Things you should know about flexible filaments and Nylon

I'm sure you've seen the range of flexible filaments and Nylon / PA-based ones - but what are they good for? How should you print them? Well, let me explain.

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[DjZorlag]

4:15 The subtitles and music really complete the slow closeup montage of printer setup.

[johnvanhoozer]

Great series, Thomas.

I'm doing a lot of TPU in ninjaflex of late. One really good tip for dealing with it over adhering to the bed: a really, really light coat of baby powder. Put a very small (less than 1/4 teaspoon) on the bed, and wipe it all off with a paper towel. You'll find that you get a good adhesion, but it is easy to remove. You don't even want to see the powder.

I'm doing this on my Prusa Mk2s and it works like a charm.

Another thing, I am using both the ninjatek ninjaflex and the armadillo materials and, in both cases, one thing I really like about them is the layer adhesion. Instead of having to worry so much about how the part will deal with stress and breaking along layers, I find that the layers are so much better than anything I'd print in ABS/PLA/ASA are so much better - and less prone to failure because of support or warping issues - that it easily outweighs the costs.

Finally, a warning... when a print fails and you are using something like the armadillo filament ("hard tpu"), if you end up with a huge glob of plastic covering the print head, it's a real disaster. Had this happen once. The stickiness and rigidity made it almost impossible to remove without destroying the wires to the hotend. Plus, in my case, it got in to the recessed screws and was impossible to clean them up to where I could do anything.

I had one major example of this happen once and I replaced the entire hotend. I'd recommend one of those silicone hotend socks that e3d sells. Had a *tiny* bit of a problem once after installing that and it was super easy to clean up from.

[spikekent]

Invaluable series Tom, hugely appreciated.
Never printed with nylon, yet, mostly due to it absorbing moisture so fast and becoming unprintable. But I will make a dry-box soon and then give it a try.

[StopChangingUsernamesYouTube]

You touched on a subject I've been kinda interested in near the end, when you mentioned mixing TPU with other materials in multi-extrusion setups. I'd be pretty keen on a material compatability video someday that explores printing materials with or on top of layers of other materials.

[TYGAMatt]

I have printed motorcycle carburetor seals in TPU and have not had any issues. Very handy when the parts are no longer available and you need an instant fix.

[DIYDTECHcom]

I have been mixing taulman bridge nylon with PETG (in a mixing extruder) to improve performance with a lot success. Get far less warping and better stabilization...

[kurja]

It is common practice to soak finished nylon parts in a water bath for up to 24 hours to bring them to their final state prior to packaging and distribution/usage. This is specifically an issue with parts which may be used under load of some sort.

[DennisJHarrisonJrHere]

Thank you Tom!

This is the video I've been waiting for. Nylon, my personal Everest in the FDM (I refuse to say FFF!) world. We've been through over a hundred kilos in the last year. Where do I start? There are so many property differences between the various Nylon and Nylon-with-extras filaments we've used. Such a great material, but you're spot on - SLOW DOWN.

Tips:
Spend time dialing in your coast/wipe (especially wipe). Direct drive extruder will work best, and keep retraction low (2mm or lower for sure for most parts, we are using .9 as a baseline).

Absolutely must use an enclosure (drafts of any size are your enemey).

Don't skimp on the PVA, you'll be impressed by the curl/lift otherwise.

Drying the Nylon is a MUST, if you see steam coming off the nozzle end, dry it more. Although, I haven't seen the need to keep it in a dry box while printing as we're in a climate controlled environment with low humidity anyway (indoors, in southern FL). We can dry a roll of Alloy 910 or Bridge and then use it for several days without needing to dry again.

Highest speed X/Y movement your machine can handle before adding corners to your circles (an absolute must to combat stringing).

UNFORTUNATELY:
Personally, I've had more issues with varying Nylon filament diameter per roll than anything else.

HOWEVER:
What a fantastic capability, to be able to produce parts out of the various Nylons and blends out there. Also makes something like PETG seem like child's play in comparison.

Good luck!

[ryanr]

Love love love ur channel it helps so much with all my 3D printing problems, keep up the good work

[TheMoe]

4:00-5:00 "I've got a camera with great Bokah and I'm gonna prove it!". Well done!

[weirdsciencetv]

You crack me up. Pretty much my fav 3D printing channel!

[toddspurgeon]

How do you print these materials? slowly, methodically, and sensually. Well said Tom, well said indeed.

[TrancorWD]

Yeah, TPUs LOVE the bed (Ninjaflex style; 85A). I've been printing parts slightly off the bed with support everywhere / raft, since taking a knife to TPU could end with gouge marks on the under side from getting it off the bed... Soldering iron / wood branding iron can fix most issues post-print!

[AllToDevNull]

I just finished a 96h print with TPU. I had to start multiple runs due different reasons, clogging was one of them. I switched from my default 0.4 to a 0.6 mm nozzle and 40mm/s print speed and had no more problems. In general, the 0.6mm nozzle with TPU still has great details but much less clogging chances.

[sdchapy]

Is that the new powder coated textured spring sheet? Dam. I'm jealous.

[queldomingoespin]

Thomas, when I print flexible I use lower speeds but I also increase the flow up to 150% with cura (1.5 with Simplify 3d), if I don't do that due to the bending of the filament the extrusion is not consistent.


BTW great series of videos, I'm learning a lot

[DogsBAwesome]

My Prusa Mk3 spaghettied on TPU I cut a new bit of PTFE tubing slightly longer and put a 45-degree cut either side, then opened up the hole a bit at the top side then placed it as near to the gears as possible. It's been fine since.

[gaellafond]

I got a sample of TPU from a friend. I was afraid to use it because i've heard that it bind with PEI. Someone posted a video of him putting a very thin layer of baby powder on the PEI bed before printing. Wipe it off with a dry paper towel so you can't see it. It works very well. TPU still stick to the bed but will be easy to remove at the end.

[beebakrizzle]

Nice video! Lots of good information. I noticed the printing temperature of the TPU was set to 230°C and this pushed me to share my experience with printing TPU with my bowden setup. I print sainsmart which is a popular choice by all accounts. The recommended printing temperature is 195 to 230°C, but I found it will only print somewhat reliably around 220°C for me. There is a sweet spot where the TPU flows enough that it won't buckle in the hotend that easily, and where it will not start degrading too much. When heated above this temperature, it starts to very quickly leave residues inside the hotend that will eventually clog it up. Even with 220°C printing temperature, I need to do a few cold pulls to clean up the nozzle before every print. I would love to print at lower temperature because it also gives a more consistent surface quality (that shiny surface that the unextruder filament has), but then the bowden extruder (titan in my case) has a very hard time pushing it through consistently and it eventually slows down, and as a result degrades and clogs.
Regarding the process, I found that having (as you said) no retracts and an absolutely constant speed of around 20mm/s works best. It is important that the filament doesn't stall into the hotend or you will get these residues that will lead to clogging. Hope this information will be useful to someone and I wish you a very nice evening!

[dgussner]

Your video's are really really good, informative and made very well. Love the TV production quality you have in this series. Thanks for sharing.