Nylon Carbon Fiber filled Nylon coming from eSUN

I got a chance to play with a filament coming soon from eSUN, it is a carbon fiber filled nylon based filament. First thing that is different about eSUN's offering is that it is nylon based, ColorFABB and others use PETG as their base plastic and some others use PLA. Obviously there are advantages in all filament bases but I am glad to see the choice expanding and I am a fan of nylon based filaments in general.


The filament has a rough surface along it's entire length and has a semi matte sheen to it. As with other filled type of filaments it is less consistent than a plain nylon filament with regard to diameter. This filament will likely not work in a Hexagon but will work fine in an E3Dv6 as the filament ranged in diameter from 1.86 mm down to 1.75 mm, so it is a bit oversized. Note: The E3D has a 2 mm bore through the heatbreak and can accommodate slightly oversized filaments. With a filament diameter slightly larger than normal, extrusion multipliers should be lowered to prevent over-extruding. The following models were all printed on my Robo3D R1 w/E3Dv6 hotend, a 0.4 mm nozzle at a layer height of 0.20 mm, parts cooling after layer 3 and printed using my normal Taulman Nylon profile, with only temperatures adjusted. While glue stick is the prefered method of bed adhesion with nylon, these tests were done with only hairspray. Because of the highly abrasive nature of this filament a hardened nozzle is recommended. There is a very noticeable over-extrusion, unfortunately there was not enough of filament sample to fine tune the results, so I present them as-is.

Like most nylon filaments this one can ooze quite a bit and a small increase in retraction distance might be called for. My standard temperature test model shows a good temperature range for printing with somewhere around 245°C being the best section of the column. The specified range is 240° - 260°C with a bed temperature of 80°C.


Same model printed in PETG and the carbon fiber filled nylon. Obvious from the picture is that the finish of the CF surface is not smooth and shiny as in the PETG print. It almost has a fuzzy feel to it. When compared the PETG print is more flexible and the thin arms can be pushed together quite a ways with just finger pressure. The same cannot be done with the CF filament. It is very stiff, almost as stiff as a good ABS print.


As this model was printed with no supports, it does lend itself to see just how far you can angle it. While not a true bridging test it might still be useful to see just how well it prints overhangs. The above model was printed fan face-down.

One of the things you will notice is that printing identical models with identical perimeters and infill the CF print is both lighter and stiffer than PETG. It is lighter than ABS with what appears to be the same stiffness, and it's lighter than PLA with a less brittle feel. Compared to straight nylon print, it weighs about the same with a model as small as this one. Post print finishing can be hazardous if proper precautions are not taken. Carbon fiber dust is a known carcinogen and respiratory protection should be worn if you plan on doing a lot of sanding to smooth the parts. It is unaffected by solvents but the nylon base is susceptible to moisture absorption, even after printing. Cost information was not relayed to me so I can only guess that it will be comparable to ColorFABB XT20-CF in price, or maybe eSUN will surprise us all and come in more affordable price tier.

Is it something I would use regularly, probably not, but I would definitely use it if I were printing a small quadcopter, hexacopter, or maybe even on an OpenRC project car.

 

Stiffer is a win for nylon since while a tough filament it tends to be more flexible in most flavors than other materials.
Sometimes you wan that, other cases I want the toughness without the bend

 

Yep, PETG is heavy. Heavy enough that I wouldn't print a UAV out of it or a glider or anything else that goes in the air. I like what the guy who is printing the Glider did with single layer PETG, but he could probably significantly reduce the weight by using this stuff.

The more eSUN filaments I use the more I like them. I just finished up my sample of PLA+. I don't hardly print PLA at all but this was real smooth flowing and layed down a very nice extrusion. All that before I did my heated bed upgrade.

 

http://e3d-online.com/Extra-Nozzles

Assortment of hardened ones there.

 

@AdamC the hardened ones are near the bottom of the page @mark tomlinson linked, do not confuse them with the Stainless Steel nozzles, they are there to solve a different problem with brass nozzles.