3mm Flex PLA on sale
Posted by JamesK
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3mm Flex PLA on sale October 06, 2016 09:16PM |
Hi,
I noticed filaments.ca have some flex PLA on clearance, so I picked up a few rolls. It seems like good stuff so I thought I'd mention it. It's Orbi-Tech Soft PLA and it's on sale for $20 for 0.75 KG
The clearance listing: [filaments.ca]
The filament details: [filaments.ca]
I've only tried the filaments.ca house brand flex filaments TPU and TPE before. TPE is the softest, it feels and behaves like rubber - warm and grippy and very flexible. But it is difficult to print. TPU is the other extreme, it feels hard and smooth. It survives a fair amount of bending but is nowhere near as flexible as TPE. TPE could be used to print gaskets and seals, TPU might be better for hinges and parts that have to survive impact. Which is all a long winded way of saying that the soft PLA falls in between the two, it's softer and more flexible than TPU but not rubbery to the extent that TPE is. You can mark the surface with a finger nail, and you might just about be able to use it for a gasket, but it feels like it might also work for a flex hinge. It's a lot easier to print with than TPE. There's something about it that gives a feeling of quality that is quite appealing. I think it's going to be a useful addition to the filament collection. One problem I did notice is that pinch wheel tension seems to be quite critical. The filament is prone to grinding, so my first print failed when the extruder chewed a chunk out of it. That was quickly fixed by cranking the pinch wheel tension up, but at the cost of some deformation of the filament which got worse as the extruder stepper heated up (I run a nema14 close to flat out at about 65C and unfortunately the filament passes close by on it's way to the drive gear.) I've cut a piece of ptfe tube to put over the filament and help keep it away from the stepper - we'll see if that's enough to solve the problem. If not, I'm over due for some active cooling on that motor anyway
Oh, and first layer adhesion to glue stick on glass is excellent. A bit too good really, it's quite difficult to get off as you can't just tap it off like with hard plastics, and levering doesn't work either. I reduced the bed temperature from 65 to 50 and the first layer temperature from 220 to 210, and the second print was still very well adhered.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2016 09:19PM by JamesK.
I noticed filaments.ca have some flex PLA on clearance, so I picked up a few rolls. It seems like good stuff so I thought I'd mention it. It's Orbi-Tech Soft PLA and it's on sale for $20 for 0.75 KG
The clearance listing: [filaments.ca]
The filament details: [filaments.ca]
I've only tried the filaments.ca house brand flex filaments TPU and TPE before. TPE is the softest, it feels and behaves like rubber - warm and grippy and very flexible. But it is difficult to print. TPU is the other extreme, it feels hard and smooth. It survives a fair amount of bending but is nowhere near as flexible as TPE. TPE could be used to print gaskets and seals, TPU might be better for hinges and parts that have to survive impact. Which is all a long winded way of saying that the soft PLA falls in between the two, it's softer and more flexible than TPU but not rubbery to the extent that TPE is. You can mark the surface with a finger nail, and you might just about be able to use it for a gasket, but it feels like it might also work for a flex hinge. It's a lot easier to print with than TPE. There's something about it that gives a feeling of quality that is quite appealing. I think it's going to be a useful addition to the filament collection. One problem I did notice is that pinch wheel tension seems to be quite critical. The filament is prone to grinding, so my first print failed when the extruder chewed a chunk out of it. That was quickly fixed by cranking the pinch wheel tension up, but at the cost of some deformation of the filament which got worse as the extruder stepper heated up (I run a nema14 close to flat out at about 65C and unfortunately the filament passes close by on it's way to the drive gear.) I've cut a piece of ptfe tube to put over the filament and help keep it away from the stepper - we'll see if that's enough to solve the problem. If not, I'm over due for some active cooling on that motor anyway
Oh, and first layer adhesion to glue stick on glass is excellent. A bit too good really, it's quite difficult to get off as you can't just tap it off like with hard plastics, and levering doesn't work either. I reduced the bed temperature from 65 to 50 and the first layer temperature from 220 to 210, and the second print was still very well adhered.
Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/06/2016 09:19PM by JamesK.
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