Lubrizol Estane?
Say, has anyone ever heard of Lubrizol Estane Filament? It's supposed to be new and both strong and flexible.
I found some models of some Croc (shoes) clones and I was wondering if it would be possible to print something like that on these printers with that filament?
Anyone ever tried anything like this?
Thx
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Disclaimer: I have never used flexible filament on my I3, and I have never attempted to print footwear of any kind on it.
I'm assuming that this is some kind of a TPU-ish filament, correct?
If so, if you search here there will be several stories about TPU being tricky to print.
I've also heard anecdotes about printing wearable shoes, in that they pretty much require soluble support material and they typically use a lot of it. Unless you've added a MMU2 type addition I doubt if it will be practical on your machine. (Plus, I have no clue how well the mix of TPU and BVOH/PVA will work together on a MMU.)
Also, I don't know what size you will be printing, but I just compared the size of one of my shoes (US Men's 9.5) to the build plate and it will not fit, even diagonally.
LOL, good luck. 😉
It would be a *very* expensive way to source crocs...
Flexibles generally need care in setting up; the extruder idler pressure must be as light as possible and printing must be sloooow...
https://help.prusa3d.com/article/flexible-materials_2057
and most TPU is hydrophilic so pre-drying is essential.
I have printed replacement heels for my street shoes and I may do so again but like @jsw my feet are not dainty enough for full shoes on the MK3, when my Xl arrives experiments may ensue.
I have seen partially 3d printed upmarket ladies fashion shoes at shows but some requirements are awkward for home printing. High heels need to be strong but heel tips resilient, soles must be tough but insteps and uppers soft...
'though the prospect of having your feet scanned; then the scan adapted for the way your feet change shape under pressure and finally a shoe printed that is a perfect fit - is very attractive. Especially so for sports or dance shoes that must seamlessly transmit your performance to the floor.
You might already have used Lubrizol; whilst their own brand filament is new they are an established supplier of bulk high tech plastic to the trade some of whom may be extruding and selling filament under other brand names.
Cheerio,
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
if you're going to make a bazillion of something, I agree with @diem, it's not cost effective. Now if you need to make one or a few of something what would only fit a specific need, tpu would ok. I've printed a good deal of tpu on my MK3S+ printers at this point and I think what you'd find with something like footware is that unless you can design something that needs no supports to print it's not going to be a satisfactory product. I'm a bit of a perfectionist and thus why I've never tried to sell anything I print with my soon to be 3 prusa printers lol. TPU is not going to work in the MMU for using soluble supports, trust me lol for making things like keychains, etc it's fine, or anything that doesn't have steep slopes. Bas as @diem pointed out, it's painfully slow. I'm pretty excited for the day my 5 extruder xl finally ships, it might make tpu prints interesting. But then I'll have to find a soluble support material that works with tpu. I have a spool of aquasys 120 filament I bought when I first got the MMU only to find out that the MMU just wouldn't work with it. It's more on the rigid side and would NOT work with the MMU in anyway, even with lots of experimenting. I'll likely experiment with that pretty early on with the XL since my wife likes me to print a lot of stuff in TPU.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
According to the manufacture it will work very well, but it only comes in pellet form. You need to get it from a third party filament manufacture. https://www.lubrizol.com/3D-Printing/Markets/Footwear
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
as with all things 3d printed, some models can be printed easily while others can present a great deal of challenge. A shoe sole would be pretty easy even in something like ninja flex(85A) but something like a pair of crocs which would require supports to print would yield a really poor product when printed with traditional detachable supports. Poor because the removal would leave all kinds of ugliness. Now, when the multi-extruder xl ships, it might make things more interesting since you could use soluble support material. I'm a day one pre-order on the 5 extruder xl and my wife has me print a lot of things in tpu. I generally stop trying to print things in TPU once I can't do it with minimal or no supports.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Oh, that's different.
(Emily Litella mode) Never Mind.
And, the come on I saw for this was for 3d filament, not plastic pellets.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Lol I had to google Emily Litella haha
Oh, that's different.
(Emily Litella mode) Never Mind.
And, the come on I saw for this was for 3d filament, not plastic pellets.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
It was quite a search, but it is indeed available on spools.
Lubrizol makes some spools for the Dutch Ultimaker.
The disadvantage of this is that the diameter of the filament is 2.85 mm.
Here the official announcement and here the available colors on spools.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Emily Litella was the predecessor to Roseanne Roseannadanna. Another one of Gilda Radner's great characters.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
I'm guessing that that the bigger diameter is advantageous for tpu. Having had ninjaflex wrap around my extruder on many occasions when i tried to print it too fast, I would think the bigger diameter would give it less of a tendency to bend inside the extruder if there's any resistence at the nozzle
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Ok, I found it on the US Ultimaker site.
https://ultimaker.com/materials/estane-3d-tpu-f98a
It looks like they only make it in 2.85/3mm so that leaves the whole current Prusa set of machines out.
Under compatibility they say it is usable with either soluble or break-away supports.
All I see at the link to the Dynamism site (Dynamism is the vendor that sold the printer I have to its original owner) are Ultimaker brand TPU filaments, but no Lubrizol filaments.
Lubrizol makes some spools for the Dutch Ultimaker.
The disadvantage of this is that the diameter of the filament is 2.85 mm.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Here it is in 1.75 or 2.85 and it comes in 3 colors. Made by Colorfabb. https://colorfabb.com/colorfabb-tpu-94a-hh
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
But she's asking this on the Prusa XL board, so I assume she has an XL? Should be plenty big.
Also, I don't know what size you will be printing, but I just compared the size of one of my shoes (US Men's 9.5) to the build plate and it will not fit, even diagonally.
LOL, good luck. 😉
Whatever you find to do with your hands, do with all your might!
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
I'm curious how "break-away" supports work on tpu lol. In the times I've tried using anything with a lot of support/model contact with tpu, the surface looks like crap afterwards. I'm quite interested to see how she makes out with this since being able to use soluble supports with tpu is a big motivation for me getting the 5 extruder XL. I'm curious if BVOH will work or if something more specialized will be needed. I have a spool of aquasys 120 that I was never able to use with the MMU. I printed some xyz calibration cubes with it but as far as actually working in the MMU, nope lol
that stiffer 98A should be easier to print with though than something like ninjaflex or even software.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
I sure don't know how this ended up on the XL board but I don't have that, I have the Mk3s.
Anyway, I'm not gonna try printing shoes on it, it seems like it's beyond the capability of the printer, not to mention my skill level.
Tx 4 the responses anyway.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Don't be discouraged - unless your feet are too big as well. A full shoe is going to be, er, tricky, something to work up to, but a sole, or sole&heel combo should be doable then glue in an insole and a fabric upper...
Cheerio,
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
Oh, if anyone cares, I did size up one of my shoes, just a slip on, but it fits on the Prusa sheet.
RE: Lubrizol Estane?
are you going to try printing it? Do you have a picture of what it looks like sliced? I'm curious about the support material.