1 Topic by titaniadioxide

  • titaniadioxide
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Topic: Brittle ABS

Hello, folks!

I've been extruding ABS from pellets with Masterbatch for colorant.  I hadn't noticed this when it was extruding or much when I was winding, but the filament that I'm getting out of the Filastruder is really brittle.  I've been using MakerBot and MatterHacker spools, and I can't get the filament through both holes to keep it from tangling.  It snaps really easily.  I've even had it snap in the plastic tube feeding it to the extruder assembly, and on the spool itself. 

I've been using a 1:50 ratio of Masterbatch to ABS pellets, measured by custom printed measuring spoons from Thingiverse.  The weird part is that I was recycling ground up prints, and using anywhere from 50% to 100% recycled material, and that filament is just fine.  The biggest problem with it is that the outside of the filament isn't glossy, but toleranceing is good and it prints beautifully.  But all of my virgin filament is snapping really easily.  The ones I've had the most issue with are green and silver (and silver's got an extra problem with diameter sizing), but all of the Masterbatch-colored ones are rather sad.

Has anyone else had issues where virgin filament with Masterbatch is extremely brittle to the point of being almost unusable?

Thanks!

2 Reply by Revolve3D

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Re: Brittle ABS

My first time coloring filament the same thing happened. I was making black ABS and put too much masterbatch in. If the green and silver are from me they are more concentrated then the other colors. When I used the green, silver and orange for the first time I went on the lower end, roughly %2 by weight and the filament was fine. I will state on the website that those three colors are more concentrated. It sounds like you just used a bit too much of the colorant. I made a few spools of black last week and it required roughly %4 by weight.

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3 Reply by titaniadioxide

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Re: Brittle ABS

Yup, we got the pellets and colorant from your store.  I'll make sure to use less colorant next time, and make a note on the measuring cups I printed.  ^_^

4 Reply by Revolve3D

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Re: Brittle ABS

Perfect. If you have any other issues feel free to email me whenever.

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5 Reply by titaniadioxide

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Re: Brittle ABS

Actually, I do have another question:  does measuring by volume not work properly to get the right ratio?  The package suggested a 50:1 ratio, which should be about 2% colorant, unless the densities of the colorant and the pellets are different.  Unfortunately, we're working in pretty small chunks, extruding 1/2 - 1 pound with each extrusion, and playing with changing colors in the same extrusion, so doing it by weight isn't necessarily feasible. 

Thanks!

6 Reply by IanJohnson

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Re: Brittle ABS

I would think weight would work better.  Since the pellets are large and can have different amounts of space between them, and the quantity used is so small, there might be enough variance in the volume you measure to make a difference.

7 Reply by titaniadioxide

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Re: Brittle ABS

I guess we just have to get a small, sensitive scale from Amazon or something to make it work better.

8 Reply by Revolve3D

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Re: Brittle ABS

The densities are different. I use a packing scale to weigh the pellets and a $10 pocket scale from amazon when I am going to mix plastic and colorants. The pocket scale is much more accurate then the packing scale for weighing small amounts. I also convert everything to grams but just because thats my preference.

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3D Printer Filament, ABS Pellets, PLA pellets, Colorant, and Accessories

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