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Trying Out the New Innofil3D EPR PET Filament
17 Aug2015
Time to share our first impressions from printing with the new Innofil3D EPR PET 3D printer filament that we told you about last month. The recommended print temperature of the Innofil3D EPR PET filament is somewhere in between 200 and 230 degrees Celsius, so we have tested in that whole range to see what will be the results. The printing speeds that are recommended are between 40 and 100 mm/s and we had no trouble printing at the highest point with smaller details and higher resolution. The EPR PET filament should be printable without heated build platform, but if HBP is available the recommended temperature to use is between 75 and 85 degrees Celsius. We were able to print 3D models just fine without turning on the heated build plate of the printer, though the use of HBP might help prevent warping of edges when doing large and more complex prints the same way as with PLA. The glass transition temperature of the ERP PET material is listed as 62 degrees Celsius or maybe slightly higher than the 55 degrees of an average PLA, though some PLA filaments may go as high as up to about 65. This is the temperature when the material starts to soften, so similar to PLA this filament is also not suitable for use when high ambient temperatures are expected.
We are using our trustworthy MakerBot Replicator 2 3D printer for printing and are doing our typical test using a simple 3D model of a house (Monopoly style) printed at various extruder temperatures with 0.2 mm layer height as well as printing a 1×1 cm cube with 0.1 mm layer height to compare the accuracy of the printed part to that of the same model printed from PLA. Innofil3D is positioning the EPR PET filament as an alternative to the most common PLA filament for 3D printers and although they are pretty similar in terms of specifications. Though Innofil3D notes that there might be some areas where their new filament could perform slightly better than normal PLA making the EPR PET an easier to print material and with better resulting prints.
What you can see on the image above is the results we got from our simple house test prints using various temperatures of the extruder. At 200 degrees Celsius the house did not print like that, but it seems that the temperature is too low for proper interlayer adhesion, so while we were removing the house from the printer build platform it started to cleanly break at various layers. At temperature of 210 degrees Celsius there were no longer any problems with interlayer adhesion like with the lower temperature and the best quality results we got were in between 210 and 215 degrees. Going with temperature of 220 degrees Celsius and higher the resulting 3D prints were still very good, but visually they had some small imperfections compared to the result we got at about 210-215. So for best quality and to avoid interlayer adhesion issues the 210-215 degrees Celsius seems to be working best with the Innofil3D EPR PET filament, at least for us on our Replicator 2 3D printer. The other test for the shrinkage of the material after printing has shown that the ERP PET 3D filament has very minimal shrinking just like PLA does, so that makes it suitable for more accurate prints and less problematic in terms of possible warping unlike when using ABS for example.
What is our conclusion about the ERP PET 3D printer filament after doing some test prints with it, well we consider it as a very good alternative to traditional PLA filament. It has very similar properties and ease of use, provides very good printing quality and even has some advantages. It prints well at higher extrusion speeds for smaller details, but good PLA does that as well, in terms of resolution and appearance it performs like a good PLA filament and probably better than cheaper PLA filaments. There is a bit of a catch however in terms of good layer adhesion and good quality, you need to use the right printing temperature to get these, if you don’t then you may end up with worse results than with PLA. The best working temperature for ERP PET seems to be a bit lower than what we are used to working with with most PLA filaments, that is if you really want to get the best quality and avoid problems with layer adhesion, but don’t go too low either. In terms of strength the ERP PET filament has some advantage over PLA, though it may not be as strong as material as ABS for example and with a price that is just slightly higher than that of normal PLA the Innofil3D EPR PET filament could really end up being an interesting alternative to traditional PLA filaments.
– For additional information about the ERP PET 3D printer filament visit Innofil3D…
3devo NEXT 1.0 – NEXT Level Filament Extruder
12 Aug2015
3devo NEXT 1.0 is a new professional and affordable solution to creating your own 3D printing filament or recycling materials and failed prints into filament. The company just launched their crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter with a goal of 50000 Euro. There are already some technical information about the filament maker and there is a pretty good looking and working prototype shown. But until the device is finalized there should be some improvements and more features hopefully available. The project looks promising, though there is more to be desired at this stage, but if you are interested in getting yourself a filament maker machine, then you would probably want to keep an eye on this one as well.
NEXT 1.0 Key Features:
– Superior filament quality
– Ease of use
– Unparalleled performance
– Unlimited 3D printing filament;
– Environmentally friendly solution to recycle failed 3D prints, plastic bottles and many other plastic items that would irresponsibly end up in the trash
NEXT 1.0 Technical Specifications:
– Dimension (with hopper): 506x216x540 mm (LxWxH)
– Dimension (no hopper): 506x216x448 mm (LxWxH)
– Color: Blank anodized / black powder coated
– Input material: ABS, PLA and other materials
– Operating temperature: Up to 500 degrees Celsius
– Extruder screw: Hardened nitride steel with compression zone
– Extrude diameter: 0,5 – 3,0 mm
– Diameter sensor accuracy: 43 micron
– Capacity: 1kg/hour
– Power: 110 / 240 V
– Connection: USB, Stand-Alone filament extruder
There is talk about recycling materials and turning them into brand new filament with this filament maker, however the device does not come with a grinder to help you in making the plastics into small pieces just like pellets. This is actually one of the drawbacks that many filament extruders have as they are most interesting for users to be used for recycling and making new filament instead of buying plastics pellets and making your own filament. Another important moment is the price, it seems that the regular price of the device will be 1850 Euro, so actually not so affordable compared to other alternatives especially if you will have to get a separate plastic grinder as well. Aside from the early bird units that will offer lower price and earlier availability, normal Kickstarter backers as well as people that may order the device after the crowdfunding campaign is over will have to wait to at least March 2016 to get their device.
– For more details about the 3devo NEXT 1.0 – NEXT Level Filament Extruder on Kickstarter…
Magigoo, an Upcoming 3D Printing Adhesive
8 Aug2015
Magigoo is an upcoming easy to use 3D printing adhesive designed to address “the first layer not sticking problem” – pretty much the most common problem found in Fused Filament Fabrication (FFF) 3D printing. This problem occurs when the print does not stick well and detaches itself from the printing platform ruining itself, that is why perfecting the first layer is vital to get a great foundation for the rest of the print and prevent issues like warping on the edges or failed prints. This will save you valuable time and filament and there are quite a lot of products designed to help you in that, but most of htem are either not universal enough or do not work as well as you’d expect them to.
Magigoo is a product deigned to get the perfect first layer thus assuring perfect prints and it is universal enough to support both PLA and ABS filaments and most likely others as well. But it is not only about having the 3D printer part stick well to the build plate, but also to be easily removable after the print is finished and Magigoo should help with that as well. It has maximum adhesive properties at the operating temperature of both PLA and ABS filaments and allows for the print to be easily detached upon completion once the print has cooled down making 3D printing a lot easier and problem free.
The Magigoo 3D printing adhesive should come in an easy to use applicator making it very straightforward to apply onto the build plate for a hundred or so prints. Note that the adhesive paste must be allowed to dry completely before starting to print and it can be easily cleaned with water after the print is finished. An applicator bottle of Magigoo should be compatible with various printing surfaces and should be at an affordable price when it becomes available very soon.
– For more details about the upcoming Magigoo 3D printing adhesive…