Printing with colorFabb XT-CF20 - UM2

[neotko 1,417]

Oh I didn't had that with formfutura carbon. I left one open for a month or so and was printing just fine two weeks ago.

[Nicolinux 288]

Oh, I think I left my XTCF-20 open for longer... Maybe that's why it became thicker.

I have a 2kg spool too (which is still sealed). I will measure its thickness first thing before printing. Thanks for the hint!

[LePaul 312]

So fans off, on, steam....how complicated is this stuff!

[Artiz 27]

Alright, nailed it!

Printed with "spiralize" and it is water tight. I think the "real" filament diameter really helped. Tomorrow I will try my first 10 hour print job. Fingers crossed.

But one thing still bothers me. When the print is finished, the nozzle looks like it was smeared in molten filament - one can barely recognize the shape. I guess this is unavoidable right?

 

Now that is a thing of real beauty... way to go @Nicolinux

[Artiz 27]

Carbon filaments drip quite a lot, like wood filaments. To avoid my nozzle getting all dirty I try to keep combing to a minimum and fans off all the time.

Carbon Formfutura and colorfabb are quite prone to get parts drag by the nozzle. I try to make also the first layer very very slow and with a bit more distance than normal so the first layer it's as clean as posible from nozzle dragging. Anyway for long prints I use to just use a tweezers and get the excess from the nozze after 2-3hs or so (ninja style).

 

***Top Tip @neotko***

[Artiz 27]

So fans off, on, steam....how complicated is this stuff!

 

@LePaul... I think you are getting complication confused with the quest for perfection which @Nicolinux has now pretty much achieved with his superb print... all we need now is a summary of settings and procedures from Nicolinux and this thread is pretty much one of the most helpful on this forum... BIG UP Nicolinux... wicked thread!

[Labern 773]

I'm guessing your climate is a bit dryer then mine

It was during winter that this happened but there was a couple of instances with moisture in the bowden when using XT-CF20

[Labern 773]

 

So fans off, on, steam....how complicated is this stuff!

 

@LePaul... I think you are getting complication confused with the quest for perfection which @Nicolinux has now pretty much achieved with his superb print... all we need now is a summary of settings and procedures from Nicolinux and this thread is pretty much one of the most helpful on this forum... BIG UP Nicolinux... wicked thread!

 

Getting reliable consistently good prints is the problem.

[Artiz 27]

 

 

So fans off, on, steam....how complicated is this stuff!

 

@LePaul... I think you are getting complication confused with the quest for perfection which @Nicolinux has now pretty much achieved with his superb print... all we need now is a summary of settings and procedures from Nicolinux and this thread is pretty much one of the most helpful on this forum... BIG UP Nicolinux... wicked thread!

 

Getting reliable consistently good prints is the problem.

 

Agreed... and hopefully @Nicolinux has already recived confirmation from Colorfabb regarding his free lifetime supply of XT CF-20 so that he can now achieve 'reliable consistency'...

Can't get a better free advert than this...

Edited May 3, 2016 by Guest

[Artiz 27]

..perhaps a free Ultimaker wouldn't go amiss either hehe!

[obus3d 8]

Hey looks great!

I had the same issue with my nozzle, it looked like it took a tar bath...:(

 

Alright, nailed it!

Printed with "spiralize" and it is water tight. I think the "real" filament diameter really helped. Tomorrow I will try my first 10 hour print job. Fingers crossed.

But one thing still bothers me. When the print is finished, the nozzle looks like it was smeared in molten filament - one can barely recognize the shape. I guess this is unavoidable right?

 

[Nicolinux 288]

Hehe, there's a story to that...

My 10hr print is still going strong. Looks good so far. I'll have to clean up a bit but the surface rocks so I don't mind.

Right now I am keeping a cautious eye on the big ass filament spool so it doesn't jam knock the printer off the table

I'll post the print settings as soon as I can yank the sd card out of the printer.

[obus3d 8]

Looks ok so far, surface indicates good layer fusing, no visible layer fractures. (except for the lower left?)

But you've got a pretty big thingy going on over there...

Luckily this material can be sanded very nice and smooth

[Nicolinux 288]

Yes I don't know what's up with the lower left but it is not dramatic. The print is nice but quite stringy. After cleanup it will look very good I think.

And here are the print settings. Link

Print temperature 260° and bed temp 70°. I have used 3DLac (hairspray like) and had zero problems with warping.

[Nicolinux 288]

And here are the print settings for the vase (spiralize and solid top unticked). Link

Temp 260° and bed temp 70°. Used 3DLac again.

[Artiz 27]

Yes I don't know what's up with the lower left but it is not dramatic. The print is nice but quite stringy. After cleanup it will look very good I think.

And here are the print settings. Link

Print temperature 260° and bed temp 70°. I have used 3DLac (hairspray like) and had zero problems with warping.

 

Looks great but what is it?

[Nicolinux 288]

This is the one of three bottom parts of a Delta printer. It is a heavily modified version of the 3DR by RichRap. Last year I started to build it - Link.

I sold it soon after because it was too small for my taste. Now I am building another much bigger one. It features a 500mm build height and 260mm build width (round). We ditched the fishing line and switched to V-Slot profiles and magnetic rod ends. I almost got my good friend @onkelgeorg to build another one but he's not sure yet. But I have to print all parts for two more printers anyway because two more friends want one too. One of them, Trung already build his own bigger 3DR version and we have learned a lot from it. So this will be the third version we create.

Which means I have to print this huge ass parts three times each (also top parts which are almost as huge).

[onkelgeorg 36]

... I almost got my good friend @onkelgeorg to build another one but he's not sure yet...

 

first I will finish my Rostock Max V2. When I come to the conclusion that it is crap I will sell it and build your version

btw: It seems to me that building printers is much more fun than running it 8)

[Nicolinux 288]

Hey guys, I have two more tips:

 

1. Disable retractions. Prints will be stringy but small features and areas with thin parts will improve greatly.
   
2. Fans at 50%. XTCF-20 already dries quickly and I assume it would lead to under extrusion if cooled faster.
   

 

[obus3d 8]

I used no fans at all for better fusing of layers and I also disabled retracts because it's best to have a constant flow with this material.

[jockspice 6]

Thanks to all who have added to this thread, as it has allowed me to have success right off the bat with CF20.  I'm using a 0.5mm steel nozzle and have had a good standard of print with the UM robot. However, when I tried to do a Nuka Cola bottle cap (Fallout 4), I cannot get the filament to settle across the support inside the object in order to make the flat top of the cap. It bunches up on the nozzle and then just forms a blob. Anyone got any ideas?

Settings are -

260C extruder

70C platform

50mm/s speed

no cooling fans

first layer 0.2 mm

0.15 layer height

[Artiz 27]

please forgive if i patronise... have you tried flipping your design over?

first settings I would try would be reducing initial print speed to 75% and also increasing material flow to 150%... seems to work on some of my smaller/thinner prints...

good luck

Edited February 8, 2016 by Guest

[LePaul 312]

What happens if you slow your print speed way down to 40 mm/sec?

[Artiz 27]

What happens if you slow your print speed way down to 40 mm/sec?

 

definitely worth experimenting but it dries so quickly that you might run into problems if printing speed is too slow

[jockspice 6]

please forgive if i patronise... have you tried flipping your design over?

first settings I would try would be reducing initial print speed to 75% and also increasing material flow to 150%... seems to work on some of my smaller/thinner prints...

good luck

 

The problem with the flip is that you won't get the writing on the top of the cap. I have managed some success by slowing down even further and adding 30% fans for the top, but I think a few more tweaks should do it.