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PLA Highes quality Carbon Fiber PLA?

Discussion in 'Printing Filament' started by PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS, Jan 15, 2016.

  1. PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS

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    Hello,

    I will be making custom drone parts with Carbon PLA. I have seen that Robo makes their own and I have seen Protopasta, Filament Innovations, Filabot, Alchemet, Hatchbox and 3DXTECH.

    Has anyone here tried any of these or in combination and compared quality?
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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  3. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    XT or Alloy 910 (we have had good luck with that).
     
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  4. PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS

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  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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  6. WheresWaldo

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    PET is the base plastic and the G is for Gycol, it is added to provide certain properties, the other common filament made from PET is PET-T (TGlaze is a brand).
     
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  7. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I'll toss out that we have some large name drone companies, who I cannot name of course, using XT-CF20 (presumably for prototyping).
    Of the rest that you've listed: The new high temp carbon fiber PLA from protopasta may be worth a look as it addresses some of the issues with normal CF PLA. I've heard 3DXtech makes good stuff as well, so you may want to consider trying out their materials.

    Note that colorFabb and 3DXtech have a 20-25% CF loading, so a hardened steel is an absolute must. Protopasta has loading only at 15% (which is plenty for PLA) so wear isn't as fast, but it still happens so if you are going to run it frequently, you should consider a hardened nozzle.

    The other brands, at least as the filled materials are concerned, are cheap junk knockoffs and you would probably be better off using an unfilled material.
     
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  8. WheresWaldo

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    Just one more addition to what Matt @Printed Solid said, when he says hardened, he is of course speaking of the nozzle, and hardened steel is NOT stainless steel. There are a raft of stainless nozzles out there more expensive than brass but much cheaper than hardened steel and many think they are interchangeable.

    Just an FYI, stainless nozzles solve issues with brass having lead (Pb) in it as an alloying agent. Food and Medical industries use the stainless nozzles, for us it is just a waste of money. It also has it's own issues with heat distribution as brass is a better conductor of heat.
     
  9. PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS

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    Oh yeah I knew what he meant. I saw them on his website. Just patiently waiting here for the FedEx truck. I keep looking out the window like a puppy looking for it's master, LOL.
     
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  10. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    Thanks @WheresWaldo for that clarification. I am going to move the stainless nozzle to a different page to help prevent that confusion and will list the food / medical aspects of the stainless.
     
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  11. PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS

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    Have you guys ever though of coating the insides of the stainless nozzles with Tungsten Disulfide? It is a dry lubricant made to withstand temperatures no 3D printer can ever achieve. So, I' pretty sure it will work well.

    See the awesome specs here: http://www.lowerfriction.com/product-page.php?categoryID=1&gclid=CIGC5e6FssoCFchffgodT2MPXg
     
  12. WheresWaldo

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    Not really solving the problem of using abrasive filament, lubrication is no substitute for hardened steel nozzles when using abrasive filaments.
     
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  13. Nathanfish

    Nathanfish Active Member

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    ohhh, that PET-G carbon nanotube stuff looks sweet. May have to give that a try someday.
     
  14. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    True, but just to be clear this is a long-term issue. Running a spool of it through the brass will be unnoticeable (I couldn't tell with a mic). Running multiple spools through will eventually be an issue so using the hardened steel is good if you plan to do much.
     
  15. WheresWaldo

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    @mark tomlinson respectfully, your experience is in contrast to the report E3D put out about abrasive filaments. But since @PACNOR RC AEROSYSTEMS is probably going to build complete drone frames (or parts) he will see much better results by using a hardened steel nozzles over guessing when his brass nozzle has worn out "enough" to make a difference. Plus, he is likely going to have to try a 0.6 mm or larger nozzle to insure part strength that comes with larger extrusion slice heights. So with that in mind it wouldn't it be wiser to not start off with a handicap and then chase after problems that may never have cropped up in the first place if using the right tools for the right solution.

    I think that we all want to see him succeed, that is one reason for steering him away from CF/PLA and more toward CF/PET-G in the first place.
     
  16. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
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    Sorry, just my personal experience. :)
    I test all my nozzles so I do know exactly what they are sized at.
    I did a run of a spool of CF through and tested again... no change. (I also tested some of the other abrasive ones--and technically I used a small pin gauge seet).
    I never did see a change after one spool.

    Now, on the other hand, a nozzle I used for almost a year with mostly non-abrasive ones when up by 20% over the course of that time
    :)

    YMMV, Void where prohibited.
     
    #16 mark tomlinson, Jan 18, 2016
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2016

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