instas "filaments that work on the M2" thread

[jhaupt]

Filament name: XT-CF20
Filament vendor: Colorfabb
Hotend used: V4
Nozzle: 0.5mm Stainless
Printing temperature: 260C
Other information:
-Bed: PEI-surfaced MIC6, 60C
-Slicer: Simplify3D
-Retraction: 1.2mm
-Cooling: 97% starting on layer 2
-Default printing speed: 2300mm/min
-Outline underspeed: 50%
-Solid infill underspeed: 75%
-Support structure underspeed: 75%
-Extruder tension: I had to increase the tension quite a bit to get through the first print without the drive gear slipping and the filament stopping mid-print. It seems fine now.


Observations:

This is carbon-filled PETG/Amphora. It makes visually appealing parts that print easily with (almost) my normal PETG settings. I used the .5mm stainless nozzle for lack of a hardened steel alternative on the M2.

What's striking is the matte texture right out of the printer and the pure black color. The surface texture masks layer boundaries and toolpath traces on top surfaces for an appealingly uniform, professional appearance. Mechanically, it seems to be quite stiff; a bit more than PLA perhaps and maybe about the same as ePC, but not as stiff as PC-Plus. It seems to print as easily as PETG.

With the excellent deep matte black, high stiffness and PETG-like glass transition temperature, I'm most looking forward to using this for optomechanical parts. It may also be the best material I have so far for printing large parts (larger than possible with PC's curling/shrinking problem) that are also very stiff and won't deform in a hot car.



~Justine

[jhaupt]

Filament name: Hatchbox Wood
Filament vendor: Hatchbox

It was hard to improve on the normal PLA settings.

Observations:

It doesn't look like wood until you sand it, but when you do what you have is, for all intents and purposes, wood. The print quality pre-sanding is excellent and prints seem to be wood-like acoustically (tapping, thumping, etc). It sands well (expect sawdust!) and it takes stain and varnish well too.

Sanding is critical. I printed these concertina end pieces in the expected orientation (flat on the bed), but if I do this again I'll print them standing on edge so that the layer direction "creates" the wood grain. Thin layers are good (this was .15mm). Sanding all the toolpath marks out of the top surfaces of these pieces was labor intensive, and I attempted to keep the sanding marks all along one direction so as not to betray that its not real wood grain. Even so, notice that the best appearance is along the perimeter of the pieces where the layer alignment is consistent with the apparent grain. In these places especially I'm sure that even a seasoned woodworker would be fooled. It feels like wood too. Especially after rough sanding it's all fuzzy with sawdust.

Photos show the appearance fresh out of the printer, after sanding (60 grit), and after staining and rubbing on thinned varnish (1/3 Linseed oil, 1/3 mineral spirits, 1/3 varnish, 2 coats). Sanding was much easier along the perimeter where I was working with the layer direction, and more authentic too. Again, if doing this again I would print on edge. After the initial rough sanding I stained with a dark stain. After drying I sanded again with 220 grit to selectively remove the dark varnish to give the appearance of wood-like inhomogeneities, and then stained again with a lighter varnish. Of course the varnish doesn't penetrate like it does with real wood, so this kind of re-sanding to get the coloring right was easy. I overdid it with the 60 grit though, as some gouging is apparent.

See here for a directory of the photos: http://justine-haupt.com/Concertina/

If anyone knows the HTML to get these to appear smaller in-line here, please let me know:














~Justine

[psd]

Filament name: NinjaFlex, Midnight, 1.75mm, .50kg
Filament vendor: Fenner Drives
Hotend used: V4 PTFE
Nozzle diameter: 0.35mm
Layer height: 0.15mm
Printing temperature: 250c, bed temp 80c 1st layer only
Other information:

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How does the ninja flex work?
Is it pretty durable yet flexible?
Does it create any hassles to the M2?
thanks!

[jhaupt]

Followup to my XT-CF20 posting:

It's not as stiff as PLA but more stiff than PETG, and it's strangely ductile.

I've also lowered the bed temperature to 50C and will try slowing the print speed, as even with high tension on the extruder there are problems with slipping.

Just ordered Proto-Pasta carbon PLA, supposedly stiffer than PLA.

[Phil]

Filament name: J260
Filament vendor: igus
Hotend used: V4 PTFE
Nozzle diameter: 0.35mm
Layer height: 0.2mm
Printing temperature: 270C / Bed=100C
Other information: igus is known for bearings. The funny thing for bearing material is that it feels rough and almost gritty, but it is rather hard. I had slight delamination, so I would recommend a higher print temperature, probably 280C.

[Phil]

How does the ninja flex work?
Is it pretty durable yet flexible?
Does it create any hassles to the M2?
thanks!

See my post "Butt Pad" under "Printed Object Showcase". I found it fairly easy to print, and it does seem durable; time will tell. I use a 0.50mm nozzle.

[Phil]

Filament name: Brassfill
Filament vendor: ColorFabb
Hotend used: V4 PTFE
Nozzle diameter: 0.35mm Stainless Steel
All settings are the same as PLA.

This stuff is a little weird. As the extruder clears over free space, the filament is dense so it falls away from the nozzle and does not retain itself in a thread. You end up with a pile of poop on top of the Rambo case instead of a string hanging from the bed. (This might be because I print it on the high-side of PLA temperatures, though.)
It does print just like PLA, though. Printed objects are essentially very heavy, but quite brittle PLA.
Getting it to look like brass is the next step. I tried sanding, tumbling with brass .45 cases, scrubbing with Brasso, and a brass-bristled brush. The brush is most effective, as you can see from the photos.

[psd]

Filament name: ABS
Filament vendor: [unknown, sample roll]
Hotend used: V3b
Nozzle diameter: 0.5mm
Layer height: 0.2mm
Printing temperature: 240C
Other information: evaluation of an unnamed vendor for a 3rd party, filament had a lot of moisture in it. 0.2mm z-hop, 2mm retract @ 40mm/sec. Bed was ABS-juiced Kapton tape.

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when you say 2mm retract @ 40 mm/sec, are you talking about retraction speed?

any other settings to tweet for ABS?

thanks