Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?  

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

You could try my fix for this issue here: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2867249

I had the exact same issue so I reduced the spacing between the tube and bondtech gears to create a direct path.

That, sir, is a really slick approach to solving the issue. Doesn’t even require a full breakdown. Might be a good temporary fix until the next time someone does an extruder breakdown and can put in one of the ones others have suggested here to fix the alignment issue.

Thanks for sharing.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

of course, sorry....see the latest files attached.. There is still one little error. The holes of the idler where the 3mm pin goes through, is a little bit to tight. carefully drill it up with a 3mm drill. Everything else should fit.

After removing the support thingy (it's already constructed, turn off supports for printing the parts), you could carefully drill the filament path with a 2mm drill, to smoothen the surface for a slicker filament feeding.

Print everything in black, that helps the filament sensor to work properly. ideally PET-G. I printed one in PLA, that was indeed a bit warped when i replaced it. PET-G never did that.

basic print setting: Extrusion width: 0,42mm, layer height: 0,2mm, 20% infill.

Thx a lot, i printed V5 of your extruder yesterday and mounted it on my MK3 today. I had to tweak my TPU profile a bit but now i am printing stable with 0.4 mm nozzle @25mm/s. Quality is really good. 😀 😀

only additional modification i did was replacing the standard PTFE tube with a small piece of capricorn tube. No stringing, retraction working fine as well

Thanks a lot!

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

I will release first version of my extruder soon.

Still waiting 😉

Thomas

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

i'm still working on tuning my tpu profile. with standard 0.4mm nozzle i can currently extrude stable at 60mm/s. Had to up the temperature quite a bit to 235C

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

Hello everyone. I have problems with the filament sensor since it burned. I read that there is a MOD. for the filament guide. Could you indicate the link to download, print and install it on my prusa i3 MK3?.

I printed this but I do not know if it is the last MOD.

Thank you very much

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

Hello everyone. I have problems with the filament sensor since it burned. I read that there is a MOD. for the filament guide. Could you indicate the link to download, print and install it on my prusa i3 MK3?.

I printed this but I do not know if it is the last MOD.

Thank you very much

Hi Juan,
I think the extruders are all still under development.
what worked for me was the FlexEx_V5_rev3.zip from page 9 of this thread. i rebuild the extruder using that design and it is working great so far. but there are other options including the much simpler mod on this page which i haven't tested as it was posted after i already printed and rebuild my extruder.
not sure how this is related to your filament sensor? the new extruders & mods discussed in this thread are mainly for printing with flexible material. the Material i am printing with is translucent so the filament sensor has to be disabled anyway.
Rainer

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

By the way: To all contributors on this Thread.. Thank you so much for your efforts to not only make the printer better, but to share and explain your findings with the rest of us.

I did a good deal of searching and thinking before I bought my first printer, and this forum was a big part of the reason I got a Prusa.

You have all completely validated my decision, and I appreciate your work, your willingness to share, and your helpfulness.

Thank you from Texas, US

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

Hi Rainer.s,
I did not deactivate the filament sensor when I printed a translucent but today I spoke with PRUSA and they sent me sensor and printed piece. I had already made the purchase of 2 sensors. I also downloaded the last piece of the machine and I can see that they modified the entrance of the filament.

When I arrived sensor and piece I will comment.

Thank you very much for answering.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

I will release first version of my extruder soon.

Still waiting 😉

Thomas

This where I am right now, but more to come 😉

And yes for now it is still not the most optimal way to catch filament from gears but this will need to cut the PTFE. So I would like to finish some stuffs first and then create a tool to cut properly the PTFE tube

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

By the way: To all contributors on this Thread.. Thank you so much for your efforts to not only make the printer better, but to share and explain your findings with the rest of us.

I did a good deal of searching and thinking before I bought my first printer, and this forum was a big part of the reason I got a Prusa.

You have all completely validated my decision, and I appreciate your work, your willingness to share, and your helpfulness.

Thank you from Texas, US

Community can be more powerful than powerful tools!

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

OK, I will wait with my MK2.5 upgrade until you release your new extruder 😉

Thomas

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

hope you will like it 🙂

This will not be just an extruder but also X ends to get max out of this type of X axis. It will not be compatible without the new x-ends (belt path is higher)

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

... but also X ends to get max out of this type of X axis. It will not be compatible without the new x-ends (belt path is higher)

What does this mean ?

I didn't use the PRUSA MK2.5 printed parts, I've created my own 😎
(Or maybe will use your's)

Thomas

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

... but also X ends to get max out of this type of X axis. It will not be compatible without the new x-ends (belt path is higher)

What does this mean ?

I didn't use the PRUSA MK2.5 printed parts, I've created my own 😎
(Or maybe will use your's)

Thomas

Ok then here are some features to better understand why I rework the whole X axis :

Some features I am working on :

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

Perfect ! 😎

I'm working on a layer cooler with a much more performant blower and fan shroud. But it's still a pre alpha version.

Thomas

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

SUCCESS!!!!

I invested some hours on the weekend in printing and installing the modified Extruder by Petehagoras and I can confirm, printing TPE is a piece of cake.

I use TPU form dasfilament.de with a shore hardness of 90-94A. I had massive issues with printing it (tangled filament in the extruder, etc.).
It was really a pain, even without retraction and print speeds around 10mm/s.

Now with the new extruder I tested printing up to 30mm/s working!!! - But extrusion is getting a bit inconsistent at this speed.
I could even activate retraction !!!!

Normal PETG and PLA works of course as well. Really great job.

@Petehagoras please keep in in the loop if you do any further modifications, my dream would be something like this for the Prusa:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2087128

Cheers

Tim

Looks great! Is this the three piece extruder modification you attached to a post around page two or three ? Can you post the most current link because I am super duper interested in this and I want to make sure I get the right one 🙂

of course, sorry....see the latest files attached.. There is still one little error. The holes of the idler where the 3mm pin goes through, is a little bit to tight. carefully drill it up with a 3mm drill. Everything else should fit.

After removing the support thingy (it's already constructed, turn off supports for printing the parts), you could carefully drill the filament path with a 2mm drill, to smoothen the surface for a slicker filament feeding.

Print everything in black, that helps the filament sensor to work properly. ideally PET-G. I printed one in PLA, that was indeed a bit warped when i replaced it. PET-G never did that.

basic print setting: Extrusion width: 0,42mm, layer height: 0,2mm, 20% infill.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

SUCCESS!!!!

Now with the new extruder I tested printing up to 30mm/s working!!! - But extrusion is getting a bit inconsistent at this speed.
I could even activate retraction !!!!

Normal PETG and PLA works of course as well. Really great job.

@Petehagoras please keep in in the loop if you do any further modifications, my dream would be something like this for the Prusa:
https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2087128

Cheers

Tim

Thanks mate, great to hear. If you use a wider nozzle you should be able to print even faster. With a 0,8mm nozzle i'm able to print with 40-60mm/s consistantly.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

I'm using the extruder mod from Petehagoras as well and am really happy with it.
using .4mm nozzle i can print with 60mm/s as well. for my TPU profile i am using 40mm/s as standard now to increase the quality a bit.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

I am looking for an additional tester of my new extruder (+ x carriage) who can focus on flexible filament. I have the shortest stack possible and no escape gaps (as posted earlier in this thread). So it should work well. PM me if interested.

Re: Any ideas how to get this flexable material to print?

I am looking for an additional tester of my new extruder (+ x carriage) who can focus on flexible filament. I have the shortest stack possible and no escape gaps (as posted earlier in this thread). So it should work well. PM me if interested.

I'm interested to test but cannot PM to you. Please PM me. Thanks.