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Flexible Filaments comparison


rhymeandreason

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Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

So this afternoon I bought Filaflex... I was trying printing... no success...but I tried:

OILING.

This is the keyword. After oiling the filament.... you feel that there is no almost friction in the bowden.

Results are pretty good. I am satisfied. But some questions.

Should I oil only the first part of the filament. Or should I oil all the filament?

What happens with the oil? does it evaporate in the extruder? This is not dangerous?

 

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Where and how did you apply the oil?

     

    I used sewing machine oil.

    A drop or two on my fingers and then apply it to the filament. When you insert the filament in the bowden you see that the friction is over.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Ok Guys i got my Ninja Flex from Daniel and he requested to print the BMX grip.

    Settings:

    Print time 10 hours

    0.1 layer

    0.8 wall

    20mm speed

    bed temp 50

    225 degrees

    retraction 4.5mm speed 25mm

    Bmx grip

     

     

    Bmx grip 1

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Ok Guys i got my Ninja Flex from Daniel and he requested to print the BMX grip.

    That grip came out amazing! Makes me want to design some for my mountain bike.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Hi Guys

    Carried out some more testing on the ninja flex..

    Iphone 5 bumper case turned out ok..

    Print time 2 hours

    Layer 0.1

    temp 225

    bed 50

    retraction 4.5 speed 25

    2 shells

    iphone 5 case

     

    I tried to print the dragon all was fine but it did not like the overhang on the belly i tried a couple of times different temps but each time the belly layers wanted to curl up and did not get nice layers.

     

    Generally looked ok

     

    dragon

     

    Belly you can see not so good

     

    dragon 1

     

    I then tried the ninja turtle yes ninja flex ninja turtle, This was going good but the higher it got the more unstable it got the turtle was wobbling to much on its legs so be time it got to the head there was just to much wobble, so something to bear in mind..

     

    ninja turtle

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Who would of thought it... a flexi material being too wobbly? Haha

    That grip looks great, assume it held it`s wobble better due to thicker outer wall shell, as compared to the turtle?

    I wanna try some :)

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Hi Skint

    Yeh the grip was a lot thicker so was much more stable, I am only really testing the limits of the ninja flex to see whats possible and not...

    If you drop me a PM with your address i will post you a sample to test when i get some time, sure Daniel wont mind belongs you post your results here.

    I am currently testing some UV PLA on the printer as i type. i have a UK company sending me so many free samples of new types of martial i cant keep up LOL

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Sweet I`ll PM you my addy.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    This is how I am oiling the filament.

    gallery_34293_830_638221.jpg

    gallery_34293_830_9115.jpg

    Sorry for crap pictures.

    You put oil on the puff cleaner, and it will deposit the oil on the filament.

    It works for at least two hours at 50 mm/s, perhaps more speed.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Hi all, i am new here.

    First i want to thank you, all of you that helped finding such a nice solution for Flex Filament.

    specially to Rob, for sharing his brilliant Design i am using now, and second to all the tester and developers who helped finding the best way using it, really Thank you so much for sharing this here. The oil trick is awesome!

    I use a Ultimaker 2, changed this morning to Robs feeder. First i had no luck with Filaflex, then i added just a tiny bit of oil, and cant beleve it, it relly works. Wow, what a great sucsess. thank you guys, you are amazing.

    And ProfePaco, your udea is great, so esy to apply oil now, like it.

    Did you never had problems because the feeder wheel is getting oily like this?

    I will try this too and will post if i had any problems. you new print speed is verry cool, i was trying much slower.

    feeder.JPG

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    I had no portables with oil in the feeder. Anyway, it is a zone where you can clean it with some chemicals with no danger.

    The only thing, after printing hours and hours with oil, is that when you shift to regular PLA it takes some time to performs well again the printing. It seems that oil has no problem with filaflex and similar. But when you shifts to regular PLA the rests of oil are not good for the performance.

    In such a case, just print a piece you do not need, to leave time to clear the nozzle. And use very high temperature for short periods.... 230....260...230...260... it worked for me.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Thank you ProfePaco, this is very helpful.Do you change the Temparature by hand? Or do you edtit the print file?

    I had a issues yesterday. The Filaflex was jumping off the ball bearing, and stopped transporting. Now i added a washer on the outside, that is a little bigger in diameter than the ball bearing, this way, the soft Filament can't go anywhere.

    Also i was thinking on your idea of the pipe cleaners. I drilled a 3mm hole in Roberts "Snap on Guide" in a 30 deg angle. insearted a felt, the way it looks a bit out of the inner transport hole. It just needs 2 drops of oil on the outside and it lubricates the filament very well. The transport wheel and ball bearing stays clear and it is easy to use.

    Hopefully Robert will think about it, and maybe adding this to his design. *PLEASE ROBERT*

    The back of the snap on guide has broken 2 times now, maybe it should be a bit thicker too? Anyone had the same Probelem?

     

    I printed all in this green ABS with 20% infill, maybe this should be also a bit higher?

    Feeder-mod.JPG

    Finally, i printed the Tree Frog today, cames out perfectly in Filaflex. No Problems anymore.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    30 deg angle.

     

    30 degrees angled down as you go into the green part? Or up?

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    @UltiMagic. You do not need to cycle the temperature. You have to evaporate the rests of oil in the noozle...and... in the bowden! So You have to print something and I guess that high temp increases the evaporation of oil. I was playing with temp.

    Adding a washer is a very good idea. Which size did you use?

    The alternative to adding a washer is MK7 or MK8 drive gears. A picture of Mk7 follows:

    567830676_787.jpg

    But it costs about 7 euros.

    If you part is breaking... it is because it is made of ABS? I begin to think that PLA is better... better adhesion between layers.

    Brilliant idea to make a hole for oiling!!

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    @ GR5

    The angle is downwards, any angle is right i think, the felt is transporting the oil very well, same principle as in any Sharpie pen or similar.

    @ProfePaco

    Thank you, now its more clear. If we really need to elimiate the Oil in the Bowden Tube, i think the use of some Pipe cleaners is a good idea, make a longer chain and push a view times up and down the Tube, this will may have a good effect to clean the tube.

    My metal washer is more temporary, i adapted now Roberts "hub adapter" with a larger outer ring, 18 mm diameter.

    Robert is not here this days, hope this is ok that i am try to figure out what works best for me, adapting small parts of his work. I will print it today and will test if it works as expected.

    ball_bearing_holder.jpg

    Ohh thank you, the MK8 looks great. But i guess, its not the same diameter then the original one?

    Maybe we will have a troubles because the material feeder flow? I do not know much about that.

    I reprint the new parts in PLA, higher infill, maybe this will make the parts stronger.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    I'm hoping to buy some ninja flex for my UM2, I was wondering how you guys were getting on with it as a material 2 months down the line?

    I'm guessing the 3mm option is the one i need to go for? I just want to make sure I get it right before I sink £50 into a reel of material.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    I'm hoping to buy some ninja flex for my UM2, I was wondering how you guys were getting on with it as a material 2 months down the line?

    I'm guessing the 3mm option is the one i need to go for? I just want to make sure I get it right before I sink £50 into a reel of material.

     

    I got a test roll (10 metres) from http://3dfilaprint.com/

    to try out on a UM1 and was happy enough that I then went ahead and ordered a full roll. At one time they would refund the test roll price - not sure if they still do.

    James

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    I got a test roll (10 metres) from http://3dfilaprint.com/

    to try out on a UM1 and was happy enough that I then went ahead and ordered a full roll. At one time they would refund the test roll price - not sure if they still do.

    James

     

    James,

    Thanks for the link, I will give some of their stuff a whirl :)

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Hello,

    I finally got to print some ninja flex properly thanks to all the good tips in this topic! WOOHOOO!

    No oil. Just using the iRoberti feeder. Works great now!!

    here is the difference on a wristband a friend needed

    Before: 210C 50mm/s at first and I had to slow it down where the text started due to a lot of under extrusion. Notice the color change too

    IMG 20140707 120731

     

    And now (bottom) at 235C 20mm/s:

    IMG 20140707 120707

     

    I still have some under extrusion here and there but the difference is huge.

    IMG 20140707 120244

    IMG 20140707 120224

     

    I'll try to play with the settings with Flex PLA too for a different model.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    Update:

    I have printed the FlexPLA with the exact same settings as the Ninja Flex. Its stiffer than when I was printing it at lower temp but its by far the best print I got with that FlexPLA. I dont know why but I like the smell of that material lol.

    I'll update with some picture later

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    One thing i'v found to work regarding extruding Ninjaflex on the Ultimaker2 (due to the troubles people are having with the bowden tube design and it jamming) is to turn the gnurled nut in the extruder around, so the allen key screw holding the nut is closer to the body of the ultimaker instead of facing away from it, this seems to have stopped the filament twisting in the extruder for me and havn't had a jam in a couple of meters of filament.

     

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    Posted · Flexible Filaments comparison

    @UltiMagic. You do not need to cycle the temperature. You have to evaporate the rests of oil in the noozle...and... in the bowden! So You have to print something and I guess that high temp increases the evaporation of oil. I was playing with temp.

    Adding a washer is a very good idea. Which size did you use?

    The alternative to adding a washer is MK7 or MK8 drive gears. A picture of Mk7 follows:

    567830676_787.jpg

    But it costs about 7 euros.

    If you part is breaking... it is because it is made of ABS? I begin to think that PLA is better... better adhesion between layers.

    Brilliant idea to make a hole for oiling!!

     

    Does this work with the UM2 Stock feeder?

     

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