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HOW TO DYE YOUR 3D PRINTS

Discussion in 'Troubleshooting' started by SPyKER, Sep 25, 2013.

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  1. SPyKER

    SPyKER Active Member

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    #1 SPyKER, Sep 25, 2013
  2. AutopsyTurvy

    AutopsyTurvy Active Member

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    Very cool - I posted it in the shoutbox, but I wonder if you couldn't dye nylon using something other than RIT (which can be pretty expensive for what it is, and as it is designed to work on a variety of fabrics, contains multiple types of dye when most materials need only one - the excess dye is rinsed away and down the drain).

    I dye nylon-and-wool blend yarn with non-toxic acid dyes and the nylon takes the dye exremely well... Warm water, food dye (either liquid or the Wilton's cake colours used for colouring icing, in gel form, mixed with a bit of water to dissolve first), and white vinegar. It does need to be heated to set the colour, but I think you could keep the heat to a point that it wouldn't melt or distort the print, and it would be a fun project to do with kids as it's completely non-toxic and it wouldn't hurt them even if they drank the dye water. Gonna have to get some printable nylon and see how that works once I get my printer. :)
     
    #2 AutopsyTurvy, Sep 25, 2013
  3. tesseract

    tesseract Moderator
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    I did a quick dye of nylon filament as it was coming off the spool really quickly with food dye as a test I just put some on a paper towel and wiped it on the filament back and forth until the color changed on the filament then I printed it and it came out that color I tried yellow and it turned yellow in the print it wasn't all the strong of a yellow but it told me food coloring works.
     
    #3 tesseract, Sep 26, 2013
  4. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    AutopsyTurvy, probably anything you're using as a permanent dye on nylon fabrics will work just fine.

    Here's another blog post. and by the way, if you're not following the richrap blog, you should start now :)
    http://richrap.blogspot.com/2013/04/3d-printing-with-nylon-618-filament-in.html

    Specifically: "You can use other natural dyes for Nylon, Cotchineal (squashed bugs) makes a very strong red dye, Turmeric and tea also work on Nylon."

    Personally, I've been doing some experimenting with RIT dye on colorFabb XT material. My results have been wildly inconsistent. I haven't done a write up yet, but have had some fun.

    First a massive failure: Emmett Stretchy Bracelet, Black dye. Way too hot. Fun to watch though 2013-09-16 19.29.50.jpg




    Then a minor success. Here is one in pink. was vapor polished transparent, dyed to a transparent pink. 2013-09-11 21.02.46-1.jpg
     
    #4 Printed Solid, Sep 26, 2013
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