SoliForum - 3D Printing Community — Flexible Filament Beta Testers

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-09T20:46:43Z

It could be the retraction curlups is because my filament is only around 2.6mm and i have redrilled the hotend to 3.25 instead of original 3.1 because i had a roll of nylon trimmer wire that was 3.1 and it got stuck.

I will do some more tests this weekend with other colors and filament sizes and an original heatbreak.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-09T14:01:03Z

The color looks really good. I haven't had the same issues you have when it comes to retraction. I have only used a Jhead V which has a PTFE liner. I have a e3d v6 going on the machine I am building now. When the machine is complete I would like to work on optimizing the TPU filament and make it much easier to work with.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-08T22:33:09Z

Hello all..

I have tried the flex pellets now, and must say it is very difficult to print with, at least for me.
I have an Bulldog XL extruder +E3D V5 hotend and have to print at about 25-30mm/sec, otherwise it curls up in the extruder.
The temp i have to use to print is 230c.
With ninjaflex i can use much higher speeds without curl'ups.
This flex is SO sticky it's crazy. It almost feels is has a gluelayer on it

EDIT: forgot to mention that retraction is a no go, when used it sticks in the heatbreak.

The blue color comes from CraigRK's masterbatch that is both PLA and ABS compatible. I just took a chance
and tried it. It worked great, and gets really colorful and shiny.
As the flex pellets uncolored is really translucent, almost transparent, just a tiny colorization get it really
nice. I just took too much so it got opaque.

The predrying as Trevor say is REALLY a MUST, otherwise it gets lots of bubbles in it. I dried it in an oven for 4 hours at 100c.
When that is done the extrusion diameter is pretty consistent. But masterbatch colors fuck it up, so one must dial in
the temps and nozzle size and eventually motorspeed.
My nozzle size is 2.95mm and i get a filament that is around 2.65 at 188c temp.

I extrude on my own constructed extruder and wind on my own winder.

Winding in a coil on the floor did not go so well for me, but on my winder it got much better.
I have about 1.5m between extruder and spooler, and about 50cm arc on the filament.

I will do more tests and upload more pictures.

(excuse the messines on the pictures. the winder is still work in progress)

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-08T16:13:37Z

Depends a bit on what printer you plan to use it with.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-08T01:40:23Z

Thanks cor5151.

elmoret I was talking about an extruder, specifically one that can be printed from thingiverse. I have an e3d v6 hotend myself, but I am highly doubtful the extruder I am using would be able to feed flexible filament, as it does not closely guide the filament after the gear, nor does it use a spring to regulate the flow of material. (the bearing is on a printed arm that is tightened in order to move it closer/further from the gear)

I was wondering if there was a recommended extruder design for this filament(preferably one with STEP or solidworks files to allow for customization) as one was hinted at previously in the topic.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-07T20:32:39Z

from my little experience with testing and using flexible filament like earlier revolve stuff and my own mixes, a direct drive extruder works best at very slow mm/s and not too much pressure on the spring for extruder, flexible stuff likes to burn or chew up if pushed too fast. also make sure there is no gap between extruder gear (mk7/hobbed bolt) on my e3d v6 i have the ptfe tube pushed right too the hobbed bolt for all filaments. but on my simple (ubis hotend) there is a slight v shaped gap on the hotend after the extruder before it goes into the ptfe tube so it will bunch up in there and not feed or if the gap is too big on the extruder it will just flex and wind into the gear..

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-07T20:06:07Z

Extruder or hotend? The E3D hotend can handle flexibles with any extruder, since it has a fully constrained filament path (adjustable length PTFE tube).

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-10-07T19:57:58Z

Hi Revolve3D and testers, how is the development of filament settings coming? Also, is there a thingiverse link to an extruder you suggest using with this filament?

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-17T13:07:37Z

The filament is fully supported. Due to the filament being so flexible it has to be guided right after the hobbed gear.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-17T11:48:42Z

Can you expound on the special printed extruder you are referring to? Why do you need it? I did a quick search on Thingiverse for ninjaflex. I think I understand but would like to hear more about it from someone who knows.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-14T23:11:50Z

My first time I dried it 2 hours and a materials engineer said that wouldn't do it. He suggested 4-8 hours which is what I do now. I prefer using my filastruder with a 1.8mm nozzle. I have a lyman v2/filastruder hybrid with a 1.9mm nozzle that I use for most testing because of a variable speed screw. The material inside the barrel absorbs moisture when the machine is shut down, I always run out about 20-30ft before I start spooling. With the filawinder, bypass the PTFE tubing and just pass the filament though a guide hole to the servo guide arm.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-14T20:54:19Z

2hrs at 200 in the oven.
ill try cooler but need 1.6mm drillbit caz all my nozzles are oversized. i get almost 3mm with 1.9 nozzle.
it stays hot for foot and warm for another 2. clearly better cooling is needed.

maybe my issue is my extruding drill, i had it smoothed out so it wont grind edges and make metal shavings so much.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-14T12:27:44Z

I extrude at 194 without colorant and at 191-192 with colorant. I wrote in the instructions that vertical extrusion is easier but the pellets do not slide. I have to tap the hopper neck for now but I am building a hopper shaker. For horizontal extrusion I will design a filament guide made from bearings. I don't know if this is the solution but I think it may work. For full vertical extrusion, keep the draw (distance to the coiling surface) short, about 10"-15".

How did you pre-dry the pellets? the most variation I have seen was about 1 mm when I first tried this stuff. I load about 1-2 shot glasses full of pellets at one time. This should help you not fly though it while you fine tune extrusion and also limit the pellets exposure to humidity. (really important here in Miami)

Also, about the outer shell appearing cooled but the inside isn't. I have yet to see that but what I have experienced is an optical illusion where it looked like liquid in the middle. There was a bit of black colorant in the filament and it looked like it was moving around as I printed, but it wasn't.

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-14T05:49:27Z

1 of 2 LB wasted so far trying to extrude anything with consistent diameter.
What would be successful story extruding this flexible thing i bought ?
Diameter jums from 1 to 3 mm. It wont slide over any surface, catching on everything in horizontal and 45deg setup.
Hard for vertical because pellets dont slide well.
At 190c i see it continuous to flow inside its self. Outer shell has cooled but inside its still hot like lava and keeps flowing in. Do i need water or something to manage the 1.75 or go colder on the nozzle ?

Re: Flexible Filament Beta Testers

2014-09-12T08:09:56Z

cool thanks, saw another supplier listed in that 2nd link http://www.suntec3d.com/