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

 

Wire stripper

Here in the colorFabb print lab we like to see what 3D printing can offer us to make our lives a bit easier. Especially when it comes to small tools we need on a daily basis. Sure, you can go to the store and buy stuff, but where is the fun in that? Plus, with 3D printing we can design, customize and print with a lot of choice in materials. Our own, of course. For instance, consider the micrometer holder we printed with colorFabb_XT. Or spool holders for our XL spools, which many not fit on all printers.

We came accross this simple but clever design by Raphael Bruno. He designed a wire cutter which uses standard cutter blades as inserts. This model was printed on the Lulzbot Mini, with woodFill filament.

Design by raphaelbruno3d: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2468753

Our woodFill performs very well on the Lulzbot Mini. We printed at 0.2mm layer height at 215C and a 50C heated bed.

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

Check out the product page on the website and read the 5 star reviews!

woodFill is available in our webshop and also at Lulzbot’s webstore. You can find a handy tutorial here.

Speaking of Lulzbot… Did you know we have the Lulzbot Mini available on our website and ship from stock? Better even: we ship for free in Europe and send out two free spools of nGen with the printer!

The LulzBot Mini was built to work out of the box, with no complicated assembly process getting in the way of you creating. Operating the Mini is the same- straightforward software, easy to read documentation and an army of LulzBot enthusiasts eager to help out people getting started. This printer is not only easy. you will still find flexible, industrial strength capacity from this machine.

You can print a wide range of materials on the Lulzbot Mini: of course the woodFill and our other specials, but especially nGen – our go-to, all-round 3D printing filament.

Read Make Magazine’s review of the Lulzbot Mini here.

The Lulzbot Mini is now available in our webshop at € 1.573 including VAT / € 1.300 excluding VAT. (Free shipping in the EU+ 2 free spools of filament)

Rifle replica

3D printing has many applications. A very interesting one is the production of replicas. The most valuable museum exhibits are usually the most fragile ones too. They can be easily damaged so the curators need to enclose them behind glass and visitors can’t touch them.

Enter Get Models Now, a Polish design studio.

The National Museum in Poznan, Poland, asked Get Models Now to build a 3D printed replica that could become an interactive part of their display. The goal was to replicate an original 16th century rifle in full scale.

The 3D scanned model was cut into parts and printed on ZMorph 2.0 SX multitool 3D printer using colorFabb PLA and woodFill filaments. The parts were assembled around a lead rod that made the rifle heavy enough to simulate the original weight of 5.2 kg. The entire 3D printed antique rifle is one and a half meters long. It took long hours to post-produce even the smallest details like the fantastic dragon-shaped flintlock and meticulously engraved trigger.


Artists from Get Models Now painted the woodFill parts to make them look like even more natural wood and added hand-painted ornaments on them. This attention to detail makes it very hard to distinguish the 3D printed antique rifle from the original. Their work is a part of an interactive display at the National Museum in Poznan, Poland, right next to the original piece. It will give people a unique opportunity to literally get in touch with history.

Using 3D printing makes sure important parts of history can be preserved while the replicas are there for show and tell.

 

About Get Models Now

GMN – Get Models Now – is a design studio using 3D printing and newest technologies such as 3D scanning , Virtual Reality as well as CNC milling and a laser cutting machine. The idea of the company is to deliver 3D printed objects along with complex design support. They have over 10 year experience in working with 3D printing and the team consists of people with different design backgrounds which helps them finding the best solution for particular projects. They are one of the few companies in Europe that offers full design, printing, and post-production services and use only high-quality and eco-friendly materials to deliver the most outstanding results. Their workshop enables to create amazing postproduction effects which can be vital for individual finishing of printed objects.

You can find more information on their website (click here).

 

woodFill

woodFill was launched in November 2013 during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill (which we recently discontinued) and more recently 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. Check it out online: it has received nothing but 5 star reviews on our site!

 

 

Print+ headphone

After a successful Kickstarter campaign in 2015, the Print+ headphones have finally started shipping! At colorFabb we saw the potential of these DIY headphones immediately and backed the campaign by buying 25 of these headphone kits. We even made one of the headphone a featured print during the launch of our nGen filament:

From our nGen landing page. Print+ headphone printed with nGen Purple

We were also among the first to showcase the Print+ headphones during the 2015 TCT Show in Birmingham:

Source: colorFabb Vine account

Last week we received Print+ DIY Headphone kits. The kit contains all the necessary components such as speakers, cables and a remote. The remaining parts, to customize your headphone and make it truly yours, can be printed after downloading the files from their site. The Kickstarter campaign ended many moons ago, but the kit is available from their site now.

The variety in our colorFabb portfolio allows for some really cool combinations & unique headsets to be printed. Make it yours!

We have printed and assembled two of these headphones. One has been made in woodFill and our brand new PETG Economy Black filament:

Print+ headphone printed with woodFill and PETG Economy

We chose woodFill for the visual quality of the material and PETG Economy since it is strong enough, which is necessary for the headphone frame. The woodFill was printed on the Lulzbot Mini with standard woodFill profile settings (provided by Lulzbot) at 0.2mm layer height and a standard nozzle.

Another headphone was printed with nGen Dark Gray:

And for the other headphone nGen was chosen because of the visual quality and the layer on layer adhesion of the material. Aside from functionality, the nGen portfolio contains the brightest and some unique colors to really stand out.

This nGen print was made Ultimaker 2+ with a 0.4mm nozzle and printed at a 0.2mm layer height.

The Print+ project is not only a very cool idea, it is also a sustainable one. You don’t need to buy new headphones if one part breaks. You print one or two new parts right away! You can read the Print+ vision here or contact them directly if you have any further questions: https://www.print.plus/contact/

 

About the materials

woodFill

woodFill was launched in November 2013 during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill (which we recently discontinued) and more recently 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. Check it out online: it has received nothing but 5 star reviews on our site!

PETG Economy

Earlier this month we released PETG Economy, a high quality filament for functional prototyping. It is available exclusively on 2.2kg spools and in three colors: black, white and red. We currently ship from stock and the PETG Economy range is also available as a value pack.

nGen

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.

nGen is available through our webshop and our network of distributors and resellers worldwide as well as our partner Lulzbot.

Speaking of the Lulzbot Mini printer… Did you know we have it available on our website and ship from stock? Better even: we ship for free in Europe and send out two free spools of nGen with the printer!

The LulzBot Mini was built to work out of the box, with no complicated assembly process getting in the way of you creating. Operating the Mini is the same- straightforward software, easy to read documentation and an army of LulzBot enthusiasts eager to help out people getting started. This printer is not only easy. you will still find flexible, industrial strength capacity from this machine.

Read Make Magazine’s review of the Lulzbot Mini here.

The Lulzbot Mini is now available in our webshop at € 1.573 including VAT / € 1.300 excluding VAT.

woodFill on the Lulzbot Mini

Last week we announced our partnership with Aleph Objects and became official reseller of their line of 3D printers.

The Lulzbot Mini has proven itself to be an extremely reliable and easy to use printer in our printlab. We have two now ourselves and see a wide range of our materials printing with stunning results. We have of course printed a lot with nGen on this printer, but also our woodFill shows how beautiful prints can look on the Lulzbot Mini.

Design accreditations:

3D Benchy by Creative Tools: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:763622

Rocktopus – Meet rocktopus, the mascot of the all-new LulzBot Mini desktop 3D printer made by Aleph Objects, Inc. in Loveland, Colorado, USA:  https://www.lulzbot.com/content/meet-rocktopus

Stealth Birdhouse by Steve Wood a.k.a. Gyrobot: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:108892

Voronoi Klein Bottle by Robert Woodhead a.k.a. MadOverlord

woodFill was launched exactly 3 years ago this month during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill (which we recently discontinued) and more recently 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 from this week we became an official reseller for Lulzbot 3D printers. Both the Lulzbot Mini and its bigger sibling, the Lulzbot TAZ6, are available at colorFabb. We have been working with Aleph Objects, the Colorado based producer of the Lulzbot printers, for quite some time now and know them to bring quality products to the market.

LulzBot is a product line of Aleph Objects, Inc., a Free Software, Libre Innovation, and Open Source Hardware company. Aleph Objects was founded in January 2011 and headquartered in Loveland, Colorado, USA, where they develop, manufacture, and support their products. Aleph Objects was recently named the Fastest-Growing Privately Held Computer Hardware Company in the U.S., ranked at no. 122 in Inc. Magazine’s list of the fastest-growing privately-held companies in the United States.

woodFill is available in our webshop. You can find a handy tutorial here.

We have brought back the XL woodFill spool, which you can buy in 2.85mm. If you are interested in the 1.75mm variety, please drop us a line: sales@colorfabb.com

Bioplastics Award

The feature print we want to show today is special in more than one way. Normally, our prints are for in-house use and showing off what our filaments are capable of on a wide variety of platforms. Today’s print however has been made by us to be presented as an award: The Bioplastics Award!

colorfabb_specials_bioplasticsaward

The Bioplastics Award is annually given during the Bioplastics Conference to a company who has achieved something special in the field of bioplastics. This year, the jury selected a project on which three companies had collaborated: the new bioplastics wrapper of the Snickers bars. The project started when a product manager at the Mars factory in Veghel, the Netherlands, approached Rodenburg, the Dutch bioplastics producer, with a challenge: Could Rodenburg develop a biobased packaging material for Mars’ candy bars that was just as good as the one the company was currently using?

The answer was “Yes!” and after some trials the product was approved, resulting – amongst others – in the Bioplastics Award 2016. You can read the full article here.

wimage

Bioplastics Magazine is the leading magazine in the world in regards to bioplastics. They have published about colorFabb before, which you can read about here and about Stacker as well.  The magazine organizes the annual Bioplastics conference which was held this year on November 29 and 30 in Berlin.

The award was printed by us with colorFabb special filaments: woodFill, bronzeFill and copperFill. The base polymer of these materials is our very own PLA/PHA, which has been the basis of a wide range of filaments, both a portfolio of 30 colors and our special filaments, for the past four years.

colorfabb_specials_bioplasticsaward-2

The woodFill base plate was printed no the Swiss made DeltaTower while the bronzeFill and copperFill parts were printed on the MassPortal Pharaoh and post-processed afterwards.

You can find more information about post-processing in our dedicated blog here and in a collection of articles.

colorFabb’s entire range of special filaments are available in our webshop and through our network of distributors and resellers worldwide. 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!

celebrating4years_2

 

Aklih

Last winter we held a time-lapse contest and it is an understatement to say it was a great success! You can still watch all contestants in this YouTube playlist. Of over 80 valid entries there could only be one winner and after a popular and a jury vote, the winner was Aklih Design Studio from Slovenia.

aklih_team_2

The Aklih team

As you may remember, the first prize was 12x 4 spools of filament. Every month the winner could choose 4 spools, which would also give the winner the opportunity to choose materials that were not released at the beginning of the year, like colorFabb_HT, steelFill or nGen_FLEX.

Aklih, however, kept ordering woodFill, our first special filament which was launched during the 3D Print Show in London 3 years ago. This piqued our interest and we decided to get in touch with Aklih to discuss this work further.

edit-00_01_49_05-still003

We’ll give the stage to them and have them introduce their company in their own words: “We are design studio AKLIH based in Slovenia. We provide design services and design products that can be 3D printed. We came in contact with 3D printing technology back in Faculty, when we used it to prototype ideas. Later on we went from prototyping to end products. An important step in this process was woodFill filament, which is easy to print and give our products that specific wood look. Now we have 3D printed products like Birdy, Megafon, Cup, Kikla  in our product line and new ones on the way.

We took most of the woodFill filament from the time-lapse contest for printing our products and some PLA/PHA for a different model prototyping proposals. We like colorFabb because of variety of high quality filaments, fast shipping and great customer support. So we look forward to continue work with colorFabb in the future.”

Below are some of the products they produce with 3D printing and woodFill. We find them stunning examples of what is possible with 3D printing and love to see our filaments being used this way.

Birdy – bird house

birdy_bird_house

Feeding birds in the winter encourages the bond between human and nature. With Birdy, attractive bird-feeder, we do not only care for birds, but we also put a stamp of modernity and eco-friendly vibe in our home or neighbourhood. Birdy allows feeding of birds from window sills, balconies or trees and is 3D printed with mixture of wood particles and bio plastic. Give yourself the opportunity to relax by feeding birds and smile at the sight of them through the window.

 

Megafone – phone amplifier

megafon

When the past meets the future. We created Megafone, an amplifier which does not require electricity for its operation. It combines centuries-old acoustic megaphone design with modern materials and 3D printing. The shape is accomplished by laying down layer after layer of material to get this very attractive megaphone. It is printed with a mixture of biodegradable plastic and wood and is compatible with iPhones and new models of Samsung. The passive amplifier works exclusively by mechanic, employing geometry to optimize performance, creating a pleasant and immersive listening experience.

You can watch the YouTube video here.

 

Cup – lamp

cup_1
Cup is a small, handy and modern lamp which you can take everywhere with you. The combination of 3D printing technology and LED lamps gives it a unique character. Cup is made with a mixture of biodegradable plastic and wood, made with a 3D printer. The built-in LED lamp is covered with frosted glass, which provides a “softened” and evenly distributed light beam. Cup provides us with 4 different positions for lighting and you can easily place it on a table, hang it on a wall or some other piece of furniture.

You can watch the YouTube video here.

 

Kikla – lamp

kikla_aklih2
KIKLA is elegant lamp made from biodegradable plastic and wood, made with 3D printing. It can be placed on a table or hung from a wall. Due to the diffuse glass, light is distributed evenly throughout the room.

You can watch the YouTube video here.

 

 

We are proud that our woodFill is used in such a way. We have seen many cool prints from Aklih in the past and we are sure that we will see more. If you want to keep track of their work, check out their website, their YouTube channel or their Facebook page.

woodFill was launched exactly 3 years ago this month during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill and more recently 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.

woodFill is available now at colorfabb.com

This is the first post in what we hope will be an ongoing series of blogs of companies using colorFabb filaments in unique and exciting ways. If you are interested in being part of this feature, or know a company who would be suitable, please contact us at sales@colorfabb.com 

Thumb book holder

Sometimes the handiest prints we make are also the smallest. One struggle every avid reader has is to keep a book open while lying on the couch and trying to sip that well-earned coffee at the same time. Luckily there’s Michael_B who has designed a thumb book holder, finally bringing this struggle to an end!

bookholder_woodfill

Design: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:650623

We used woodFill for this print. woodFill was launched exactly 3 years ago this month during the London 3D Print Show and was our first special filament. Other natural filled special filaments have followed, like bambooFill and more recently 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.

We printed the book holder on one of our Ultimaker Originals at a 0.2mm layer height.

 

bookholder_woodfill2

woodFill is available in our webshop. Why not combine woodFill with our other specials and take advantage of our November promotion. This month, colorFabb celebrates its 4th anniversary. By using the coupon code colorfabb4you when checking out you buy 4 spools, but pay only 3! read more on colorFabb’s 4th birthday here or check out the timeline of what we have done in the past four years.

Go to our website to take advantage of our “Buy 4, Pay 3” promotion today!

 

celebrating4years

(Coupon code does not work with samples or colorFabb PLA Economy spools)