Printing with Nylon: Conclusions

[ignatius 23]

Hi all,

After a while dealing with Nylon filament due to several projects, I finally found a sytem printing that works really well for me and my UMO+.

I just wanted to share it with the community.

The filament I´ve used is:

- Taulman 618

- Taulman Bridge

The easiest one to print with is the Taulman Bridge:

- Less warping

- Better bed adhesion

- Less air humidity absorption

But with the 618 it´s also possible to print with.

After my experience, once I was able to stick it to the Heated Bed, the most critical situation I had to deal with was the moisture. It was really a pain in the ass for me, because I live in a very wet place and keeping the filament dry it´s a huge challenge.

That´s the difference between having a dry filament or not:

I use to dry it in two different ways that works pretty well:

- Summer: Put the filament inside a transparent tupperware and leave it under the sun. During the night, put rice in the tupperware.

- Winter: Leave the filament inside the same tupperware near of the heating (radiator, fireplace) and if you are lucky, in a sunny day, don´t hesitate to leave it under the sun.

As I said, for me is easier to print with Nylon Bridge because it absorbs less humidity.

Because is more flexible than 618, what I do is to play with the Infill % and Shell Thickness due to have a more rigid print or a more flexible one.

I must say that I like it because is a very versatile filament: the same object with different settings can have a lot of different mechanical properties but keeping and excelent resistance.

Those are my favourite settings for mechanical parts:

Hope it can help someone to deal with this material. Initially I prepared those sheets for me, but I think it will be nice to share it with the community.

This is my last project printed with Nylon Bridge:

Edited October 11, 2015 by Guest

[brett-bellmore 1]

We've tried string trimmer, Bridge, 645, and 618. So far we found all of them easy to print with except the 618, which has been a real pain. Not that we couldn't successfully print it, but we weren't happy with the results, and don't plan to restock when we've used it up on non-critical jobs. Too moisture sensitive, and warped especially badly. Not one of our 618 prints failed to peel up on at least one corner, (Which hadn't been a problem with the Bridge.) until we tried an Elmer's glue wash on the glass. That held it down, but the quality of the print was still inferior.

A roll of Taulman Alloy 910 was supposed to arrive today, but apparently nobody in the front office made a run into the post office to check our PO box. I should be trying it out tomorrow. I'll let you know how it works out, I hear good things about it.

[brett-bellmore 1]

The 910 finally showed up, and I set up some small fixturing components to print overnight, 12 in all. Beautiful! No tendency to warp off of the bed, crisp sharp edges, relatively little bridging between the parts, (like cobwebs, really.) 1.25% uniform shrinkage. Not really enough to worry about on these particular parts, might have to compensate for it on larger components.

45C bed, Elmer's glue wash, 247C nozzle, no fan, 100% speed. Our printer has a piece of transparency taped across the front for a door, and a large plastic bag over the top, to suppress drafts.

Did notice that the prints were nearly transparent for the first mm or so, and then turned milky white. This suggests to me that we need to move up to a heated enclosure.

[ignatius 23]

Do you have some pictures?

Edited November 20, 2015 by Guest

[brett-bellmore 1]

Unfortunately, business related print, and my employer is pretty paranoid about IP.

I'm gonna be buying a roll of the stuff for my own use, (We engineers are permitted to use the printer for 'government' work as long as we buy our own consumables.) and I'll post a picture of my first print in it that's not work related.

[ignatius 23]

Looking forward about it!!

 

Unfortunately, business related print, and my employer is pretty paranoid about IP.

I'm gonna be buying a roll of the stuff for my own use, (We engineers are permitted to use the printer for 'government' work as long as we buy our own consumables.) and I'll post a picture of my first print in it that's not work related.

 

[brett-bellmore 1]

Just a simple part, a ring to help hold a flag on a small flag pole. Probably would have printed a little better if it was dry, the roll was sitting behind the printer all weekend, instead of in it's dessicant bag. Still, not bad for 'wet' nylon.

Edit: The next day, still without drying. A 76mm diameter, 144 tooth bevel gear. Printed with 25% infill. Didn't pop loose or warp, even after removing it's dead flat.

Edited November 24, 2015 by Guest

[ignatius 23]

Very nice printing!

What about layer adhesion? Without drying looks not so dramatic like 618.

In compare to Bridge it´s easier to print with?.

Which print settings did you use?, for example layer height, speed, nozzle and bed temp.?

[brett-bellmore 1]

As above, "45C bed, Elmer's glue wash, 247C nozzle, no fan, 100% speed."

No brim or raft, 0.06 steps on z, 1mm bottom and top thickness, 30% infill, 50mm/s print speed.

Yes, it did look better dry, and I'm putting the roll back in it's bag over the holiday weekend.

The work related prints were solid, looked 100% dense/translucent for a mm or so from the bottom, white after that. The prints I've done since the material has had a chance to soak up some moisture are more frosty looking. But nothing like the 618 was under the same conditions. (That came out of the nozzle like shaving cream!)

I'd say it's easier to print than the 618, maybe comparable to the Bridge, but supposedly twice as strong. But what really impresses me is that it prints so well 'wet'. And, like I said, it didn't warp.

We are going to look into modifying our printer to have a heated enclosure. That the material looks so much better right by the bed, warm, tells us that would be a good idea.

[yz250il 0]

Hey, Im a bit newbee. but i did try your setup with the Taulman3D 910 alloy. and it wrap by the 4th layer.

Tbad=45C

Mega strong hairspray - could that be the problem?

Tnoz=247C

Fan speed = 0.

Flow = 107%

Print speed = 40mm/sec

Infill= 35%

0.1mm steps on Z

No brim or raft.

My Ultimaker 2 is stock no modifications made.

Thanks

Nativ

[Bill2 5]

I experienced no problems printing with Taulman's 910 Alloy

nozzle=0.4mm

temp.=247degC

heated bed temp.=45degC

fan=0

flow=100%

infill=100%

glue stick applied

layer height=0.2mm

brim applied

speed=50mm/s

The prints are really flat.

regards

Bill

[ignatius 23]

Hi!

Unfortunately the same setup may not work the same in all cases.

The above setup with 45C, it worked out with a kind of enclosure, that means, that to keep a higher temp in the printing area is easier as without enclosure. As a result, the bed temperature can be smaller.

If you don't have a enclosure, and the room temperature is kind of average (20C), you will need a higher bed temperature than 45C to keep the nylon on the bed without warping, besides to print with a brim.

 

Hey, Im a bit newbee. but i did try your setup with the Taulman3D 910 alloy. and it wrap by the 4th layer.

Tbad=45C

Mega strong hairspray - could that be the problem?

Tnoz=247C

Fan speed = 0.

Flow = 107%

Print speed = 40mm/sec

Infill= 35%

0.1mm steps on Z

No brim or raft.

My Ultimaker 2 is stock no modifications made.

Thanks

Nativ

 

[Kevparang 10]

That, I will definitely use this for my RoBo3D. is the are way to attack the part together. I heard glue is not possible.