Flexible Filament Beta Testers (Page 1 of 2)

I am curious of the results on the flexible filament pellets. How did it go?

1.) upload to http://www.imgur.com
2.) put the photo's URL in between [ img] [/ img] tags (no spaces)

Very nice. I look forward to placing an order!

I am still working on a write up but today was an very good day of TPU extrusion.
To answer some questions:

1 My prints are just random things from thingiverse. I am not targeting one market.
2 Thermal decomp begins a 230 C. I print right at 230 so ventilation is required. Below 230 TPU should not give off any harmful gas.
3 You need a special printed extruder but that doesnt mean expensive. I designed mine for the Revolve3D prototype printer. Look on     thingiverse for ninjaflex exturders. This stuff is incredibly similar to ninjaflex.
4 In terms of temps it can handle safely, I don't know yet but I can place some on my hot plate sunday and note when it begins to soften.
5 Not a question but I wanted to state that I printed a livestrong style bracelet that I have had on now for 2 weeks. This stuff does not wear or show signs of use. The layer bonding is almost unbreakable. No adverse skin reactions also so yay.
6 I printed a vase using single wall sprial vase mode in slic3r. It is watertight, even at one layer thick.

I can print those off for you. Next week I will extrude some and give that STL a go.

The items pictured are white due to an additive. Today I was printing with clear TPU, without the stabilizing additive that turns it white. I am also getting about .1-.15 mm variation sometimes caused most likely by moisture. It prints great even with the variation but that is the main reason it has yet to be released. Hopefully it will be soon as the variation is going away with increased drying (5 hours, 210 F). Living in Miami where humidity is ridiculous doesn't help but once I am 100 percent sure moisture is the cause then I will release it. I have more info in the write up I am doing. I want one more good day of extrusion and then I will post more info.

Also horizontal extrusion always ends in ramen. Even with another cooling fan it is just so flexible but I think this could be fixed with a roller bearing guide. I was thinking about 2x625 bearings as the filament guide. I have no idea if it will work though.

He means when extruding (from a Filastruder).

TPE is a bit sticky and not very stiff (especially while hot), so you need a sharp departure angle if extruding horizontally, or go full vertical.

How is the flexible filament coming along? Any progress? I look forward to being able to try it out. Please do let me know when it is available. We have extruded all the pla and abs we purchased from you and it turned out wonderful.

A mi me interesa probar con plastico flexible pero mi filastuder es de 1.75mm, si les interesa puedo probar
me indican que deo hacer para participar.

DIY Filament Materials, please

Revolve3D:

I have mailed you question about shipping to sweden..

speaking of delrin is this a 3D printable material? many items are cast of it.

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

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.