Flexible Filaments comparison

[pm_dude 27]

Well it would probably work (I havent looked at the size) but it would not help much for flexible filament if used alone since the biggest issue is the gap between the feeder gear and the begining of the bowden tube.

[profepaco 0]

Well it would probably work (I havent looked at the size) but it would not help much for flexible filament if used alone since the biggest issue is the gap between the feeder gear and the begining of the bowden tube.

 

I think that an additional part of Robert's feeder if for reducing this gap

 

[brett-bellmore 1]

Today we printed a set of feet for our Ultimaker 2, out of NinjaFlex. It's sitting on them right now. Printing on bare glass with ABS settings, the only issue we've seen is a bit of blobbling. Quite happy with it, even if the prints don't look as nice as the ABS or PLA.

I can see it would work better with direct feed instead of the Bowden tube. But it's working well enough for our purposes.

 

[pm_dude 27]

I think that an additional part of Robert's feeder if for reducing this gap

 

Yes totally. In fact it goes really well with robert's feeder. I would probably consider using that drive gear if I get issues with the stock one eating too much the filaments but just wanted to make sure Sensebellum understood it wouldn't allow him to use flexible filament with just that.

@Brett_Bellemore I saw one direct feed model on youmagine https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ultimaker2-on-the-top-extruder-mod

I wonder how well that works. It must add quite some weight and vibration on the head...

 

[pm_dude 27]

@Brett which feet did you print? I would probably print them as well.

EDIT: I printed those today. https://www.youmagine.com/designs/ultimaker-footrest#!design-documents

They are a bit loose but it works

 

[DidierKlein 729]

I tried the white flex PLA from Ultimaker last week.

It prints well with lRobertl's feeder (with the guide in place, without the filament get's out of the feeder instead of going up in the bowden :mrgreen: )

Printing at 230°c seems to be good and avoiding (disabling) retractions seems to give better results.

It seems also that if the filament is passed several times in the feeder (retractions) it is squished a lot and becomes wider than 3mm in some areas causing underextrusion because of added friction in the bowden.

I noticed this on the second prints (the retraction on the end of the print).

After each print i had to take out the filament and cut it to start with some fresh unsquished filament.

Maybe i need to untighten the tension screw?

Overall pretty good filament. I will try it again soon and post pics :geek:

 

[pm_dude 27]

I gotta say, I'm printing Ultimaker FlexPLA with the exact same settings as Ninja Flex and the result is as good as regular PLA. I'm really impressed (again)

[zumfab 3]

Are you all printing with the Ultimaker 2? It seems to be a very valuable addition to the toolbox to be able to print flexible materials, but I am working with an Ultimaker 1. I am willing to do some adjusting or minor modifications, but it should not become a huge project.

It would be pretty neat to print gaskets, model tires and tracks.

 

[Blizz 53]

Zumfab: I am. I am using Roberts feeder though. I haven't been able to get it to work on my original feeder, but some people have apparently. SanderVG mentioned in the past he was able to print ninjaflex out of the box iirc.

[gr5 2,172]

Taulman Bridge

Not as flexible as "rubber" but is much more flexible than PLA or ABS (too flexible for my immediate needs - going back to PA6 Nylon for immediate needs). But this is one hell of a strong material and is flexible.

This is a wonderful material in my opinion. Very very strong and quite flexible. Also it doesn't retain water so badly so doesn't make the popping/sizzling sounds while printing compared to other nylons.

I got a roll of this a few days ago and printed 3 things with it last night.

It sticks very well to glass bed with thin coat of PVA heated to 70C (didn't try anything else as this was recommended). Printed at 240C. Printed on unmodified all original UM2 no problems with jamming or anything - it just worked.

This video gives you an idea of the flexibility and the strength - at 4:23 (where this link should take you) it shows this guy breaking an ABS part and then doing much worse abuse to a taulman bridge part:

 

And here's a link to taulman bridge:

http://taulman3d.com/bridge-features.html

 

[pm_dude 27]

Also it doesn't retain water so badly so doesn't make the popping/sizzling sounds while printing compared to other nylons.

 

Unfortunately it does retain water after a while. Keep it in a dry space. I could not print some required parts for a client because too much vapor was coming out and was eventually stopping completely the extrusion. Also the bowden tube was becoming wet because of the vapor.

I left a chunk of it in the oven at 90C for all night. I'll have to try again now...

It stick well for me on the bed at 80C with glue, low fans and closed front panel. Otherwise it start detaching and warping.

Nylon talk:

http://umforum.ultimaker.com/index.php?/topic/6175-nylon-618/

 

[pm_dude 27]

I had it for 2 month now.

 

[peggyb 170]

Taulman just has a Kickstarter with 6 new products: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2144287795/taulman3d-toolbox-of-6-new-materials

there is a flexible one also

" All materials will be available in both 1.75mm and 3mm sizes. The new specification we use for 3mm is actually 2.85mm +/- .1mm rather than 3mm. "

 

[oklok 0]

Nice comparison, you should also input how many degree each can flex so we can see the main flex difference.

 

[yellowshark 153]

A couple of points on the Taulman nylons. Peggy if you are from Taulman - you use "we" - it would be so nice if your tech stuff on the materials on your website could recommend a bed temp.

And people be careful when using the oven. I stupidly put 845 and t-glase in the oven together, forgetting that the t-glase has a much lower transition point(cannot remember the proper phrase). The 645 came out great and the t-glase was ruined. My own fault but not a difficult mistake to make if one's brain is not engaged!

 

[yellowshark 153]

Hi George, I am about to try PA6 for the first time - what settings do you use; I am thinking of temps and also speed as the Taulmans have a pretty slow print speed (could be just the t-glasse,memory failing at the moment)

 

[peggyb 170]

I am not from Taulman, I used the from the Kicksterter page to point out that they finally changed their 3mm to 2.85.

I have one of the early spools of 618 nylon with the 3mm, and it gets stuck in the bowden.

 

[yellowshark 153]

Yup I had the same problem and my UK supplier changed the reel for new stock they received a few weeks later.

 

[zumfab 3]

I was wondering, if I were to outfit an UM1 with IRobertI's extruder, are there any specific parts that I would be missing? First I though about a UM1 specific version, but for the sake of simplicity I think it would be a better idea just to stick the UM2 version onto the Original. Obviously the motor needs a place to live, but that can be done. Not so sure about the rest though

 

[pm_dude 27]

Victory!

Quick update with Ninja flex. So far I was having good results with Ninja Flex but not great. There was always signs of under extrusion every once in a while that I was still unable to explain and worst sometime it would just stop extruding but not clogging.

like these

 

Well I finally figured it out. The under extrusions occurred every time the feeder was pulling on the filament spool creating tension and some sliding of the filament between the feeder gear and bearing.

I fixed it for now by unrolling enough filament for the print so that it can never pull on the spool for filament. I'm printing perfect Ninja Flex since then.

I hope this can be helpful for anyone.

 

[Dim3nsioneer 557]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Is it possible for you to post a picture of the present print quality you can achieve? I'm struggling a bit with getting quality Ninjaflex prints on my UM Original.

[rob_mulder 0]

pm-dude, I had the same idea and tried it. Unfortunately I did it with a model that took more than 10 m of material to make. So I had to set my alarmclock every 2 hours to unroll and lubricate another 2 meters of material... But in the end it worked out fine!

[zumfab 3]

I was wondering, if I were to outfit an UM1 with IRobertI's extruder, are there any specific parts that I would be missing? First I though about a UM1 specific version, but for the sake of simplicity I think it would be a better idea just to stick the UM2 version onto the Original. Obviously the motor needs a place to live, but that can be done. Not so sure about the rest though

 

Any input on this? I have seen a couple of UM2 printers, but I am really not sure of the differences the parts of the respective feeders.

 

[manapdp 0]

pm-dude, I had the same idea and tried it. Unfortunately I did it with a model that took more than 10 m of material to make. So I had to set my alarmclock every 2 hours to unroll and lubricate another 2 meters of material... But in the end it worked out fine!

 

This "solution" works for me as well.

 

[pm_dude 27]

Thanks for sharing your experience! Is it possible for you to post a picture of the present print quality you can achieve?

 

I haven't forgotten about you. I just need to print something that I can show. I have good results with simple prints like the following but still get some issues with objects with infill and overhangs.

 

I do not oil the filament. I would prefer not to have to.