Metal Powder Gets Cheaper

Metal producer Metalysis has invented a much more efficient method to make fine metal powder. Currently the price of titanium powder ranges from USD$200-400 per kg as it is made through a complex multi-step process. Metalysis’ new process involves a single step and should reduce the price accordingly. 

 

While this is quite important for industrial metal 3D printer owners, there could be a connection to personal 3D printers as well. At the present there are no personal metal 3D printers available that use metal powder, but perhaps one of the reasons such a thing doesn’t exist is the prohibitively expensive cost of materials. 

 

Projects such as MetalicaRap could benefit from the availability of inexpensive powdered metal material. 

  

Via Metalysis

MakerBot’s Colorful Plastics

MakerBot is making a big deal out of their plastic selection, and they should. It’s a far cry from their initial selection of plain old colors years ago. Today you’ll find it includes a really terrific set of colors that they’ve grouped into: true colors, translucents and specialties. They offer ABS, PLA, dissolvable and flexible plastics. 

 

We got a close look at the selection at last week’s CES where MakerBot had literally printed out a bunny in every single material they offer. It’s then you can appreciate the huge spectrum offered. In all they now offer 23 colors of PLA, 20 colors of ABS, 20 colors of flexible filament and one color of dissolvable material. That’s an awful lot of bunnies!  

 

We’re particularly interested in the translucent colors, as you can see here in this figurine printed in translucent red PLA. Beauty!

 

3D printed objects often look best when produced in specific colors. MakerBot now makes the selection of colors much easier with their rather comprehensive product shelf. 

 

Via MakerBot

The Scoop on ABS and PLA

Most personal 3D printers use PLA or ABS plastic, but how much do you actually know about these materials? Aside from the fact that ABS’s melting temperature is somewhat higher than PLA, and that ABS is somewhat stronger than PLA, most 3D printer owners could be challenged to say more. 

 

Don’t fear: there is a solution. All you need to do is check out UL IDES’s Prospector Materials Database, which provides very detailed information on over 86,000  plastics and 9,000 metals. In their data sheets you’ll find information on melting temperature, thermal shrinkage when molding, weights, flow rates, strengths, water absorption and much more. 

 

Sure, you may be able to successfully 3D print, but what if you want to experiment with different types of filaments? Perhaps you want to print an object for a specific application and need to know if the plastic will be suitable? For these and many more questions, just check out the database. You can get started by looking at the ABS and PLA pages. 

 

Via UL IDES

Hands on with ColorFabb’s PLA Filament

We happened to score some ColorFabb filament and gave it a test in our lab. This material, as we’ve written before, is not actually pure PLA plastic. It’s a hybrid mix of PLA and PHA, intended to provide a bit better flex and durability. 

 

We found the filament to have a rather different unboxing experience. Typically filament arrives in a bag, labeled if you’re lucky. But the trim ColorFabb filament comes in a neat shrink-wrapped cardboard box that has a very informative label prominently attached. The label explains everything you need to know about this particular filament, including size tolerances, temperature requirements and even the PANTONE color! A convenient QR code leads you back to their website to order more if you wish. 

 

As you might expect, the plastic is somewhat more malleable and squishy than pure PLA, but it definitely gets the job done. We found the prints to be shiny, like PLA normally appears, but also having a very elegant smooth and almost slippery feel. You’ll likely have to play with your temperature and diameter settings to achieve optimum results, otherwise your stock PLA settings might produce questionable output such as this trivase. We're going to continue to fiddle with settings to get it right. 

 

Oh, did we mention they offer some terrific colors, too? 

 

Via ColorFabb

t-glase: A Clear Plastic for your 3D Printer

As the market for personal 3D printers expands, so do your options for plastic filaments. Along with the standard ABS and PLA filaments that have been available for many years, we’ve seen a number of fascinating experiments with different filaments, including some involving wood and ceramics. Now Taulman offers another unique filament: t-glase. What makes it unique? It’s incredibly transparent. 

 

t-glase is actually made from PETT, or polyethylene terephthalate polymer, which can be printed at the reasonable temperature of 212C: a bit more than that required by PLA and far less than ABS temperatures. In other words, your 3D printer is likely able to print t-glase. 

 

Taulman expects many designers to develop 3D printed jewelry with the new filament and we agree. Taulman recommends using the largest nozzle size possible to maximize the optical and reflectivity features, suggesting that fine-detailed jewelry may not be so feasible. 

 

While it appears you’ll have to do some experimentation with t-glase, it does provide more benefits: it hardly warps at all and is quite strong.  And then there’s the light pipes.  

 

You can print a “light pipe” with this material. Imagine a curved shape that channels light from a source to where ever you need it to go. That’s not easily doable with other materials you’ll find in your 3D printer. 

 

There is one catch: the filament is expensive. For a one pound spool (454 grams), you’ll pay USD$30. In metric terms, this is around USD$66 per kg, quite a bit more than other plastic filaments. 

 

But it’s transparent. 

 

Via Taulman

FilaFlex is indeed Flexible

Another filament innovation has emerged from Recreus: Filaflex, a flexible filament. Using this material, your personal 3D printer might be able to 3D objects that are quite flexible, yet durable at the same time. How durable? Well, it seems that Recreus believes you can print usable footwear with this material as shown above. 

 

There’s a catch: the flexible filament is not only flexible when printed into an object, but it’s also flexible when in filament form. This means your 3D printer’s extruder must meet a number of mechanical characteristics to be eligible to use Filaflex. The filament is so bendy that it can produce tangles when pushed into the hot end of an extruder. 

 

Recreus has published a detailed piece on the extruder requirements, but basically you must have sufficient space after the pulley, relatively low pressure on the pulley and an extruder hole diameter of at least 3.2mm. Oh, and you cannot use Bowden or Worm extruders at all. 

 

Filaflex is offered in twelve colors, but only in 3mm form at the moment. Evidently they plan on developing a special filament for use in a Bowden extruder. 

 

There’s one more catch: Filaflex is not exactly inexpensive. In fact, to purchase 500gm it will set you back €33 or USD$45. That’s USD$90 per kg!  

 

It seems that speciality filaments carry specialty pricing. But that’s the price to access the amazing properties of this unusual material. 

 

Via Recreus