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Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with


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Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

Im just wondering what is an ideal temperature to print with eco flex pla with.

at a guess it would be lower, as its already in a more pliable state

nice and simple question for a change.

 

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Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

Yes. And add a drop of thin oil without getting any oil on the knurled bolt:

This video from peter is great - start about 50-60 seconds into the video:

 

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Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

yep... pretty frustrating also for me.

I tried several times, there are another problems to pass.

Warping is a big issue and also there is the platform. Printing in the blue tape doesn`t give a nice finishing to the back.

So if you want to do do it commercially there are lots of things to do and to bypass...

sorry but I`m having the same problem here.

If I have any luck I`ll let you know.

Cheers

Augusto

 

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    print at 20% speed !!!!! wow

    there goes my "million dollar iPhone case empire" out the window hahhaha

     

    Haha.....,

    Halve a million dollar Phone case empire!!! The other half was mine before I threw that dream out of the window :mrgreen: .

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    I have actually managed to print with 400% of 50 mm/s in speed, and 260 degrees in temp with Flexible PLA from Ultimaker. The print were horrible at low temperatures, so I tried to increase it with the speed, and it got better.

    So maybe the Flex PLA needs some more temperature than expected?

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    I`m trying with flex from FormFutura... didn`t have any piece ok until now.... it fails at 230 degrees and 110% flow and 20mm/s. Seems that the flow is not enough, I got parts of the print missing. Today I`ll try with 260 degrees but I think it will burn the filament, but let's try. Thank Anaxyd and Maurice.

    Hope that one day I can achieve 3dcase results... that case was really nice....

    Cheers!

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    @Augusto What are you trying to print? I've got this flexible PLA: https://shop.germanreprap.com/en/product?info=276

    I haven't printed much with it though.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    I`m trying with flex from FormFutura... didn`t have any piece ok until now.... it fails at 230 degrees and 110% flow and 20mm/s. Seems that the flow is not enough, I got parts of the print missing. Today I`ll try with 260 degrees but I think it will burn the filament, but let's try. Thank Anaxyd and Maurice.

    Hope that one day I can achieve 3dcase results... that case was really nice....

    Cheers!

    Hi Augusto.

    Don't worry, The one from that picture was not the first one, could have been the third.

    I have not tried a flexPLA phonecover since. Printing flexpla is a PITA.

    Printing directly on clean glass, only worked with flxpla until now. For normal PLA i still need the gluestick.

    Otherwise only the first 2 layers hold until the print starts warping, than it's sweeped of the bed.

    I checked and as far as i can see loading the profile again from the gcode.

    I used a Brim. bottom layer 230° 0.1mm 15mm/s

    other layers 225° and 25mm/s.

    shell and top/bottom 0.6mm 40% infill.

    With these settings my cura says, printtime 2h.53min. but i remember it taking 5 hours.

    so speed was even lower 60% ?

    The phone cover that came out the printer is easily torn apart (delamination).

    In my opinion the printingtemp is not set for the best adhasion between the layers. but my problem is the resistance in the bowden tube. You have to use a (perhaps too) high temp. to keep the pressure in the hotend as low as possible.

    Printing in the front of the machine helps, and a cool room with open windows helps aswell.

    Only print while freezing...

    I use Glucerine for lubrication, Aplied trough a hole just above the feeder.http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:48646.

    But you can't use to much or it starts smoking and puffing all over the print. :wacko:

    I use the black flexpla from the ultimaker shop, no idea about the origine, they seem to be in love with formfutura. So might be formfutura.

    I measured and the diam. is 2.85, but i used 2.7 in cura, so that´s a flowdifference as well. 106% If I´m right.

    Even with that increase i might have turned up the ulticontroller to 120%flow. to squeeze the 1st layer on the glass.

    But as said before, have not tried it since, so might not work with me neither for a 2nd time.

    In my opinion the drag in the bowden tube is the worst factor.

    So this solution is high on my ´things to do´ list. should give a shorter and straighter tube.

    http://www.calumdouglas.ch/3d-printing/ultimaker-3d-printer/vertical-down-filament-feed/

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Hi guys,

    lots of information here!

    Thanks 3dcase and Maurice.

    1st - Maurice I`m trying a simple iphone case. I printed several times (more than 10). None of them was ok, 0.

    tried with kisslicer and cura, yesterday tried with 260 and 240 degrees and 20mm/s. Failed again. Not quitting yet!

    2nd - 3d! thanks for the full info. I`m trying the case with the white Flex PLA from form futura. This weekend i`m going to buy the thinner (maybe at gamma they have?). I`ll also try to put the same configs that you put in your print. I`m quite disappointed with this, but still trying. Other test to do is to print a different model, can also be a problem with it. This weekend I`ll try and try again. Let see!

    I`ll keep updating you guys!

    Thanks for the replies

    Augusto

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    I'm printing a cover for the antenna of a walkie talkie using Flex PLA from Ultimaker (white version, it may have some influence).

    I have used the same parameter as Peter in the video gr5 has shared:

    - 230°C

    - 10mm/s

    I use heated bed at 60°C and fan at 100%.

    So far, it's long to print but it's worth it as it looks absolutely perfect.

    Flex PLA antenna cover for walkie talkie

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Hi,

    How can you set the bed temperature, nozzle temperature and fan speed in Cura ?

    Thanks in advance

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    for UM2, bed and nozzle temps are set on the machine itself. fan speed is in cura on one of the 3 settings pages. I think expert settings.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    print at 20% speed !!!!! wow

    there goes my "million dollar iPhone case empire" out the window hahhaha

     

     

    yep... pretty frustrating also for me.

    I tried several times, there are another problems to pass.

    Warping is a big issue and also there is the platform. Printing in the blue tape doesn`t give a nice finishing to the back.

    So if you want to do do it commercially there are lots of things to do and to bypass...

    sorry but I`m having the same problem here.

    If I have any luck I`ll let you know.

    Cheers

    Augusto

     

    I have never tried any flex-PLA's before, so I don't have any advice on printing with flex-PLA, however if commercial work or bulk production are your intent, why not print in regular PLA, make a mold of your PLA part and then use that mold to cast dozens/hundreds of the part in flexible silicon.

    3D-printing seems to me as a less likely tool in producing bulk (it's strenghts lie in prototyping, one-off's and small production runs), espescially when increased detail usually means longer printing times and therefore lower production capacity.

    Instead, you could print in normal PLA and crank up the quality on that single print (making it longer) and making a mold, but after that initial investment in time, al you had to do is refill that mold every 45 - 60 minutes with fast curing silicon and produce dozens a day instead of 2 or 3.

    Of course, wether an object is suitable for molding depends on it's complexity, but something like a (mostly flat) phone-case should be pretty straightforward. (Also I'm ruling out moving parts since that usually doesn't work with a flexible material anyway).

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Hi

     

    I have never tried any flex-PLA's before, so I don't have any advice on printing with flex-PLA, however if commercial work or bulk production are your intent, why not print in regular PLA, make a mold of your PLA part and then use that mold to cast dozens/hundreds of the part in flexible silicon.

    3D-printing seems to me as a less likely tool in producing bulk (it's strenghts lie in prototyping, one-off's and small production runs), espescially when increased detail usually means longer printing times and therefore lower production capacity.

    Instead, you could print in normal PLA and crank up the quality on that single print (making it longer) and making a mold, but after that initial investment in time, al you had to do is refill that mold every 45 - 60 minutes with fast curing silicon and produce dozens a day instead of 2 or 3.

    Of course, wether an object is suitable for molding depends on it's complexity, but something like a (mostly flat) phone-case should be pretty straightforward. (Also I'm ruling out moving parts since that usually doesn't work with a flexible material anyway).

     

    Hi,

    the problem is not the massive production. We want to use the 3d printer to do exclusive designs... like only you will have this.. understand? You create and we print something that no one will have.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Hi,

    the problem is not the massive production. We want to use the 3d printer to do exclusive designs... like only you will have this.. understand? You create and we print something that no one will have.

     

    Ah, I see, well never mind then, in the case of one-off's and exclusive designs printing them directly seems the to be the best option, I just wish I had any experience printing flexible materials for any further advice.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Ah, I see, well never mind then, in the case of one-off's and exclusive designs printing them directly seems the to be the best option, I just wish I had any experience printing flexible materials for any further advice.

     

    i tried... it is really difficult and not all designs can be printed on flex... very difficult..

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    for me the best tip was the machine oil! It was the ultimative tip, since I put a few blobs into the tube before inserting the flexible PLA everything is fine, even printing with 50mm/s...

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    My first few prints with PLA-flex (black) were rather a mess, but this was me being overly cautious with the extruder temp and way too fast. The reel has a label that clearly states <= 220C, my prints didn't improve until I had the U2 set to 230C and my print speed down near 10mm/s. Interestingly I had also been running my build plate at 60C as per above comments, but was finding PLA-flex can stick _really_ well and you easily end up ripping your part trying to peel it off the bed. The base of the prints were smooth and glossy, but had a cloudy sheen that was difficult to polish off without causing scuff marks. I'm pretty sure the cloudy sheen is caused by removal and/or shrinkage stress (the base corners were pure black with the cloudy sheen only filling a more rounded centre patch). Anyway I'm having issues with my heated build plate today so the last couple of PLA-flex prints have been on a room temperature bed using the glue stick. Both prints came up great, black and shiny on the base and were much easier to peel off without damage (I had been unable to avoid tearing the previous three prints).

    Tl;dr PLA-flex (black) printing well at 230C onto room temp (~18C) build plate with glue stick applied.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    OK, new finding, Flex PLA is such a pain to print some times...

    I have to print something which is basically a rectangle, roughly 15x4cm and only 0.5 in height.

    First attempt: 230°, 10mm/s, bed at 60° => FAIL

    I was not close to the printer during the print and when I came back, I discovered the part in one side of the printer, completely torn, and the nozzle was hidden behind a huge ball (2cm to the diameter) of melted Flex PLA which was hard as rock. I had to heat up the head to remove what I could from the nozzle, clean the mess by unscrewing the fans, etc.

    So I decided to launch the same print, but this time I would stay around.

    The reason it failed was retraction of the Flex PLA. As it's quite long and it was printed with the long sides of the rectangles facing the right and left sides of the UM², the small side of the rectangle which was in front has decides to lift off to the point when the print head would crash into it and therefore unstick the whole part from the bed (I stopped the print before obviously).

    To counter that, I have changed the position of the print on the bed, with long side of the rectangle parallel to the back of the UM, I have added a brim of 30 lines, increased the bed temperature to 115°, increased the head temperature to 250° and limited fan speed to 50%. I also increased the speed to 30mm/s.

    => Printed perfectly ! (but hard to remove from the bed)

    So I ran a second print with the same configuration, failed in the middle due to filament being eaten by the extruder. I think this is due to the geometry of the part being printed, which contains a lot of small dots triggering retraction and so grinding of the filament due to its softness. And it was a huge mess to remove the print from the bed as the part was not complete and therefore not fully resistant to mechanical solicitation.

    Overall, printing at higher temp on a hotter bed will help but removing the print from the bed will then be a real pain, as stated by garycmartin.

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Thanks for this thread, it's been really helpful trying to get flexible PLA (from UM) to work on my new UM2. I've managed to get some decent prints with these settings: 230*C nozzle temp, 75*C bed temp, 60% speed (30mm/sec), 50% fan, no retraction, 100% feed, and no travel between different sections (just one continuous piece at a time).

    But I'm having a persistent problem with one part, It's getting weird deposits and imperfections along one of the edges. I've tried different fill percentages, wall thicknesses, spiralize, retraction vs no retraction, but it always happens to some degree. It's not from curling of the part between layers, it's something else. The part prints fine in rigid PLA, ABS, and also if it's ~10% bigger in flex PLA.

    Please let me know what you guys think. Maybe lower the feed rate? I've been trying to keep feed rate at 100% as it seems to wok best with felx PLA.

    Link to album just in case: http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/gallery/album/646-flex-pla-issues/

    20140312 18455420140312 184609

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Hi Guys,

    I am printing Iphone 5 case with:

    black Flex from Ultimaker.

    Cura:

    layer height: 0.2 mm

    shell thicknes: 0.9

    retraction: on

    bottom/top: 0.6 mm

    fill: 100%

    print speed: 20mm

    adhesion type: brim

    After brim is printed, it is cover by bleu tape, just for sure in the rornes. I am using this trick with Makerbot 2 which has no heated build plate, and on Makerbot it is solving warping...

    In advanced settings all speeds are: 20 mm/s

    In expert settings, fan from 0.5 z height is 100 %

    Ultimaker settings:

    without blue tape, only thin layer of glue stick..

    Speed 50 % after a few layers I went to 100 %, but base of print is perfectly connected.

    build plate temp: 60 C

    temperature 235 C

    All Works fine, only long print time is reached. But I think, when I was ever printing with Flex mat, on Makerbot I am (newbie with Ultimaker), this material takes always long time to reach good results. So dont be frustrated by this..

    photos:

    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/485614772292882678/

    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/485614772292882674/

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    Here you can see other 3D print..

    http://www.pinterest.com/pin/485614772293206933/

     

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    Posted · Whats a good temp to print Flex PLA with

    @miss3 - I don't think pinterest will host your pictures for decades so please instead post your pictures here:

    http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/4525-how-to-upload-an-image-to-the-forum/

     

     

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