iPhone case from special filaments

[Csabanyujto 1]

Hi everyone,

I want to print my own designed iPhone cases from carbon fiber or wood based filaments, but i have never printed with these.

The most important thing for me is to be reliable and high quality.

I have UM2 with olsson block so i can use 0,6 or 0,8 mm nozzle if it's needed.

So i'm asking which companies product should I try that gives me a nice surface?

[neotko 1,417]

Carbon it's quite nice yo use, it just needs a hardened steel nozzle (carbon fibers eat brass nozzles in just 100-200grams and a kilo will literally kill the nozzle print quality) and for the settings you can search on this forum. There are literally 10-20 different carbon mixtures, some use pla others abs and nylon. Everything has its pros/cons and they are from a 'cheap' formfutura/colorfabb to a very expensive carbon/nylon non water absorsion filament that can go for 150€ kilo.

Print finish of carbon it's quite good, but don't try to print lower than 0.15 layer height.

Wood it's totally different, it's hard to print, 99% of the time needs a nozzle bigger than 0.4 and it's so viscous that it's very hard to get clean retractions. Also the feeder tension adjustment will make you mad since it can't hold as much force as normal (pla) filaments or it snaps.

There are some nonwood/wood filaments from polymaker that I haven't tested but saw some examples and they are quite ok but they look like cardboard more than wood.

There are way too many variables (starting from the design you want to print) to recommend a setting, so get ready to waste half a roll trying to set the settings. Any new material has its learning curve and wood might be quite hard, carbon it's easier but also has a lot of stuff like for example, printed filament sticks around the nozzle and sudently a big blog drops at 1-2h print ruining the print.

Also I think @rigs had some very nice prints (check his profile) using nanovia (or some name like that) filament, but also he uses carbonplate and he it's just a very very pro printer that I bet has wasted more than 1-2 spools of filament to master that brand filaments.

So, long history short, check for 3dprints on the 3dprintig area done with the materials you will use and read their settings, also google on this forum for more info. But everything depends on how's your design and how much experience you have playing with the slicer settings.

Edited August 26, 2016 by Guest

[rigs 735]

An example :

Top : XT from Colorfabb with sanding

Bottom : PETg/Carbon from Nanovia ( right @neotko ) without sanding

 

I bet has wasted more than 1-2 spools of filament to master that brand filaments

Edited August 26, 2016 by Guest

[neotko 1,417]

Superb quality @rigs !

[meduza 191]

I have found that out of the wood filled filaments, Colorfabb Corkfill have been the easiest to use for me, as long as you have a good feeder (UM2+ one for example) and do use a larger (0.6mm) nozzle it prints pretty beautifully:

 

Edited August 26, 2016 by Guest

[Csabanyujto 1]

What kind of hardened nozzle do you recommend for this job?

How about other special filaments like metal, bronze?

[neotko 1,417]

The problem with bronze and that filaments it's that they ain't very hard since what glues them it's pla, so they are weak compared to pla. Also they need a lot of post processing to look good. The steel filament from colorfabb it's quite hard and gives a good felling at hand (weight) but also needs postprocess.

Hardneed steel from e3d should work, for that filaments I use a beta nozzle that has a ruby on the tip.

[Csabanyujto 1]

Thank you guys, you helped me a lot as always!

@rigs i decided to print xt-cf20 with 0,6 mm hardened nozzle from E3D on my UM2. What settings do you recommend to start my frist print?

Layer height, hot end heat, speed, etc.

Or is there a page/forum where i can learn a lot about this topic?