Additional materials outside of the available range

[jissefish 0]

Hey, so question - Polylactic acid is biodegradable and biocompatible, and is able to be used on Ultimaker printers. I was wondering whether there were other materials that were available such as polycaprolactone and whether Ultimaker printers can be adapted for other materials other than the ones that are sold. 

[SandervG 1,521]

Here are all our materials available that we support: https://ultimaker.com/en/products/materials

But we also have an open filament system, which means you can also use different materials except they won't have one of the pre-configured profiles available. (perhaps you could use one as a starting point). I did a quick google search and it looks like PCL should also be able to be used on an Ultimaker 3D printer. 

 

'Polycaprolactone (PCL) is a high quality biodegradable plastic derived from petrochemical feedstock which is compostable under home composting conditions. PCL is a polyester that is semi-crystalline leading to a clean white final appearance, the product can be coloured easily. The density of PCL is around 1.2kg/cm³ and it has exceptional mechanical properties. PCL melts around 60°C which makes it a safe thermoplastic to print. And with a glass transition temperature of -60°C the product is extremely flexible and tough.

The unique properties of PCL Filament make it particularly suitable for usage in FDM and FFF 3D printers. The material has an excellent adhesion between layers which results in great improvement of the impact resistance, strength, durability and the printing process. Due to the low melting point of PCL it can be re-shaped after 3D printing with water of 55 °C.'

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

You might have the problem that the printer is not extruding the PCL due to the cold extrusion limit. Adding a M302 to the gcode will solve that problem. It seems Cura does not add this automatically.

Edited June 28, 2018 by Dim3nsioneer

[jissefish 0]

Would anyone know where I could get other materials that may be adaptable (and I presume have the same filament diameter (2.8mm, etc)?