PEEK Filament for FDM Printers

INDMATEC, a German materials innovation company, says the introduction of all metal hot-end extruders capable of attaining temperatures up to 400 degrees centrigrade have made it possible for them to create a PEEK filament for FDM printing applications. PEEK material is tough, strong, and rigid. The material features strong resistance to hydrolysis, can withstand boiling water and superheated steam and has a density at least 5 time less than most technical metals. It can be used for parts which must withstand heavy mechanical loads and it's approved by the FDA for food contact applications. You can read the whole story here: http://3dprint.com/52713/indmatec-pe...nting-filament

Below are some examples of objects 3D printed with PEEK on an FDM printer:
http://3dprint.com/wp-content/upload...m-INDMATEC.jpg

It would help business to have a website in english.

It will only be proffessional business if they maintain the ~600€/kg price...

Lol, that price....

not to mention the hotend you need.
But that is a ridiculous price.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by curious aardvark

not to mention the hotend you need.
But that is a ridiculous price.

---

The price is, but isn't ridiculous in a way.
As a specialist plastic that needs about 350*C+ to extrude, it appears to primarily based at business users, rather than hobbyists, such as those in the NDT sector of pipe inspection.

And like most business', the first to do such a thing can pretty much charge what they want as they're the only ones who provide it; give it some time and as competitiors arise the price should drop.

Also, assuming density is 1.32g/cm3 then it gives you about 6.2-6.3m of filament.

I don't think it's terribly hard to get to those temperatures, you only have to think a tiny bit outside the current hobbyist 3D printer box. I've updated two different 3D printers to easily run at 400˚C with readily available sensors and hot ends.

I doubt they have any intention of targeting hobbyist users for the short term though, but it's at least more available if you find a use that can justify the cost.

My math places 200g of PEEK filament at 151.5cm^3. 0.024 cm^3 per cm, 6300cm of filament which makes it 63 meters, not 6.3 meters, with 1.75mm filament anyway.

Was your new hotends calibrated for that high temperature?
Are you using thermistance or thermocouple?

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by richardphat

Was your new hotends calibrated for that high temperature?
Are you using thermistance or thermocouple?

---

I didn't do any calibration, though I did check it against a separate thermocouple meter.

Specifically, I used a thermocouple on an E3D, and B3's 500˚C thermistor on a Pico.

I posted this elsewhere, but...

We printed this spiral vase in PEEK today on our Hyrel 3D System 30M with the MK1-350 print head, which prints at up to 400C and also prints with polycarbonate.


http://hyrel3d.net/images/peek/PEEK.50.jpg


That's the MK1-350 above the vase.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davo

I posted this elsewhere, but...

We printed this spiral vase in PEEK today on our Hyrel 3D System 30M with the MK1-350 print head, which prints at up to 400C and also prints with polycarbonate.


http://hyrel3d.net/images/peek/PEEK.50.jpg


That's the MK1-350 above the vase.

---

Nice done. What did you do to make the PEEK stick to the buildplate?

BenB

BenB,

We've had the best results by printing a thin layer of polycarbonate, then printing the PEEK on that. Be prepared to sand the polycarbonate off - the bond is that good. The PC sticks fine to the glass with the bed at 85C.

Please let me know if you have other questions.

Davo

Hi Davo,

thnx for the quick response, we're gonna try that.

BenB

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Davo

BenB,

We've had the best results by printing a thin layer of polycarbonate, then printing the PEEK on that. Be prepared to sand the polycarbonate off - the bond is that good. The PC sticks fine to the glass with the bed at 85C.

Please let me know if you have other questions.

Davo

---

This is Awesome! Do you know what kind of surface finishes one can expect? Is it post machinable?

MikeG3,

I haven't made any solid or mostly solid PEEK parts to try machining.

I'll post here when I do.

Lol,high pricing by German

20 years ago we were paying £50/kg for basic PEEK, it went to £1000/kg for the good stuff that was used for human implants etc. This was in injection molding. To answer the question above, (even if it was asked 4 years ago), it does machine very well. I have some here that I mill / turn occasionally.I´m quite keen to try it on my 3D Printer, but the price puts me off!