1.75mm filament?

I have a potentially dumb question. From the blog post it states that the Mendel90 uses 3mm filament. What would need to be changed to be able to use 1.75mm filament? Is it as simple as changing the PTFE tubing inside the hot end?

No. You will probably need to replace BOTH the extruder and hot end to work properly with 1.75mm filament.
At least the hot end must be replaced with one designed for 1.75mm filament.

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Bob Morrison
Wörth am Rhein, Germany
"Luke, use the source!"
BLOG - PHOTOS - Thingiverse

1.75mm filament won't work in the Wades's extruder unless the hole through the block is made smaller. Otherwise the thinner filament buckles because stiffness goes down with the fourth power of the diameter but the force required to push it only goes down with the square of diameter. See [forums.reprap.org]

To get the same performance as 3mm it needs to be fed approximately three times faster with 1/3 of the force, so the gearing should be removed giving direct drive. This is the only advantage of smaller filament (which is more expensive) - it makes the extruder smaller and lighter. But on Mendel90 that is no advantage unless you make the whole machine smaller and the bed lighter.

I will be making a Huxley sized variant with 150mm build volume and I will probably use 1.75mm on that. With the Mendel axis arrangement you want the mass of the extruder and bed roughly matched as acceleration is limited by the heavier one.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

Thank you for the very detailed answer. I didn't think it would be simple, but I wanted to check.

What this question really stems from is the availability of the material colors I wanted sourced locally (in the US). I've been through the RepRap wiki page of suppliers for both PLA and ABS and I am having a difficult time finding the colors I want. I can find most of what I am looking for from suppliers overseas like faberdashery, but then the shipping cost just kills price.

I did find one place that sold every color I wanted in the US, but was a little overpriced. Then I realized it was 1.75 mm. My filament search continues...

I think faberdashery have re-distributers in the US.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

If they do I would love to know who they are. I found one claiming to be, but they only stocked the rainbow pack.

Edit: Faberdashery has an official list of resellers: [www.faberdashery.co.uk]

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/05/2013 01:27AM by daichiasuka.

nophead Wrote:
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> 1.75mm filament won't work in the Wades's extruder
> unless the hole through the block is made smaller.

I've made an adapter sleeve that slides into the extruder...
If it works well, I'll let you know.

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Custom all metal CoreXY
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Custom Mendel90
(Backup printer - Old reliable!) - Sold

Hey daichiasuka,

I know from the other post that you recently purchased from us (matterhackers), so maybe we have all of the colors you were looking for already, but were there any additional ones you were interested in seeing? We're contantly trying to expand our selection and would love to hear further input. Thanks!

One of my main requests I already emailed you about. It was for more translucent colors. I believe your reply was something akin to "we're working on it, but aren't happy with the results."

Colors I'm having trouble finding in the US:
ivory
really light brown (like a sand)
dark brown
shades of grey - not 20, but 2 or 3 would be nice.
translucent colors

Let me give some background on what I am trying to do here. I have designed some snap-together tiles for D&D that I want to use with my group. I want to avoid painting as much as possible, so I'm looking for natural colors that I can use right off the printer. A light brown and dark grey for stone, translucent blue for water, translucent red for lava, green and brown for trees and furniture, etc.

I currently have your green, black, white, and grey. I like them a lot, but I need variety. From a business perspective, I'm not sure how many others are interested in these, but I certainly would be. I'm happy to play with test colors as well.

Oh ok cool!

Yeah I believe I remember that e-mail. So yes in the realm of translucent we'll hopefully have them at some point once it meets our standards. As far as the other colors I think we can make something happen with at least some of those. Like I said we want to expand our offering as much as possible, so these are great insights. Thanks!

Found this Neat Rainbow Pack offered at Seacans.com