Metal or conductive materials - Ultimaker 3

[DRMM 1]

Good afternoon,

 

Apologies if this is in the wrong topic!

I wondered if any one has any experience printing with metal infused materials on an Ultimaker 3, or if this is even possible? I have a potential project that may need me to do this. If I can't, are there any conductive materials that can be used instead? My main experience is using ABS & PLA so don't have a lot of knowledge when using specialist filaments.

Any help or advice would be great!

Cheers,

David

[Guest maht]

It's technically possible but it can grind away at your feeder wheel/nozzle bore, so you'd need to accept that risk.

Using a CC core with an S3 or S5 is more suited to composites (not trying to upsell, just facts).

[DRMM 1]

Hi Maht,

Thanks for your reply.

That's as I suspected. Do you have any further information that might help me investigate that further? Just a point in the right direction.

Aside from that, do you think any of the plastics offer conductivity?

 

[Guest maht]

I can't claim much authority on that subject, but I do know some people have electroplated materials like ABS and PLA.

Maybe check out the portfolio on the Marketplace, too: https://marketplace.ultimaker.com/app/cura/materials

[stu_le_brew 42]

you need to pay attention to the nozzle tip in particular, I bought from Solex 3D a range of ruby tipped nozzles ( I have an UM2 ++) that work well for abrasive materiel, that would include metals (like bronze fill) and even woodfil, you need to increase the feed rate and temperature  and maybe reduce retraction - that is to say keep the flow moving or the nozzle can get blocked

 

good luck

Edited May 20, 2020 by stu_le_brew

[AndersK 59]

There is a conductive material with graphene content, called Koltron G1. 

Never tried it, expensive but available also in small 100g rolls 

[DRMM 1]

Hi everyone,

Thanks for your help. The project is on hold for now (clients!) so it might not be the near future, but I'll let you know how I get on if it proceeds. All good information for future reference anyway. I appreciate your input.

[ultiarjan 1,223]

21 hours ago, maht said:

It's technically possible but it can grind away at your feeder wheel/nozzle bore, so you'd need to accept that risk.

Using a CC core with an S3 or S5 is more suited to composites (not trying to upsell, just facts).

 

You can use the cc0.6 on the Ultimaker3, you will still wear out your feeder wheel so if you plan on printing a lot a new bondtech feeder will be a good option.

[Enigma_M4 119]

2 hours ago, ultiarjan said:

You can use the cc0.6 on the Ultimaker3, you will still wear out your feeder wheel so if you plan on printing a lot a new bondtech feeder will be a good option.

Would it be possible to install S5 feeders instead of bondtech (without tinkering with E-steps)? I wonder if the filament sensor would also work, as the wiring is present, the firmware 5.2.11 is identical to the corresponding firmware of the S5 and the temperature graph of cura connect contains two extra feeds named sensor0 and sensor1?

[ultiarjan 1,223]

On 5/21/2020 at 5:28 PM, Enigma_M4 said:

Would it be possible to install S5 feeders instead of bondtech (without tinkering with E-steps)? I wonder if the filament sensor would also work, as the wiring is present, the firmware 5.2.11 is identical to the corresponding firmware of the S5 and the temperature graph of cura connect contains two extra feeds named sensor0 and sensor1?

 

I really don't see why not, should be simple, but realistically Ultimaker will not support it in firmware. If you skip the fillament sensor it should be possible. I don't know the sparepart price of S5 feeders, but looking at UM3 pricing it's probably in the same range as using Bondtech

Edited May 27, 2020 by ultiarjan

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Fiberforce Italy has a conductive material that is PLA based. Be aware it is not as simple to print as standard PLA.

http://www.fiberforce.it/products-pro/

This one is not abrasive but should be printed in a well ventilated environment.

[zorwick 1]

On 5/21/2020 at 5:28 PM, Enigma_M4 said:

Would it be possible to install S5 feeders instead of bondtech (without tinkering with E-steps)? I wonder if the filament sensor would also work, as the wiring is present, the firmware 5.2.11 is identical to the corresponding firmware of the S5 and the temperature graph of cura connect contains two extra feeds named sensor0 and sensor1?

 

It is not tinkering... 3 simple changes in the code, nothing go wrong with it.  When there is a firmware update on the printer, then need to redo it. Bondtech give very detailed instructions.