PTFE Tubing...

Hi, does any one know where to get the PTFE tubing please.
I've asked RepRap about spares and they don't bother to reply..

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I just searched for ptfe tube on ebay UK and got lots of hits.

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Large delta printer [miscsolutions.wordpress.com], E3D tool changer, Robotdigg SCARA printer, Crane Quad and Ormerod

Disclosure: I design Duet electronics and work on RepRapFirmware, [duet3d.com].

Hi David, yes I did the same, but it was about £4/m for tubing with an O.D. 4mm and I.D. 2mm.
Was hoping someone might know where it's cheaper...
I want to try making the feeder tube longer to see if it would stop lifting my extruder head.
I tried re-routing the cables, but then noticed that it was the tube lifting the assembly.
Sent RepRap an email about some other parts and got a stoney silence...

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Please send me a PM if you have suggestions, or problems with Big Blue 360.
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Hi Kim,

teflon tubing is pretty expensive.. What you could consider is extention with PE or PU tubing. They will have more friction but I just tested the guidance and it looks OK. PU is more flexible so maybe that's the best option. Both are much cheaper the PTFE.
Be aware that the last piece going into the extruder must be PTFE due to the heat of the extrudor ;-) A 4mm quick tube coupler will do the job to connect both.

Good luck

Quote
Marc van Beelen
Hi Kim,

teflon tubing is pretty expensive.. What you could consider is extention with PE or PU tubing. They will have more friction but I just tested the guidance and it looks OK. PU is more flexible so maybe that's the best option. Both are much cheaper the PTFE.
Be aware that the last piece going into the extruder must be PTFE due to the heat of the extrudor ;-) A 4mm quick tube coupler will do the job to connect both.

Good luck

Hi Marc, thanks for that. Yes it is the last section I want to lengthen. I might try swapping the two pieces we have with each other to see what the affect is. I might wait till I get home and try my local Model shop....

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Please send me a PM if you have suggestions, or problems with Big Blue 360.
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Kim, I ended up buying some from ebay a couple of weeks ago - the stockist I normally use for tubing and connectors and o-rings (on which they're normally much cheaper than ebay) has PTFE, but it's around 3-4 per meter and you have to buy 20 or 30 metres at a time so not much saving (if it had been cheaper per metre I'd have bought some and listed the rest on ebay!) [altecweb.com]

PE, PP and PU would be well worth a try, or even nylon - the "hot" end of the bowden stops in the heatsink block, which doesn't get much past 40 on mine printing ABS, it's well within the working temperatures of any of those materials, though PTFE is much slipperier (I want to say more lubricious) I think there's plenty of spare power in the extruder motor to make up the difference if you try one of the alternatives (I might buy some of this Nylon [altecweb.com] or PU [altecweb.com] and feed back my results - actually the PE they offer has a working temp of 55°C so maybe too close for comfort!)

Cheers

Ray

Thanks Ray, I'll take a look at that site, as I want some for the printer and some for my model making anyway.
I see that the tubing is about £4/m so will buy a 1m length off Ebay.

Thanks guys...

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Please send me a PM if you have suggestions, or problems with Big Blue 360.
I won't see comments in threads, as I move around to much.
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Bear in mind that a longer Bowden tube will probably increase the backlash of the filament feed, giving rise to more blobbiness wherever the speed changes.

Dave
(#106)

Hi Kim,
Regarding the PTFE tube. I receive 3 PTFE tube from RS. Two long tube with diameter of 3 mm and 4 mm each. Another short 3 mm tube for nozzle liner.
I understand the 4 mm tube are for the bowden tube.
What is the use of the long 3 mm PTFE tube? There in no instruction on using it in the Ormerod documentations.
I wonder can we use the long 3 mm tube as a spare for nozzle liner. Is there any difference in properties between the two 3mm PTFE tube?

Hi 3Dexplorer I used it as replacement liner for the nozzle, but it is intended as a sleeve for the filament as it passes from the spool to the extruder, going through the slots near the x axis motor,

Ray

Hi Ray,
Thank you. So It can work as a sleeve and also act as a spare for nozzle liner.

I have also sourced some 3mm PTFE tubing with narrower walls (0.3mm) so that the inner bore is 2.4mm ebay tubing

This is not for the extruder to hot end which I think needs to be fairly stiff but it is useful for guides and liners where its extra flexibility and larger inner bore can be advantageous. In particular I got some to line the modified version of the extruder v2extruder as I found using the original tubing made for quite a stiff and higher friction feed into the extruder. The smaller wall stuff seems better for this application.