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AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™


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Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

Hi... this is Adam at Owens Corning. We have not directly compared the ONYX material vs Xstrand. When it comes to additive manufacturing vs Milled parts it depends on the end use and end goal when it comes to choosing a material and a printer. I can't speak on behalf of the Markforged system but I can include our TDS as a reference. If you send me a private message I'd like to chat further about the parts you are trying to print. Design and orientation can be critical when making the jump from subtractive to additive manufacturing.

Technical datasheet XSTRAND(TM) GF30-PA6 - Copy.pdf

Technical datasheet XSTRAND(TM) GF30-PP - Copy.pdf

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Posted (edited) · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

@JohnInOttawa: Glad I could help you! One factor in favor of the MarkForged printers is their print quality - being tailored to one material, there is much less tinkering involved in getting really good prints, and their supports are also really easy to remove most of the time. I wouldn't consider buying an OnyxOne though, if you buy a MarkForged printer, get one with the continuous fiber capability.

Edited by P3D
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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Thank you Adam!  And a direct thanks to the Owens Corning team for these samples!

     

    The tech data is very helpful.  What I'd like to propose as a plan, once we have some candidate designs, will be to circle back to you guys to optimise the print settings and strategy.  Thanks for your offer of support!
     

    Cheers

    John

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Thank you @P3D.  I see it the same way.  That adds some clarity to the capital plan. 

     

    The entry barrier for the continuous fibre machines like the Mark Two or X7 is high enough that either there is a clear business case for keeping those machines operating effectively at the price of their consumables, or there isn't.  As the printer costs drop (not to say Onyx is cheap, because it's not), the issue gets murkier, especially when one starts saying no to work.  Would there have been enough to justify the lower cost printer?  Maybe is the answer more and more often.  If this test works as I hope, that question, at least, will have an answer.

     

    Thanks again!
    John

     

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    • 2 weeks later...
    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™
    On 10/28/2018 at 10:38 AM, mastory said:

    My limited experience printing nylon has shown me the paramount importance of keeping nylon in a dry condition - to a greater extent than other materials.

     

    Does Xstrand retain this requirement?  What are the storage requirements with xstrand to achieve reliable print results?  Is there a recommended procedure to keep opened filament dry?  A procedure to dry out material that has been compromised by environmental exposure?

     

    Where are some pictures of some xstrand printed parts?

     

    Is xstrand resistant to gasoline and/or mineral oils?

     

    Recommended printing temperature and cooling settings?  Nozzle, bed and chamber temps?  Does a heated chamber help or hurt?

     

    Thanks

    Keeping the nylon dry is of paramount importance. My Markforged machine prints only nylon (the "Onyx" material being carbon-fibre whisker reinforced nylon). The reel resides in an airtight box and each reel comes hermetically sealed, with large desiccant bags that you then place in the box with the new reel. Print nylon with too much moisture in it and you inevitably get foaming caused by steam. This causes poor control of both extrusion, dimensional accuracy and can cause adhesion issues. Anyone with experience of th eplastics industry (mine stretches for more decades than I'd care to remember) will be well-versed in which materials need pre-drying and ALL nylon types are known to be hygroscopic -- some more than others. ABS ideally would be pre-dried but if anyone is printing polycarbonate (PC) and expects its renowned toughness to be present in the printed parts will be in for a nasty surprise if too much moisture has been picked up prior to printing. The water responds not only physically, by turning to steam but also reacts chemically with the PC and causes severe embrittlement.

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™
    On 10/28/2018 at 6:40 AM, rajilpahuja said:

    I have used this material and its fantastic, needed to use the smartmaterials smartstick for PPGF30, PA sticks to the glue easy, and parts are very very strong, kinda u can use them direct, no need making protos and then production, u can print and use straight here, and not worry about a thing ?

    Is it possible to use this material with a Geeetech Prusa i3 Pro B, with a type of extruder Direct?

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Is there someone out there who knows how to successfully bond two or more pieces of their GF30-PP with adhesives? 

     

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    Posted (edited) · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Id try to weld them together. The question is if there is a 3d pen that would work with that filament. Ive had great luck in bonding pla with a 3d pen. Not sure if it will be as good for pp though? I preffer welding to gluing as its less visible after a quick sand. 

    Edited by cloakfiend
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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    I'm having problems with buildplate adhesion for the XStrand GF30 PP. I have tried Pritt stick (various thicknesses), Blue masking tape, Dimafix and Kapton Tape. All prints start to curl up after the first few layers. I am using the latest available CURA software and downloaded material profiles.

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    u need to use the smartstick from smartmaterials3d or i think airwold3d also have a solution..... personallyi have used the smartstick and it works really well for PP .... hope this helps :)

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Big honking brim to help?

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    Tried the big honking brim - that curled up as well!!

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™
    3 minutes ago, melvincator said:

    Tried the big honking brim - that curled up as well!!

    Tried throwing a dart to see if landed.

     

    While I tried it a long time ago with the X-Strand, I have printed with PP and had no issues, but then, I was not pushing design boundaries. I was using compact, vertical designs in both X-Strand and UM PP.

     

    I can say that I remember making sure the plate was super duper clean and a very thin film of PVA. I was also in a very climate controlled room with low humidity.

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    https://ultimaker.com/en/resources/49778-how-to-print-with-ultimaker-pp

    https://ultimaker.com/en/blog/51209-beginners-guide-to-3d-printing-with-pp

     

    I printed one large item in PP.  I used the recommended adhesion sheets.  What a pain in the neck to remove these afterwards.  The sheets get torn up and they are a pain to remove.  But they work!

     

    You can also get the same sheets from Avery but I forget the product name.  It's not normal paper - it's kind of plasticy.

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    I apologize if this has already been asked, but what is the minimum layer thickness that is recommended with the XSTRAND PA6 using the CC 0.6mm core? I noticed on the Cura profile it only shows a 0.2mm as a default.

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    Posted · AMA: Oct 31st | Owens Corning - XSTRAND™

    For regular polypropylene, packing tape made from polypropylene works great

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