FDM printer for all materials?

Hello.
Almost 1 year I used a heat break with PTFE with success for PLA and ABS+ (Direct). Then I have buy a full metal titanium heat break and I try to force to print with mentioned materials (Bowden).

I'm wondering if is a chance to make a printer for most common materials, I mean: rubber, pla, abs(+), PET-G and NYLON (PA-12). Has someone did something similar?

all metal hotends should be able to print with those materials, orignal e3d V6 with a harderned nozzle even have you printing carbon fila, the softer fila like ninja flex can get tricky with a bowden set up but not impossible. example just needs a kind extruder to ease it through

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/22/2018 07:56AM by jinx.

But I'm still wondering what with retraction and how the prints looks. Before with direct I have around 2mm for PLA, ABS With teflon tube and prints look ok. Now with full metal the maximum is allmoust 1mm, everything above clogged the nozzle :/
I'm still setting all and PA and flex still waiting for me and I'm curious if someone did it and how the prints quality?

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11Master
But I'm still wondering what with retraction and how the prints looks. Before with direct I have around 2mm for PLA, ABS With teflon tube and prints look ok. Now with full metal the maximum is allmoust 1mm, everything above clogged the nozzle :/
I'm still setting all and PA and flex still waiting for me and I'm curious if someone did it and how the prints quality?

I use the "full metal" heat breaks to print everything from TPU to ABS on Bowden setups. You are correct, you need to be mindful of the retract distance, E3Dv6 does not like long retractions when there are a rapid series of them together. I use a 3 to 3.5mm retract on my Bowdens and 2mm on my direct. My retract speeds are 40mm/s on Bowden, my direct extruder is 50mm/s. I usually use my Anet A8 for TPU or TPEE, but I have used one of my Bowden printers for this. I just had to slow down the feed and retract rates to avoid "flexy " jams. You have to be patient to print TPEE.

There is one other critical element to the retract system. Your heat sink MUST have good cooling or jams will happen often. Only my direct extruder/E3Dv6 on my Anet A8 (heavily modified) uses the stock 30mm clip on fan successfully. All other E3Dv6 Bowden printers move the fan back another 10mm from the heat sink to give better airflow. My ABS Bowden printer uses a 40mm fan. My Chimera head required me to add a second 30mm fan attached to the heat sink to stop filament jams.

In conclusion... You need to use the right feed-rate, temperature, retraction distance & speed and cooling to print everything "just so".

You _have to_ love a hobby that requires you to learn the craft.
DLC

OK, Thanks, I will fight with it.

You can print small ABS parts and even large, single-walled vases on an open, unheated printer, but if you want to print ABS as reliably as you print PLA, you have to print inside a warm enclosure. There are other things that help, too. The right print surface to which ABS will stick (PEI works for ABS and almost everything else, too), an evenly heated bed at 100C or so, etc. More here.

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Ultra MegaMax Dominator 3D printer: [drmrehorst.blogspot.com]

I have an enclosure, glass with PEI on the bed and no problem with sticking. There only problem is what to choose direct or bowden.

I was wondering if that setup can do good job. I have on my mind sentence that if something is for all then it is for nothing. But You all have told that it should work; I will try on my own then.

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11Master
I have an enclosure, glass with PEI on the bed and no problem with sticking. There only problem is what to choose direct or bowden.

I was wondering if that setup can do good job. I have on my mind sentence that if something is for all then it is for nothing. But You all have told that it should work; I will try on my own then.

I have tried BuildTac, and hated it. I have a couple of PEI sheets, but don't like the thought of gluing them to my aluminum bed, or even the glass bed, so I haven't gotten the nerve to use them yet. I print everything on glass with hairspray. It works great for me (which is why I have never moved to PEI.) That includes PLA, ABS, PETG, and oddball stuff like wood. TPEE and TPU I print on blue tape. Everything sticks very well and won't come off until the bed cools (which is a little-bit annoying, but for a good print, you have to be patient.)

When I print tall ABS things, I use my fully enclosed delta printer. There is a Thingiverse thing that is the corners for a delta printer, just add plastic (I used Lexan) to slot into the corners. This has worked fine to create things like corner parts for other printers. Just to be sure, I often print "mouse ears" on sharp corners that can sometimes lift on tall prints with lots of infill. I have discovered that infill is the enemy of ABS, but sometimes, you just gotta have it...

Good luck,
DLC

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Kits: Folgertech Kossel 2020 upgraded E3Dv6, Anet A8 upgraded E3Dv6, Tevo Tarantula enhanced parts and dual-head, TronXY X5SA Pro(E3DHemera).
Scratch: Large bed Cartesian, exchangeable heads, Linear slide Delta, Maker-Beam XL Micro Delta, 220x220CoreXY.