Dissolvable support material used for 3D printing gearbox and Hilbert Cube | 3D Printer news
Jan.28, 2012 Thingiverse user Tony Buser has recently made a very cool Hilbert Cube using a MakerBot Thing-o-Matic with dual mk7 extruders. The Hilbert Cube was printed all at once as one piece. The success of printing such a complex object was based on his earlier project dissolvable support gearbox. Let's read what PVA is. Poly-vinyl alcohol (PVA) is a low temperature thermoplastic with the interesting property of being soluble in water. PVA is odorless and nontoxic and also resistant to oil, grease and solvents. The photos below shows what the dissolvable support gearbox looks like after 12 hours in warm water. So, the PVA melted away and the gear worked and could be turned freely. image courtesy of Tony Buser
3D Printer Filament Buyer's Guide
This entry was posted on June 14, 2012 by Alex English. This is intended to be a very basic Personal 3D Printer filament buyer’s guide for new 3D Printer users. Every single point presented here is worth a lengthy post, but this should serve as a top-level summary that might help you determine what plastic filaments will best suit your needs. Additionally, see What Plastic Filament does my 3D Printer Use. For corrections or ideas of other factors worth considering, share them with us at content@protoparadigm.com. Diameter There are two common diameters of 3D Printer plastic filament, 1.75mm and 3mm. Some printers may use proprietary diameters that are slightly different from above. Here are diameters for some of the more predominant printers. Filament diameters will vary slightly from supplier to supplier, and possibly from product to product (different colors or different plastics), though filaments coming from the same supplier should be fairly close. Material Grade Precision Strength Color
Review: what materials can be 3D printed?
What materials to 3D-print ? Every now and then I am being asked about it, so here is a post on the many materials that can be 3D-printed at home. It is not complete and will expand with time. It is no buyer's guide either, nor a technical document. Read it as a short generic survey of usable materials. As for me and many others, I print mostly with PLA filament (see below). Once again, the open source / open hardware community rocks, because a lot of enthusiasts explore a lot of subjects... One final word of introduction: I willingly omitted materials and techniques incompatible with hobbyists (for now), such as concrete or metallic powders as offered by some high end laser-based professional printers. PLA: an environmental friendly filament Polylactic acid is the most common filament used by hobbyists, the other one being ABS. PLA is a class of environment-friendly plastic which is entirely made out of natural products, hence the organic plastic or bioplastic name. PLA post-processing
LAYWOO-D3: New FDM filament can print wood with tree rings
Sep.20, 2012 Inventor Kai Parthy has developed a new FDM filament that can print "wood" on RepRap 3D printers. This wood filament LAYWOO-D3 is a wood/polymer composite - the filament contains recycled wood and harmless binding polymers. Features: near zero warp rough or smooth surface possible during one print printable tree-rings stick well on print bed, no heated bed necessary recommended extruder temperature 185°C (bright) to 230°C (dark color appearance) the filament contains 40% recycled wood Currently, little trial amounts of this revolutionary material is available in a 3mm version via Ebay. Weight: 0.5 kg Dimensions: 30 cm × 30 cm × 5 cm Price: 16,76€ (19,94€ incl. According to Parthy, 1.75 mm filament will be produced in the future. watch the video below the process in action: Source: Thingiverse
Recyclage
Vente
Plastiques
ABS ou PLA ?
Nouvelles matières
Filabot – Recyclez votre plastique pour nourrir votre imprimante 3D
Filabot – Recyclez votre plastique pour nourrir votre imprimante 3D Les imprimantes 3D, c'est vraiment génial, mais ça coute une blinde, notamment à cause de la matière première utilisée pour imprimer des objets. Cette matière première, c'est du plastique qui lors de l'impression est fondu et converti en fils, qui sont utilisés pour fabriquer l'objet de votre choix. Alors, comment remédier à cela ? Et bien des chercheurs de l'Université Technologique du Michigan ont mis au point une extrudeuse capable de convertir nos déchets en plastiques recyclables (HDPE, LDPE, ABS, et NYLON) directement en matière première pour imprimante 3D. Pas con ! Baptisée Filabot, cette machine est en court de fabrication, mais vous pouvez d'ores et déjà commander les 350 $ de pièces détachées via le site pour la monter vous-même et produire vos propres filaments de plastique à moindres frais. Voilà qui devrait largement faire baisser le coût d'utilisation de ces imprimantes magiques ! Source
Introducing “Rubber-like”: A New, Flexible 3D Printing Material from Materialise | Disrupt 3D
3D Materials Belgian 3D printing material company, Materialise has announced the immediate availability of a new material they are calling “rubber-like.” It is being offered as a trial through September first but any objects made from this material cannot be sold, distributed or imported to the United States due to patent restrictions. The rubber-like material is a thermoplastic polyurethane known by the technical name, TPU 92-A1. Production begins as a fine, off-white, granular powder, but is dyed black after finishing. [SEE ALSO: Introducing A New Flexible And Rubbery 3D Printing Material Called Elasto Plastic From Shapeways] Possible uses include haute couture, models that need shock absorption, gadgets, flexible and functional objects. Via 3D Printer World
L'impression 3D à base de métal liquide [Vidéo]
Un nouveau procédé d’impression 3D fait son apparition. Celui-ci utilise du métal liquide à température ambiante. L’actualité et l’activité autour de l’impression 3D est tellement dense qu’on a de nouveaux éléments presque tous les jours. Aujourd’hui, on découvre une nouvelle technique d’usinage qui utiliserait du métal liquide plutôt que le plastique que l’on a l’habitude de voir. Tout le problème du métal, c’est qu’il faut une température très élevée pour le faire passer de l’état solide à l’état liquide. C’est pour cela qu’une équipe de chercheurs de la North Carolina State University ont créé un métal composé de 75% d’alliage eutectique de gallium et de 25% d’indium. Cet alliage particulier permet à ce métal d’être à l’état liquide lorsqu’il est à température ambiante. Attention tout de même, une couche solide est effectivement créée mais l’intérieur des ‘gouttes’ reste bel et bien liquide. Voici une vidéo qui montre le procédé (les joueurs reconnaitront la musique des Sims !)
