I think I found the material that Stratasys uses to insulate their printers

I was browsing CNC machines, when I came across linear rail covers that are very similar to the bellow material in the Stratasys patent. A quick search on McMaster revealed them to be called "flat bellows". They can be found in a lot of places with widths of up to 130 mm, so I could potentially see multiple sheets of this material being used for insulating the top of a 3d printer. Enjoy

or something cheaper.

No. Thats not what Stratasys uses.
I'm building a rough copy of a Fortus 900 (only smaller volume). Fortunately we have 2 at work and I have been all over them. The accordion type baffles form a hexagon profile and are made from fiberglass cloth with silicone as the matrix, sewn with kevlar thread. Material is .008" thick. The company that makes them is Centryco , they are hand made and expensive. I bought an industrial sewing machine, the material off Ebay (slightly thicker) and am just starting to make them myself. Stratasys was granted a patent extension which ends next year I believe. Right about the time my machine will be done

0.008" is really thin, are you sure?

The reason I pointed this out was that the insulation properties would be roughly the same, but without the high price.

I'm interested to see how your project turns out though.

I'm sure. I put the calipers on them. The only reasoning I can see to make it thin is so it will behave (sagging/buckling) especially on the large x axis section.

I'm interested now, because that's really thin. Do you know if there are any figures out there for thermal transmissiveness?

Centryco could probably provide you with insulation properties but that's only part of the equation. The design will also suffer losses from leaks and bellow pumping action. IIRC baffle surface temp was around 60c for a 150c chamber.

Hi Bill,

very interesting insights you're sharing here. If you could share a bit more information about the original design from Stratasys as well as which fabric you bought that would help me a lot.

PS: I also sent you a PM

Thanks for the information. I was looking for the same.

Regards,
Rhea

---

Vashikaran Specialist Baba Ji | Get Your Love Back By Vashikaran

Sorry guys. I dont get over this way often. [www.ebay.com]
14oz is what I have and is about .015" thick. he also has 32oz. I attached a picture of the design. I don't recall the dimensions but I have a note stating that its about 50mm tall when completely collapsed. I have been refurbishing my Haas VF-2 lately so I havent made any progress on the printer but I did make a simple cuff that attaches to the bottom of my X carriage using this material. Kinda acts as a moving chamber so I can effectively print small parts from 9085 and PEKK that dont need to be annealed after. Also if you go over to 3dxtechs website their printer has what appears to be the same insulation and nozzle arrangement as the Fortus 900

hello guys ,can you tell me what type of build plate is used on the fortus for printing peek ?
i'm also having trouble finding a fan that is rated for 150c , for air circulation . any ideas?
thanks

Same material that is being printed although PEKK sticks real well to PEI. Not sure about PEEK but would assume the same

can I pay you to make some bellows for me? I'm making a f450 copy for myself and can't find any good bellows online

Quote
adjoneses
can I pay you to make some bellows for me? I'm making a f450 copy for myself and can't find any good bellows online

More than 4 years later and I've finally resorted to making them myself. Working on prototypes but at some point they may be for sale. 1st need to look and make sure theres no patent issues that still exist

may be down to buy any of your prototypes if you still have any left

Since I last posted in this thread, I've graduated both high school and college.

Don't think there would be any patent issues, as far as I know the Stratasys patent pertains specifically to the printer concept as a whole: a hot chamber isolated by bellows. I'm not a lawyer, but I think just selling such bellows wouldn't infringe on patents, just selling printers that use the bellows.

... check the patent date, if it's still valid.

Adrian started 2006 with the FDM-projekt, because the basic patent was from 25 years ago

---

Viktor
--------
Aufruf zum Projekt "Müll-freie Meere" - [reprap.org] -- Deutsche Facebook-Gruppe - [www.facebook.com]

Call for the project "garbage-free seas" - [reprap.org]

Quote
VDX
... check the patent date, if it's still valid.

Adrian started 2006 with the FDM-projekt, because the basic patent was from 25 years ago

I'll still check but the last I recall the patent with the motion system outside the oven expired 4 or 5 years ago then there was talk of a 1 year extension. I dont recall if i read that somewhere or was hearsay. 3dxtech has basically a fortus 450 with bellows and interchangeable fotrus nozzles. Guess they could be licensing but I doubt it.
I'll update here as the bellow construction progresses. I have fixtures made for sewing and all the materials, now just slowly refining the process as time permits. The only major difference is I will be using ptfe/fiberglass cloth as opposed to silicone. Silicone cloth in the correct thickness and stiffness is not readily available. Ptfe is. And cheap. How good the ptfe is compared to the silicone regarding its durability, behavior and as an insulator is something we'll just have to find out. I thought about making my own silicone cloth but the goal is to finish this machine in the next 18 months and that would surely add some time. Just an FYI if I can produce them to sell, the maximum width will be about 610mm (24"). Maybe up to 650mm.

Thats perfect bill!! My printer will be needing bellows that can extend from 4 inch to 16 inch, at about 15.625 inches wide, but those dimensions are not set in stone and can be widened/extended easily. LMK if theres anything I can do to help you along in your process!