen Red, the print was stopped and we finished the numbers, etc. with nGen Black.

Material of choice is our trusted nGen filament. nGen has proven itself to be a very versatile material that can be used for a lot of applications, visual prototyping being one of them! It has become our default, all-round filament for printing all sorts of prototypes and prints just have to look damn good!

nGen is an all-round filament which has many advantages over 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. You can find more information on our dedicated landing page.

Ever since launching in november 2015 (and later in a big way during the CES Show early 2016), nGen has been a bestseller and a material that has been adopted by users worldwide very rapidly. In a recent survey we have seen it is regarded as one of the most popular materials in our portfolio. This is not without reason. For instance, nGen Black has nothing but solid 5 star reviews and is on sale right now! (Sale occurs at the moment of publishing and only for a limited time).

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

nGen is made with Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer AM3300. It is part of our range of Amphora based filaments. Other grades are: engineering grade colorFabb_XT, high temperature resistant colorFabb_HT and semi-flexible nGen_FLEX. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

You can find more about what co-polyesters are by clicking here or check the table below how the rigid filaments compare to ABS and PLA:

Offset mount

Size matters. Not only in terms of prints, but also the spool sizes. Up until last year the market, and our sales, were dominted by the regular spools containing 750 grams or 1kg that are available from us and many other manufacturers. However, since last year we have seen more and more demand for larger spools. We offer a good portion of our portfolio on spools containing 2.2kg of filament and both the PLA Economy and PETG Economy filaments are available exclusively on 2.2kg spools.

8.8kg of high quality filament…

Most printers are designed with the standard 750 grams or 1kg spools in mind. This may become a problem when using larger spools. We have designed a spool holder when we launched PLA Economy last year, but Printed Solid came up with a more elegant solution: An offset mount for exactly these kind of spools and specifically for the Ultimaker 2 and Ultimaker 3.

Design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2439960

This design allows for easier access to the feeder system on the back of the Ultimakers by moving the spool holder off to the side.

Printed Solid is of course our distributor on the east coast of the US and has been using and selling colorFabb filaments for nearly four years now. Matthew Gorton, the owner, is widely known for his 3D printing knowledge and expertise. Printed Solid has steadily grown in the past few years to a household name in 3D printing and a reliable source of filaments, printers and advice. Check out Printed Solid’s colorFabb offering here.

We printed this part in our brand new PETG Economy on the Ultimaker 2+.

We have received a lot of requests for PETG in our portfolio and have recently added PETG Economy to our portfolio. We initially started with 3 colors: Black, White and Red.

All of these are available exclusively on 2.2kg spools. You can buy PETG Economy here. Also available now, the PETG Economy value pack – four spools of PETG Economy at an even lower price! Available here.

Material specifications

Material: colorFabb PETG Economy

Diameter Tolerance: ± 0.1 mm

Density: 1.28 g/cm3

Glass Transition Temperature: 70C

Full data sheets are available here: http://colorfabb.com/Materials/

Another great example with PETG Economy Red. Original design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1532652

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.

Foldable cup holder

Here is a nice print that was designed in-house and specifically to carry multiple cups of our Nespressos without burning our fingers. We know, it’s a first world problem, but a problem nonetheless and 3D printing solved it for us. Our intern Niels (who did the kick ass FLEX_Link chair recently) designed this foldable cup holder, which is already in heavy demand in our office.

Original design: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2423293

We printed it with colorFabb_XT on the Ultimaker 2. Due to the heat of the cups, we needed a material with a higher glass temperature. Since PLA does not meet this criteria. Our range of co-polyesters would be more fitting and we chose colorFabb_XT, using the colorFabb brand colors.

After printing, a small M6 screw was used in combination with a locking nut to hold everything together. The printed parts stack up to a height of 15 millimeters, so a screw of at least 20 millimeters in length should suffice.

This design, due to its compact nature when folded, is an ideal companion during the summer months at festivals or during picnics. You can download the design on Thingiverse to make your own.

We launched colorFabb_XT almost 3 years ago at the London 3D Print Show together with Eastman Chemical Company. Eastman is our material partner for co-polyesters. colorFabb_XT is made with Amphora AM1800 and has a unique formulation for 3D Printing that features excellent properties : High strength and very high toughness, Odor Neutral processing, High Tg / improved temp. resistance, Styrene free formulation, FDA food contact compliance, BPA (Bisphenol A ) free formulation. It will allow the user to produce 3D printed functional products in a safe way.

You can find the data sheets and other documentation on our website: http://colorfabb.com/Materials/

colorFabb_XT is available in 14 colors, including clear.

Our range of Amphora based co-polyesters are perfectly suited for a project like this. In 2014 colorFabb teamed up with Eastman Chemical Company to develop unique grades of co-polyesters suited for 3D printing. Eastman Amphora™ 3D polymer are a low-odor, styrene-free choice that is uniquely suited for 3D printing applications. With Amphora, items can be created that are more functional, more durable, more efficient, and attractive.

So far we have launched four grades, starting with colorFabb_XT in 2014. Late 2015 we follow this up with nGen, our next Generation general purpose filament and a drop in replacement for PLA. A wide processing window and perfect reliability make this filament a very popular one in our portfolio.

A little over a year ago we followed that up with colorFabb_HT, a high-temperature resistant filament that allows for functional engineering projects that need lasting parts. colorFabb_HT is enabled by Eastman Tritan™ copolyester technology.

At last year’s TCT Show in Birmingham we introduced nGen_FLEX to the market, a flexible filament with a Shora A hardness of 95 allowing for functional and flexible parts to be printed.

More information can be found in the blog we wrote about co-polyesters last summer.