1 Topic by OSPrinting

  • OSPrinting
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Topic: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

We have just added glow in the dark PLA and ABS master batch to our store. The ABS G.I.T.D is a neon blue and the PLA G.I.T.D is a neon green.

We tested extruding these plastics last week and this is what we found:

The neon blue ABS needs to be baked at 200 F for 2 hours. Because of the way it was shipped, it has high amounts of moisture. If you don't dry it out, you will get lots of air bubbles in the filament and it will be unusable. We mixed them at 33:1 natural to masterbatch ratio. The higher the concentration, the stronger the glow.

The neon green PLA does not require baking. We did not have issues extruding it but baking it would not hurt. We used 33:1 mix ratio and ran the machine at 165 degrees Celsius. There was no problems with mixing at this temperature. The same rule applies to the PLA G.I.T.D, the higher the concentration, the stronger the glow. The neon green shark was a test print in 1.75mm PLA.

We have added the G.I.T.D master batch to all of our bundles, so you can select it as your colorant and get free shipping. You can also find it by itself under the Colorant category.

As we test the glow in the dark more, I will post more pictures.


Rob

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2 Reply by laird

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

The glow in the dark looks great, but the shipping costs are quite high relative to the cost of the masterbatch. $10 for 2 oz of GITD is fine, but $12 to ship $20 of material is a huge bite. Perhaps that's what I get for living so far away. :-( So I guess I'll wait until I need to order more base material, and get it all shipped together.

Also, if I can put in a request, can you look into "universal" masterbatch? I'm playing with different base materials (ABS, PLA, HIPS, Nylon, PETT) and even if it costs a bit more, I'd rather have masterbatch that I can use with all materials rather than just ABS.

3 Reply by -luckyphil-

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

The kids will love it!

Thanks for getting in new and wonderful variations to extrude.

4 Reply by OSPrinting

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

laird wrote:

The glow in the dark looks great, but the shipping costs are quite high relative to the cost of the masterbatch. $10 for 2 oz of GITD is fine, but $12 to ship $20 of material is a huge bite. Perhaps that's what I get for living so far away. :-( So I guess I'll wait until I need to order more base material, and get it all shipped together.

Also, if I can put in a request, can you look into "universal" masterbatch? I'm playing with different base materials (ABS, PLA, HIPS, Nylon, PETT) and even if it costs a bit more, I'd rather have masterbatch that I can use with all materials rather than just ABS.

The shipping cost should be no different than normal. If you order under 13oz, you should be able to select First class mail. Which should be under $3, so long as it is within the US. Email me if you are still having issues with shipping options.

I looked into universal masterbatches back in March. What I found is that they are 2-5 times more expensive then the specific masterbatches (only for ABS ext). At the time, I was looking for low cost colorant that would expand our Abs and PLA options. Now that our basics are covered, I can look into this option again. Just be wary that they will be more expensive.

5 Reply by laird

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

Just checked again - I can only pick UPS as a shipper, and UPS Ground is (to my address) $12.49. I'll email you separately.

6 Reply by OSPrinting

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

On the drop down when you select UPS, you should see the option for Other Carrier. This will then allow you to select Fedex or USPS. Let me know if this is still not working.

7 Reply by laird

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

OSPrinting wrote:

On the drop down when you select UPS, you should see the option for Other Carrier. This will then allow you to select Fedex or USPS. Let me know if this is still not working.

Just to let everyone know, this worked - and regular mail shipping is much more reasonable than UPS for shipping a few oz of colerant.

And both the ABS and PLA glow in the dark colerant look great! Extruding now!

Thanks!

8 Reply by wahada

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

What type of glow in the dark effect is this? Do you need a UV lamp to see the the effect or is this the type that is activated by sunlight and then glows on its own afterwards?

9 Reply by OSPrinting

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Re: Glow in the Dark Masterbatch!

All you need sunlight.