rhymeandreason

@NachoKaoS That sounds awesome! What do you mean by 'nozzle with filter'? Is this different from what is provided with the Filabot? And, can't wait to see prints made from plastic bottles!

Is the Fila Flex different from the flex pla? Like, more flexy?? I found after some initial frustration that putting sewing machine oil on the flex pla helps it move through the bowden tube. Fila Flex has some lovely colors, would love to try on the UM2!

I see that on the colofabb site, there is the coarse wood filament, and also 'fine' wood filament http://colorfabb.com/6-woodfill-fine-175.html Description says .4mm nozzle, but it's 1.75mm filament. The photos look amazing! Was there a typo in the description, or will there also be a 3mm 'fine' filament that works with .4mm nozzles?

@Daid Aw that is too bad about the international orders for Filabots. Indeed, international shipping is way higher than most people expect, and it varies extremely from country to country. The Kickstarter Filabot was only $350? Wow they must have been cutting it close to ship at that price. Since it looks like the machine might be double that price when it's for sale, perhaps it's worth asking whether they would extend the original price + international shipping to the original backers once they figure things out? @NachoKaoS Thank you for sharing the Filastruder! Neat that it works well. I might get one to try over the holidays, since the kit is not too expensive. Have you tried any plastics other than ABS? I'm hoping to make filament by recycling bottles, and would also like a spool winder, so that's why the Filabot looks extra promising.

It looks like Filabot is shipping now. (At least you can get the 'wee' edition) http://www.filabot.com/ And they're even selling filament and pellets. Almost all ABS, although there is some PLA in pellet form on their site-- http://www.filabot.com/collections/frontpage/products/pla-pellets Super curious--Has anyone tried? @Daid, has your fablab gotten their kickstarter machine yet? The blog says they shipped

You basically have to tear the print off of the cardboard. But if you soak it in water, you can scrub the paper off. If you're printing something small, you might get away with using paper tape (sand it first). Another update...Finding that retraction helps, but it just doesn't work as well as with PLA. So it's probably figuring out retraction settings to work with nylon. Currently it doesn't look like you can make the retraction go faster on the machine settings, but I suppose that might get fixed at some point. I'm sure there are people who know how to work with extruded nylon...like from real industrial applications. Insight appreciated!

Update-- Corrugated cardboard works super well! Sand it a little to remove any wax that's on the cardboard surface. You'll need a new sheet of cardboard for every print, it sticks that well.

I've been printing with Taulman 618. It's awesome as a material-- really strong, flexible, and fairly inexpensive. Also, you can print really fast with it without issues. (I've been printing around 80 mm/s) The hardest part is getting it to stick to the bed. Heat makes no difference. Agree that the thing that seems to work best is craft paper, except you have to make the paper stiff enough. Also have tried: birch wood (okay) sanded masonite board (quite good) garolite (didn't work for me) I'm going to try glueing the craft paper to the wood The other issue is threading. Retraction doesn't work. Actually it prints better without retraction. What happens is that nylon 'pulls out', because it is formulated to approximate silk. So you get a bunch of threads that are soft and strong...they don't pull off, you need an exacto knife. I think the threading can be solved. Until then, someone should try printing a toothbrush! ;D

I tried some PET from MakerGeeks a couple weeks ago. It was a bit tricky...layer lamination issues, but that should just be fiddling with the settings. (maybe overextrude a bit?) Also, I have the U2, and the PET filament is quite soft. The extruder motor grinds a bit hard on it, so it was chewing at the filament too much. It's very strong! I got enough printed to have a piece to fiddle with. I've had much better luck with Nylon. (will write more in another post) Also I hear that you can get the Taulman T-glase to be more transparent if you get the settings right http://www.taulman3d.com/buy-t-glase-3mm.html (currently on backorder)

I think I would put a .8mm nozzle as the 'second' nozzle, and use that for certain materials or printing vases fast. To me that is more useful than printing 2 colors. Or, even if you have two .4mm nozzles, you could use the second one just for abs or nylon, which are higher temperatures. I don't have a second nozzle installed, but I've been trying different materials and I notice switching between them is tricky. The wood filament looks great! Is it stronger than the laywood filament? I like how it's lighter color. Would be good for making mini furniture.