Printing with FLEX (TPU) on my PRUSA MINI +
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 4 มิ.ย. 2024
- Can you print flexible filament on a stock Prusa mini + ?
Today we are putting a reel of flexible filament through my bone stock Prusa Mini+. Follow along to see what parts we create along with the pros and cons of this material. 3D printed flex parts have a variety of applications and we view some of them in this video!
0:00 Introduction
1:20 Material loading
1:59 Cable clip
4:05 Connector covers
6:05 RC car tyre
8:20 Stress ball
10:29 Mechanical timing belt
12:26 Material overview
Drop a comment below and let me know what you think about flexible filament? Please also let me know how I could improve TPU filament on the Prusa machine !
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Try setting it to print one complete piece before moving onto the other in print settings. Avoid crossing perimeters helps to eliminate stringing as well.
Excellent video. Thanks man!
Hi Hayden, Appreciate the feeback. Im glad you liked it !
Try upping your retraction to reduce stringing. Also I believe Prusa recommend recalibrating the first layer height if you flip the bed. That might explain the prints coming loose.
Hey Brandon, Yes I think thats where my stringing issues are coming from !! I will be looking into this for sure. Your point about flipping the bed is an interesting one, I really wasnt expecting poor adhesion with this material.
Thank you Mason for covering this topic!
It is great that you show your success and you challenges with TPU. Stringing and bed adhesion issues can be annoying, but they are generally solvable.
You can reduce stringing by setting Z-Lift to 0, set all print speeds to 1 value (e.g. 20 mm/s), set retraction to 2mm (or to disabled) and check the recommended temperature (e.g. 220 degrees). Make sure to keep TPU filament dry, it's best to use a filament storage box or drybox while printing. What can also help with printing TPU on a Prusa Mini is using the Bondtech upgrade kit (dual drive extruder + heatbreak).
Have you tried printing with a raft/brim to improve bed adhesion? Can you test different raft/brim settings (patterns, number of layers, etc)?
Hey,
Thanks for the comment and info.
Stringing is definitley one of the areas I want to improve, I will run through the changes you have mentioned and see what the results are like. A storage/dryer box is also on my list, I havent felt the need for one yet, but it may be time to invest in one! Ive heard many good things about the bondtech and I can see it being an upgrade down the line when I get some more hours on this machine.
I most definitley need to spend some more time digging into the machine settings to fully understand print speeds and retraction. I think this will help with the problems mentioned.
Once again, thanks for the feedback!
Thank you Sir. I've been looking at the Mini and this is good information. 73
Hi Michael,
No Problem, im glad It helps !
Great video! Nice to see how stock you ran your printer. Great!
Still stock for now..... maybe some upgrades in the future :)
Thanks for the video. Hard to find any other videos that print TPU on a Prusa Mini. I've had mine for over a year and been afraid to even try TPU due to all the rumors of TPU not working well on Boden Tube (non-direct drive) printers. Definately going to try it now thanks to your video. (and new subscribe!)
Hi Bryan, Im very glad this video has helped. Lots of people have different opinions and experiences with the Prusa mini and sometimes it just needs to be tried for yourself! Good luck with the printing and thanks for the subscription.
Happy you didn't have any trouble loading tpu. I wasn't so lucky.
What issues did you have ? Did you get a clog ?
I run 40mms speed on everything and 8mm retraction. You should slice to reduce retractions with perimeters/ maybe not fill gaps depending on the print. Small parts are harder printing at lower temps helps I run 218 mostly. This video was light on slicer settings details. Always use gluer stick.
Best to print one part at a time if using materials like TPU and others prone to stringing. Otherwise adjust retraction settings. Increased retraction speed and distance too. Great vid thanks. 👍🏼
Thanks for the feedback, some good information there ! Going to revisit this material at some point and see what improvements I can get!
Thanks for sharing. I'm about to test printing some gaskets. Ordered some Sunlu TPU and am really curious how this will turn out on the mini.
Any other adjustments you made to the printer? I read some advice about loosening the idler on the extruder?
Hey there, I made absolutley no adjustments to the printer. I took extra care in loading the material but aside from that it was all textbook tips I had taken from the website.
How did you get on with it in the end? A gasket is a cool idea, interested to hear how that performed ?
@@MasonsWorkshop Yep, all went good. Meanwhile printed some other stuff (like bottle caps) and the Prusa Mini is performing amazingly well (the Sunlu I use is a 95A). Option that made a huge difference to avoid strings was the "avoid crossing perimeters".
I have recently started trying to print with TPU on my Mini. It hasn't gone all that well and I'm assuming partly wet filament mostly because of the amount of stringing sort of like how some of your failed prints look. I also noticed you're using the smooth satin sheet to print on and while I have a satin sheet long story short I've been using the PEI sheet without issues using ASA filament. TPU on the PEI sheet almost welds itself. I haven't ruined the sheet yet ripping the PEI coating, but I'm assuming the smooth satin sheet will not stick at all. The satin sheet "naturally" has low adhesion?
Hey there,
I do not have a satin sheet yet, only the smooth and textured! But adhesion can be a big issue with the TPU filament. My biggest help was using glue stick as a barrier between the part and the bed. This helped as a way to keep small parts firmly located but also allow separation when finished! Give the gluestick a try and this should help!
What slicer settings are you using? A snapshot of the slicer screen would've been nice.
Thanks for the comment, Just seen this! I have made a note and will include this in future videos!
Your results are infinitely better than my own test on my Prusa Mini (using Ninjaflex) - are you just using the standard TPU profile in PrusaSlicer and modifying the infill? Any info would be a great help! Thanks for sharing this!
Hi there, I added the Filamentium flexfill preset to the prusa slicer and altered none of the settings. All that was changed was the infill !
@@MasonsWorkshop Thanks, that gives me the confidence to load up that TPU spool again and experiment some more! Much appreciated!
@@PeranMe Not a problem !! I’m glad I could help
hey, I have same printer and same filament. Some time ago I printed something and was quite good result. Now for some reason the gear that moves the filament into the nuzzle it is just no able to pull it in during the printing, only during the loading sees to go ok.
Any idea why this can happen?, the printer is printing PTEG and PLA without problem.
Hey Dani,
I could suggest checking the Idler screw tensioner, this would have an effect on the moving of the filament through the machine. On the Prusa website it is recommended to loosen this for FLEX due to it being a softer material.
@@MasonsWorkshop hey, thanks for the answer. I ended up in that documentation and tried already, unfortunately with no much success, I wonder if I need to loosen it much, I tried around one complete loop of the screw.
Hi Brandon, i think your print speed are too fast, try to print at 15-20mm/s. for TPU, if you print at higher temperature, the wall/perimeter are not looking smooth and shine, so you have to print at the lower temperature, the match temperature can be known by printing temperature tower for tpu from 195 up to 215 by 5deg increment. and if you found that the perimeter outer and inner are not bond, try to increase multiplier. and for retraction, if you use retraction, you can use 8-11mm distance and spped 15-35mm/s for retract and deretract. hope it help
Do you have a link for the stress ball? Quite freaky, would be awesome for my desk at work!
Hi there, I cant find the link online, but if you drop me an email I will send the file!
i see you getting the preview on the screen from the mini, i never get this when i design something
how do you do it ?
I have never actually changed the settings for this! It always been on my machine since I got it. This is the + version so all I could suggest is making sure everything is up to date !
I tried to print with a flexible PTU filament, and when I wanted to load the filament, I did not find the PTU in the list on the screen of prusa mini. How do I add the PTU to the list? please
I think you may need to add it to your library on prusa slicer, there should be plenty of information online about doing this! best of luck
Hey! Could you share the info for the light bar you installed on it?
Hey Alex,
Sure thing, here is the prusa link with all model information and where to buy the accessories:
www.printables.com/model/44341-led-light-bar-prusa-mini
Incase you havent seen, there is a video on my channel capturing the full print, build & installation of the lightbar !
@@MasonsWorkshop Thanks!
Did you get your printer direct from Prusa. I've just found your channel, I was researching mac industries welding tables but as always with an interesting channel I'm working my way through your vids, oh and where did you get the threaded bar you used for your stool.thanks Mason and keep up the good work.
Hi Roland,
Yes I purchased my printer straight from Prusa in the middle of the pandemic which meant it had a super long lead time. I recommend purchasing through them though, great customer service and will always help if you have any issues.
Im glad you are enjoying the channel, great to hear that people like the videos. The threaded rod I purchased through eBay! FYI the mac industries tables are great, couldn’t be without it now.
@@MasonsWorkshop thanks for prompt reply and really appreciate any advice.
What kind of glue did you use
Just a standard Pritt stick, any hobby glue stick should work well !
retraction and speed fix the stringing
Also printing TPU with the smooth bed surface with glue stick is much better i print alot with TPU making drone parts get your hands on sain smart TPU there is no better than that and TPU does print better with a direct drive set up than a bowen style.
Hey there, thanks for the recommendation. I will have to give that filament a try. I’ve heard a lot about a direct drive set up being beneficial so it may be something I look into👍🏻 thanks for the info
Did I miss it or did you not even squeeze the stress ball....
With the infill I selected this thing was rock solid!! Better off being used as a baseball 😅
my mini+ jams with tpu :/
Have you managed to resolve your issues yet ?
@@MasonsWorkshop no :/ even with different profile from a prusa mini+ that prints perfect in tpu if you want i can give to you to try maybe you are lucky
@@kokoblokoFPV Send me the STL file and if its not too big ill give printing it a go !