3 New Filaments on Kickstarter

I'm not sure how the new rules work when it comes to Kickstarter projects but this is one that I think you guys would be interested in There is a company called Protoplant creating three new 3D printing filaments under the brand Proto-Pasta. They are actually doing materials testing on all their plastics and sharing the information. I have the data sheets here on my blog and you can check out the kickstarter here

Now I might have to go back to my all metal hotend again just to try playing around with the abs/poly alloy

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Thanks for pointing out this project. I'm really interested in the carbon fiber PLA. We're printing quadcopters and this could be a very good fit.

Joseph

For those of you who are interested I just did a review of the carbon fiber impregnated PLA, you can check it out here.

I fear that this will would create the disillusion that these parts would hold up better than ABS or PLA. The reason this is incorrect is because the impact resistance often times negate the positive effects of Carbon Fiber. They may initially be stronger, but they will wear out easier, and if there is high stress put on the parts printed there will be a more catastrophic failure (parts will be more likely to snap rather than bend and deform). With this being said I think it’s awesome that Carbon Fiber infused plastic will be an option to print with especially for parts that need to be kept to precise specs.

Background: I make Carbon Fiber parts, for my friends and myself for automotive purposes (as a hobbyist) and I’m very familiar with the properties and how well they withstand wear.

PLA is pretty stiff to start with, but its super-low glass transition temp won't be changed by the carbon fiber. In my car, the PLA parts will warp in the summertime. I found this out last year, the hard way. When in sunlight, the PLA parts will warp when the outside air temp is only 32°C (90°F) even though I had the window cracked 25mm (1 inch)! On an overcast day, PLA parts warped when the temp was just 3°C warmer. Salvador Dali would have loved PLA.

I wonder if there was a problem putting the glass fiber in the high temp PLA, probably because it was loaded pretty high with talc/ other additives.

I took some videos of PLA parts warping on my dashboard and on my front seat this fall. I will post them in a week or so on Youtube. Once the dashboard hit 55°C the PLA turned to the feel of chewing gum. Once removed from the car, the PLA set up in a matter of seconds with the warp. Thicker parts were less affected (kind of like a thick rubber block will warp less than a thin sheet.

In the video I took, I put in a Prusa I2 frame built up with PLA parts (minus the x ends and carriage) and left it in the car 15 minutes. When I removed it from the car, the printer looked like it hadn't warped, but one of the smooth rods for the Z axis slid right out and dropped to the ground, the other Z rod could be easily pulled out, and every nut on the printer was no longer even finger tight.