Can't print with Timberfill® (wood filament)

[GoncaloLaranjeira 1]

Hi everyone!

 

I have a UMS5 and I can't print more than 2 to 3 layers of Timberfill® wood filament..

The first 2/3 layers it prints really well and then it just clogs 😞

 

The filament was put on the oven at 50ºC for 3 hours to remove any possible moist, just like Timberfill® suggests:

Quote

The conditions to achieve optimal level of moisture are 50 °C for 2–3 hours

 

I have a 0.4 Nozzle and my current setting for the wood printing are the follow:

 

Layer Height: 0.2mm

 

Printing Temperature: 175ºC

Build Plate Temperature: 47ºC

 

Print Speed: 70mm/s (walls/infill/initial layer)

 

Retraction Speed: 25mm/s

Retraction Distance: 10mm

Z-Hop when retracted: Disabled

 

Printing with a 2 line skirt to start flowing some filament (because filament can't be in the nozzle for too long, otherwise it burns and consequently clogs..

 

UMS5 uses 2.85mm filament, is this the main cause of the clogs? Because the Timberfill® brand recommends:

Quote

0.6/0.8 mm nozzle for 2.85 mm filament for printing with Timberfill due to the fillers contained in the filament

 

Do you guys have any experience printing with this wood filament?

Thanks!

[JohnInOttawa 104]

I haven't used Timberfill, and my printer is a UM3, not S5,  but have printed a fair bit with Colorfabb Woodfill which might be similar. 

 

Bigger nozzle size is definitely needed for the particulates.   If Timberfill is recommending 0.6, then it's likely not related to 2.85 vs 1.75, it's because smaller nozzles can block.  I think your choices in the UM line would be an AA 0.8 or a CC Red 0.6, in my case I went with a 3DSolex Hardcore and put a 0.6 in it.  

 

I'd also pay attention to retraction settings, particularly retraction distance and maximum number of retractions.  I did find my filament tended to grind with too many retractions.

 

Hope this helps at least a bit!  Keep us posted!

Cheers

John

[Carla_Birch 116]

A few things i see wrong when it comes to printing woodfill.

 

First the nozzle size will likely mean you get a blocked nozzle, most woodfill's need a 0.5 or bigger so like above the CC 0.6 core is likely best, not to just help not get a blocked nozzle but woodfill can be high wear also.

 

Next is your settings, the print speed for woodfill's need to be slower, more around the 30 mm/sec range and i would also say the temp is way to low also and i would start off at around 195c.

 

Overall it can be tricky to print as if you go to slow/hot you can burn the filament inside the nozzle and block it also, so you really have to dial some brands of woodfill in real good.

[ahoeben 1,990]

20 hours ago, Carla_Birch said:

the CC 0.6 core is likely best, not to just help not get a blocked nozzle but woodfill can be high wear also.

Is that last bit really true? I would think that brass is harder than the woodfibers in wood PLA. My understanding is that you cannot really abrade a material with a softer material. Other "fill" materials such as iron and the compound used for glow-in-the-dark filaments are actually harder than brass (which is relatively soft for a metal), so they will wear down a brass nozzle. But I don't think wood will.

 

Having said that, there is no AA 0.6 core, and using a CC 0.6 core for woodfill is unlikely to reduce the quality. So it is still a good tip.

[Carla_Birch 116]

On 3/21/2021 at 2:15 PM, ahoeben said:

Is that last bit really true? I would think that brass is harder than the woodfibers in wood PLA. My understanding is that you cannot really abrade a material with a softer material. Other "fill" materials such as iron and the compound used for glow-in-the-dark filaments are actually harder than brass (which is relatively soft for a metal), so they will wear down a brass nozzle. But I don't think wood will.

 

Having said that, there is no AA 0.6 core, and using a CC 0.6 core for woodfill is unlikely to reduce the quality. So it is still a good tip.

 

It was something that was told to me by a company that made woodfill filament, have never really used that much of it and plus when i have, i have used a CC 0.6 core so don't know how much more if any is it over just PLA.

 

But it's defo better to use a 0.6

[RenoParker 1]

I can confirm having just done a multitude of prints using Timberfill by Fillamentum - Think it was the Light Wood color version - we printed at the following settings:

 

Print Core CC 0.6

Fast - 0.2mm print settings
Custom Temp 190 Print Core
Custom Temp 55 Build Plate
Custom Speed 70 base, 65 on inner and outer walls

 

Not that it matters but we also used Spiralize and Adaptive Layering to maximize speed and it came out perfectly

 

And the prints went through just fine!

[Bgeorge94 0]

On 12/9/2022 at 2:49 PM, RenoParker said:

I can confirm having just done a multitude of prints using Timberfill by Fillamentum - Think it was the Light Wood color version - we printed at the following settings:

 

Print Core CC 0.6

Fast - 0.2mm print settings
Custom Temp 190 Print Core
Custom Temp 55 Build Plate
Custom Speed 70 base, 65 on inner and outer walls

 

Not that it matters but we also used Spiralize and Adaptive Layering to maximize speed and it came out perfectly

 

And the prints went through just fine!

What retraction settings do you use? And are there other small tweaks to other settings you did? 

[mrender 26]

Wood filament does wear away brass nozzles surprisingly quickly,  need a hardened steel nozzle really.