Things you should know about flexible filaments and Nylon
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.พ. 2018
- I'm sure you've seen the range of flexible filaments and Nylon / PA-based ones - but what are they good for? How should you print them? Well, let me explain.
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4:15 The subtitles and music really complete the slow closeup montage of printer setup.
Love love love ur channel it helps so much with all my 3D printing problems, keep up the good work
Your video's are really really good, informative and made very well. Love the TV production quality you have in this series. Thanks for sharing.
I have printed motorcycle carburetor seals in TPU and have not had any issues. Very handy when the parts are no longer available and you need an instant fix.
Invaluable series Tom, hugely appreciated.
Never printed with nylon, yet, mostly due to it absorbing moisture so fast and becoming unprintable. But I will make a dry-box soon and then give it a try.
This appears wonderful! Cannot simply wait to notice a lot more like this. Great job.
You touched on a subject I've been kinda interested in near the end, when you mentioned mixing TPU with other materials in multi-extrusion setups. I'd be pretty keen on a material compatability video someday that explores printing materials with or on top of layers of other materials.
I'd really like to see that. The 45D (95A) TPU I''ve got for my Ultimaker 3 does NOT bond with PLA :(
Would be great to know what rigid filaments I can combine effectively with the flexible stuff.
Punished Props Academy did a printed robot glove with pla finger bones, and tpu joints
@@alistairwick521 TPU bonds with pla pretty well for me i use hatchbox
Great series, Thomas.
I'm doing a lot of TPU in ninjaflex of late. One really good tip for dealing with it over adhering to the bed: a really, really light coat of baby powder. Put a very small (less than 1/4 teaspoon) on the bed, and wipe it all off with a paper towel. You'll find that you get a good adhesion, but it is easy to remove. You don't even want to see the powder.
I'm doing this on my Prusa Mk2s and it works like a charm.
Another thing, I am using both the ninjatek ninjaflex and the armadillo materials and, in both cases, one thing I really like about them is the layer adhesion. Instead of having to worry so much about how the part will deal with stress and breaking along layers, I find that the layers are so much better than anything I'd print in ABS/PLA/ASA are so much better - and less prone to failure because of support or warping issues - that it easily outweighs the costs.
Finally, a warning... when a print fails and you are using something like the armadillo filament ("hard tpu") , if you end up with a huge glob of plastic covering the print head, it's a real disaster. Had this happen once. The stickiness and rigidity made it almost impossible to remove without destroying the wires to the hotend. Plus, in my case, it got in to the recessed screws and was impossible to clean them up to where I could do anything.
I had one major example of this happen once and I replaced the entire hotend. I'd recommend one of those silicone hotend socks that e3d sells. Had a *tiny* bit of a problem once after installing that and it was super easy to clean up from.
John : Thank you for your excellent thoughts and experiences, very helpful information. I run those socks on my Ender 3 pro, saved my bacon a few times in cleanup. Overture TPU prints very nicely on my machine, slowly and with little to no bed heating. All the best !
I am amused that people with experience manages to make blobs on their hotend. You need to seal completely where the hotend meets the heatbreak and silicone socks are mandatory to avoid disasters
Excellent points, well presented. And humor. Thom, excellent camera work. Love your videos. Shows me Soo much.
Thanks...your videos are always very helpful!
Good job, thank you for the insightful information.
Awesome video, thanks for putting in the effort
Loving this series, keep up the good work! 😁
4:00-5:00 "I've got a camera with great Bokah and I'm gonna prove it!". Well done!
👍
You crack me up. Pretty much my fav 3D printing channel!
Tom your videos get better and better! Keep up the good work! Loved the whole sensual part😂
Loves this entire series!!!
Very helpful videos! Thanks man
Yeah, TPUs LOVE the bed (Ninjaflex style; 85A). I've been printing parts slightly off the bed with support everywhere / raft, since taking a knife to TPU could end with gouge marks on the under side from getting it off the bed... Soldering iron / wood branding iron can fix most issues post-print!
I used tpu to print a gas cap lanyard for my car. I had to purchase special extruder hardware and yes, slower printing. I love it though. I ueed the same filament to print a cover for my lattepanda as well. Lovely stuff.
I just finished a 96h print with TPU. I had to start multiple runs due different reasons, clogging was one of them. I switched from my default 0.4 to a 0.6 mm nozzle and 40mm/s print speed and had no more problems. In general, the 0.6mm nozzle with TPU still has great details but much less clogging chances.
Great video. I recently tried NinjaTek Cheetah and it's one of the weirder filaments I've tried. I used a profile for PETG and adjusted cooling and bed temperature a tiny bit and it prints amazingly well at speeds around 60mm/s with retraction and everything while still being just a tad stiffer than Ninjaflex TPU which I've never been able to print at more than 20mm/s on my Ultimaker 2+.
Is that the new powder coated textured spring sheet? Dam. I'm jealous.
It is common practice to soak finished nylon parts in a water bath for up to 24 hours to bring them to their final state prior to packaging and distribution/usage. This is specifically an issue with parts which may be used under load of some sort.
I know of this practice. (Some of my friends used to do this with their Top Flite nylon props. (As if these weren't floppy enough to begin with...) However, if the surroundings where the part is used, are extremely dry, that won't help for long.
Hi Tom,
I've been watching your Channel quite some time, keep up the great work.
Maybe you have a hint for me, I also already have the Prusa MK3 and quite a hard time printing flexibles. Looking at Prusas Forum, I seem not to be the only one. Could you share some insights on how you printed the flexibles on the MK3?
Cheers
Tim
I have been mixing taulman bridge nylon with PETG (in a mixing extruder) to improve performance with a lot success. Get far less warping and better stabilization...
Really great video!!
TPU Is fun. I got a roll instead of PLA by accident figured Id give it a go with my CR-10. Printed a test cube i had on the card already at PLA settings on glass before I new any better. It actually printed very well. I then spent half a roll of Orange PLA before I got all of the black TPU out of the hot end. To this day I'm not sure its all gone. :)
TPU can be printed directly on clean glassplate, just at a brim, that helps it with sticking to the bed.
I was wondering if Nylon was for me. Its not. Thanks for another informative video Tom.
very informative thanks.
I got a sample of TPU from a friend. I was afraid to use it because i've heard that it bind with PEI. Someone posted a video of him putting a very thin layer of baby powder on the PEI bed before printing. Wipe it off with a dry paper towel so you can't see it. It works very well. TPU still stick to the bed but will be easy to remove at the end.
Thanks for sharing 😀👍
Hi Tom
Very nice (the bottle movement and outcome) video. Do you plan to have a specific focus later on polymide Copa from polymaker? Probably i didn't get it right but I thought it was supposed to revolutionized the way we print nylon?
Thank you Tom!
This is the video I've been waiting for. Nylon, my personal Everest in the FDM (I refuse to say FFF!) world. We've been through over a hundred kilos in the last year. Where do I start? There are so many property differences between the various Nylon and Nylon-with-extras filaments we've used. Such a great material, but you're spot on - SLOW DOWN.
Tips:
Spend time dialing in your coast/wipe (especially wipe). Direct drive extruder will work best, and keep retraction low (2mm or lower for sure for most parts, we are using .9 as a baseline).
Absolutely must use an enclosure (drafts of any size are your enemey).
Don't skimp on the PVA, you'll be impressed by the curl/lift otherwise.
Drying the Nylon is a MUST, if you see steam coming off the nozzle end, dry it more. Although, I haven't seen the need to keep it in a dry box while printing as we're in a climate controlled environment with low humidity anyway (indoors, in southern FL). We can dry a roll of Alloy 910 or Bridge and then use it for several days without needing to dry again.
Highest speed X/Y movement your machine can handle before adding corners to your circles (an absolute must to combat stringing).
UNFORTUNATELY:
Personally, I've had more issues with varying Nylon filament diameter per roll than anything else.
HOWEVER:
What a fantastic capability, to be able to produce parts out of the various Nylons and blends out there. Also makes something like PETG seem like child's play in comparison.
Good luck!
Hi Dennis,
Thanks for sharing these useful tips; my next challenge is to make parts in Nylon too. Starting with Taulman3d 645 & 910, but will also try DuPont Zytel 3D1000FL...
Any chance you could share which printer/nozzle/bed type, and slicer you are using?
Also you say "slow down", but then "Highest speed X/Y movement your machine can handle". Can you clarify this?
Thanks, Ken
Ken Henderson Slow while extruding, fast when moving to new extrusion start point. Hopefully you have the extrusion points near each other and a 100mms or better travel speed - this will take care of a whole host of possible stringing issues. Depending on the part a wipe move can help too.
Nice video! Lots of good information. I noticed the printing temperature of the TPU was set to 230°C and this pushed me to share my experience with printing TPU with my bowden setup. I print sainsmart which is a popular choice by all accounts. The recommended printing temperature is 195 to 230°C, but I found it will only print somewhat reliably around 220°C for me. There is a sweet spot where the TPU flows enough that it won't buckle in the hotend that easily, and where it will not start degrading too much. When heated above this temperature, it starts to very quickly leave residues inside the hotend that will eventually clog it up. Even with 220°C printing temperature, I need to do a few cold pulls to clean up the nozzle before every print. I would love to print at lower temperature because it also gives a more consistent surface quality (that shiny surface that the unextruder filament has), but then the bowden extruder (titan in my case) has a very hard time pushing it through consistently and it eventually slows down, and as a result degrades and clogs.
Regarding the process, I found that having (as you said) no retracts and an absolutely constant speed of around 20mm/s works best. It is important that the filament doesn't stall into the hotend or you will get these residues that will lead to clogging. Hope this information will be useful to someone and I wish you a very nice evening!
Valentin: Thank you for the great information, I concur with your experiences, I use Overture TPU, an excellent material on my Ender 3 Pro, all metal extruder, Capricorm PTFE bowden tube, little to no bed heat ( 50 to stick 1st layer ), Speed same as you, 210 Temp, my key aspect is a well maintained and clean machine, ( for all print jobs) we do car parts and gaskets mostly, and lots of home projects too. All the best !
Great as usual, though I'd have appreciated some more love for soft PLAs
How do you print these materials? slowly, methodically, and sensually. Well said Tom, well said indeed.
I'm still a noob but so far tpu is my favorite material. It's easy to print and strong as hell. I've had good success with 95a, 85a and mild success with ninjaflex. I think nylon is the only material I haven't yet tried out that works on my printer.
Great info Tom. I love my PEI over Borosilicate glass for printing PLA, Can I use something on PEI to make printing TPU practical? I don't want to have to remove my Glass if I don't have to and I don't want to ruin the PEI.
Ive had good luck with printing SainSmart TPU on smooth polyimide tape
Hi! Thanks for all this detailed videos! Do you think its possibly to print nylon in a Creality Cr10S Pro?
I wish I watched that episode earlier, Tom !
For now, I didn't have any "request" to print parts using nylon family filaments. I might have to experiment with it first, considering all the prerequisites (temperatures, enclosure, all-metal vs Teflon-lined ?).
TPU happens, though. Often, mostly 95A hardness. I print this one straight on a glass bed with constant speed (specific profile @ 30mm/s), Capricorn tubing on a Bowden-type extruder, and it pops off quite easily. (I'd like to try softer materials for fun, though)
The only annoying thing with TPU is cleaning part. Not really easy. Maybe some heatgun post-processing could help ? What would be your best advice ?
My Prusa Mk3 spaghettied on TPU I cut a new bit of PTFE tubing slightly longer and put a 45-degree cut either side, then opened up the hole a bit at the top side then placed it as near to the gears as possible. It's been fine since.
Thomas, when I print flexible I use lower speeds but I also increase the flow up to 150% with cura (1.5 with Simplify 3d), if I don't do that due to the bending of the filament the extrusion is not consistent.
BTW great series of videos, I'm learning a lot
If you have to use that much flow increase you should make sure that your filament spool isn’t encountering any resistance to its movement. I had filament sitting on the floor and when I moved it to above the printer that really helped.
Also you should check the clamping force on your extruded gears. Make sure that the gear isn’t slipping when it extrudes the filament.
Head gaskets are MLS (multi layered steel) not TPU lol
My TPU seems to where to build tak like pla maybe slightly less. Which is good! I found 1.5-2 mm retraction better than off completely.
Family-friendly Tom.
Crap is a technical term, though, right?
demonetized!
and 2 strikes for no good reason
You're talking about that family friendly tongue with the strategically placed hole, aren't you?
Hey there Thomas. What spray adhesive are you using in this video? Thanks in advance
Tech and Toy Stuff I think it was from printer pro since it was sponsored so you know product placement
put a shrink wrap on your extruder gear and crank up the flow rate by 30-50% - the slippage provides constant pressure rather than trying to perfectly chew thru a calculated flow! Works Wonders. I've been bowden printing tpu like this for over a year.
David Kraft Clever :)
This should be age gated
I wondered why. then I saw the editing at 4:00... xD Great Thomas. Kopfkino!
Taulman sells a special CA glue that will glue nylon. Works fairly well, but it's expensive.
Sensual printing 4:00
What type of Mic do you use and where is it located? The sound quality/levels from where you normally stand to when you walked over to the shelf to get the glue were flawless
Could you do a video about diode smoothing, does it actually work?
Printer with direct drive being built. TPU on the list!
I found this of a lot of use since i have my first roll of TPU on it’s way.
But as for hotends, i have a creality CR-10S, while replacing the hot end looks like childs play, I’m not overly sure of how to change the software to be aware it can go past temps of 260c. How about a nice slow video covering that aspect for us slow learners.
4:01 Epic!
i use ABS juice for my nylon and it sticks well to my glass bead but you still need a lot of heat for the bead and an enclosed print service
How do you hold your glass to your bed? You do a great job on the videos keep it up. I seen you doing something with glass but then later it seems you don't use glass.
nice video, the lightest (from all) stuff what is it? and what the lightest hardest (from all) stuf?
Hi Tom. After noting your comments about a full metal hotend when printing flexibles I'm a bit worried about my Prusa MK3 now!..The Noctua hotend fan is nice and quiet BUT doesn't create much of and airflow past the fins of the E3D heat sink. Do you think that a Mk3 will be able to print TPU?? in a chamber?
Solid video! I mean....flexible video!
You can use acetate surface sheets for lower temp stuff.
HI Tom, Interesting video.
My question is, can we bake flexible filament? If yes, then what temp and duration. Actually my prints are coming out brittle, which causing easily breakable.
Hello great video but I have 1 question :)
What ist the preparation in 4:03?... i tested print TPU fiberlogy 40D on PEI bed , it was be good but the object dont get down from this PEI bed.... have you any tips? :)
Thanks
Thomas from Slovakia :D
Hey Tom, can my lulzbot mini print flexible material? Also how do I adjust the stepper motor E-Steps? It seems to be over printing in each axis my .2 mm
thanks
What filament would you advise for printing something like the sole of a shoe, or {flip flop}, and also for phone cases that aren't 'too' rigid but have 'some' flex
Nice informative video en nice editing too!! Like the elevator music in the background.
Really? I found the background music distracting and annoying.
+4tmorris feedback is always appreciated - I'll try to do better next time!
Try death metal vocals.
OMG I brought up the topic of music... oops .. my bad! :-)
Im fighting TPU for the last 4 days, and it seems i may finally have success... even though everybody recommended low temperatures for the print bed my realy breakthrough was with 110° C on the bed. I maybe do have to say, that the tpu i used was baked and is maybe 1 and a half year old now... i cannot figure out why this stuff wont stick... even with ABS juice i had no chance unless i pumped up the temperature of the bed
I am wondering about Nylon spools. Would it be best to store those in Vacuum storage bags like the ones used to store clothes that you use a home vacuum cleaner to suck out the air of the bag?
I once tried to feed nylon draw tape through my K8200, because the diameter was 3 mm. It didn't work, seemingly because the extruder just couldn't get any traction on it. Do you reckon it'll work better if I bake it first?
outstanding quality at 4:00
Have a Prusa i3 MK3 with the powder coated build plate. Can I print TPU directly on it? If not, what should I use on top of the build plate?
I wonder what fillament that is most rubbery on its surface. U know, what filament i can use for RC tiers
I set mine to retract at layer change only.
Do you have any Information on TPU with regard to potential safety hazards during printing.
i have read that its very safe after cooling some manufacturers even claim medical grade, but i didnt find any studies on the gasses etc. produced when the material is still hot.
I hope you can help me or at least have some clues where this information could be found.
I don't know if you tried to refer to a specific video but I just recently saw a video of somebody testing TPU as a head gasket material for his test enginge in a lawn mower. Turned out neither the cylinder heads made of ABS and PLA nor the TPU head gasket could stand the heat longer than a minute or so.
Printed tpu on bare pei once... That was a good lesson. Too bad we can't make head gasket with it haha but other gaskets or o-rings maybe?
I made a nylon crankcase gasket for my weed eater. Still rocking!
I printed two seals for the recirculating pump in my Asko dishwasher out of TPU. They've been working well for three months now.
Hi Thomas,
what's this kind of through-hole piece on the dry-box you showed on the video, where the filament can pass through from inside to outside? Looks like a muff from a watercooling system or something... Can you tell us what part you used and where to get one of those? Want to build a dry-box myself.
That's just simple pneumatic connector, likely something like 1/4" 4 or 6mm. They're NOT watercooling muff's by real name :D
What software do you use to design 3D parts?
I'm currently trying out the Flex98 Filament by Kodak, but as soon as the nozzle reaches a Temperature of about 200°C the Filament starts oozing out slowly.
The recommended Temperature is 235°C so when I try to run with it, it just smears the print constantly.
Any advice?
3:55 So did you search “sensual music” for that part of the video?
I find pouring some isopropyl alcohol on my flexible prints make them much easier to separate from the build plate. I can peel it away with my nails instead of using a chisel.
I print all my tpu filaments with retraction 10mm distance and 120mms speed.... all my printed parts are perfect!!
also I use a bowden setup on my cr10s....
so... experiment before talk...
and try PP filament!
polypropylene
what temp should i use for flex filament?
What About this NylonX from Matterhackers? Any special printing concerns for that?
Sainsmart TPU is a pretty popular TPU filament. Sainsmart recommend 230 C extrusion temperature, although, I’ve noticed 220 C produces prints with a smoother finish.
Actually with a bit of powder smeared on the PEI surface reduces the adhesion over the flex filament; making reasonable of remove.
GeekinaCave what kind of powder are you using? Like baby powder?
Christian Gotsch i saw it on a youtube video used talcum powder over a MK42 heatbed and it work very well. th-cam.com/video/EpECi_j7u1c/w-d-xo.html
Hi, could I ask for a video from you? I would like to get some TPU filament, but I can't figure out which would be good for what I want.
EG: skid resistance, softness, etc. (I can't find any videos that compare the different brands, as flexibles, only for their strength... Which kinda barely applies)
(Fillaween flex?)
Sean Hatton generally resistance to wearing and softness are on the opposite sides of the spectrum. There are wear tests that I believe ninjatek performs but I’m not sure. (I do know they do a lot of other tests on their filaments)
Hi Tom,
Great series with useful information.
About Nylon, what if for some reason, raw spaghetti rigidity was desirable instead of al dente?
Do you know any kind of post-processing / coating one could apply to nylon to avoid moisture absorption?
I thought of trying out XTC-3D on a Nylon part, but the epoxy layer would just crack if the part was bent.
Thanks!
Use a different material in those cases. (PC comes to mind.) PA just WANTS to get into moisture equilibrum with its surroundings, and most coatings will allow for some diffusion of water. PA also has a notoriously difficult surface to get anything to adhere to (unless you want to work with some chemicals of quite dubious health consequences, like formic acid, resorcinol, and, worst of all, cresol.)
What was that spray? Some kind of spray on interface layer?!
I have some TPU 95A and my issue is that it stops extruding
My MK2S prints most of them quite well, except "TPE" when I looked for extra softness......... that thing refuse to stick to the PEI :(
Can you paint or dye flexible filaments? I want to make an art piece with flexible filament, but I can't find anything about how to change flexible filament colour without having paint chip off or rubbing off.
Is it possible to print flexibles with the Standard nozzle of the Prusa i3 or do i need another one?
Same question here...
wait can you print pla onto tpu?
That fucking sequence hahaha I'm rolling.
Just ordered a e3d for my k8400 so i hope I can finally print stuff like this ☺️
One of the best upgrades I ever did for my K8400. The E3Dv6 rocks! The original K8400 nozzle design is just pants!
Im dead. 3:57 normally I watch these videos just for education never for jokes but this had me dying.
Hi Tom,
Do you print nylon in the room where you are yourself?
I mean, don't the fumes make it dangerous to be in the room where you print nylon as I heard the fumes are very carcinogenic.
I am not at all afraid of a incidental print with Nylon now and then, but would it be good to use it as a to go to material when you are making parts a few days a week?
Thanks in advance if you answer this.
Cheers, Brian Dragtstra.
+3d Print Creator Nylon specifically made for 3D printing is different from the Nylon made as weedwhacker line (which is where the "fumes" topic is coming from). Of course, it's going to depend on the exact manufacturer and material and general handling and safety advice still applies.
Thanks Tom.