Nylon Filament

[Undrcutr]

I bought my creator X for prototyping objects that require a decent amount of strength and have not found ABS or PLA to be functional. I came across this review of the Taulman Bridge nylon filament and decided to buy some:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=33jbHlmKf_U

It should arrive this week. Anyone used it or other nylon filament?

[American 3D Printing]

Yes, we use Taulman 618, 645 and Bridge. We use them primarily for their strength and flexibility, for everything from custom orthotic inserts to automotive parts and other industrial applications. There is a significant learning curve to building with nylon!

[Geoff]

Yes, we use Taulman 618, 645 and Bridge. We use them primarily for their strength and flexibility, for everything from custom orthotic inserts to automotive parts and other industrial applications. There is a significant learning curve to building with nylon!

I second that, I bought a sample roll to just see what the overall quality was like before I bought a big roll, and being honest I got through 50 percent of the sample roll before I got it printing well. For me, on the flashforge it needed to be raftless (supports were ok, but rafts nearly impossible to remove as they really do fuse together) and the heat was really really tricky to get right, I was printing at like 250c to get it to extrude correctly.

[RobH2]

I've had good luck printing with 618 at 240C but I'm still having a problem getting it to stick. I've ordered some G10 Garolite to see if it will solve my sticking issues. I do like the properties of the nylon as compared to ABS. It's more flexible instead of brittle and it seems more tightly bound.

[Undrcutr]

Apparently the bridge sticks to glass with glue inly. I am hoping it sticks to kapton without glue. Will get it soon.

[American 3D Printing]

I've had good luck printing with 618 at 240C but I'm still having a problem getting it to stick. I've ordered some G10 Garolite to see if it will solve my sticking issues. I do like the properties of the nylon as compared to ABS. It's more flexible instead of brittle and it seems more tightly bound.

618 is the most difficult of the 3 types to stick, it is very slippery. 645 sticks a little better and Bridge sticks the best.

Print hot 245°C+ and slow: <45mm/sec, even as slow as 30mm/sec. Not hot enough and/or too fast and it will delaminate.

We've had best results with water-based PVA (polyvinyl acrylic) glue on bare acrylic, although it can also be painted onto PE tape or even bare glass. The brand we are using right now is called "Mod Podge" and is available in the arts and crafts aisle at Walmart. Tom at Taulman uses a different brand of the same stuff. It comes in a white plastic bottle and you paint it on with a small paintbrush, like 1" wide or so. It lasts for many builds. You can remove it by soaking the surface in hot soapy water and then scrubbing with a scotchbright pad.

Do not heat the bed! Taulman nylon sticks best at room temp. In fact, when you have a large build, heat the bed up to about 70°C when it's all done to help get it off!

You can tell how much stronger it is than ABS or PLA when you go to cut the stuff with your cutters. It takes 3-4 times as much force!

Taulman T-Glase (PET) is pretty strong too, but not as strong as their nylon.

[basfud]

I am printing with Taulmann nylons a lot, both 618 and 645. UHU stick office glue works best directly on kapton, and PVA solution seems to be OK too.

YOU HAVE TO REMEMBER TO PRE-DRY THEM PROPERLY! Otherwise they will foam. Otherwise quite intuitive and easy I think, at least compared to other nylon brands that don't seem to print at all (unacceptable warping, several times higher than ABS)

[RobH2]

Jeff, that's some really good nylon sticking info. Thanks for that.

[curious aardvark]

glue stick on kapton would seem the simplest.

[RobH2]

glue stick on kapton would seem the simplest.

You know, I'm going to try that one more time. The last time I did it with a large part (7.5" x 7.5" x 6.0") it stayed stuck to the tape but pulled the tape off of the glass. So the net result was still a part that came up. Maybe I'll wrap the tape around the edges of the glass. That might help.