Carbon Fiber 3D printer Filament?

[gamma-raze]

Does anyone know if there is any filament available yet to print in carbon fiber? I know carbon fiber is quite unique, but is there anything out there that is at least pretty similar to carbon fiber? I mean like a material that doesn't bend so easily like PLA and ABS does.

[jfkansas]

There is some CF PLA at www.proto-pasta.com. One of the best materials I have ever printed with. It is a little expensive, around 2.5x as much as market priced ABS/PLA.

[3DP Micro]

http://www.filabot.com/collections/f...fiber-filament. Not as stiff or easy to print as the Proto Pasta but I prefer it over straight ABS

[3DPBuser]

What is a good need for it?

[Yancy]

I don't think there is any carbon fiber filament that actually prints as strong as carbon fiber would be. Carbon fiber printing needs a totally different type of printer if you wish for the strength to be like that of real carbon fiber. The fibers need to be woven in such a way that normal extruders can not do.

[LambdaFF]

I don't think there is any carbon fiber filament that actually prints as strong as carbon fiber would be. Carbon fiber printing needs a totally different type of printer if you wish for the strength to be like that of real carbon fiber. The fibers need to be woven in such a way that normal extruders can not do.

Indeed.

Composite parts are made from sheets of interwoven strands. The fact that the strands are long and with different orientation provides the strength.

That's also why composite parts are so expensive : the plies are hand put (unless you're airbus or boeing) into molds to ensure correct fiber orientation.

[curious aardvark]

yes - there isa company that is both producing a dual extrusion printer and carbon fibre filament.
I think they reckon it's about 50% as strong as moulded parts.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technolog...ext-month.html

http://www.forbes.com/sites/tjmccue/...fiber-printer/

Looks cool - you can bet there'll be a carbon fibre filament generally available soon :-)

[_sara]

I second Proto-pasta's Carbon Fiber filament. They brought some free samples to an event they hosted near Portland and it produced beautiful prints. I casually tested it in my 3Doodler and the quality (compared to the PLA that came with it) was immediately apparent. Their rep was quick to clarify that it was "stiffer" not "stronger." It looked pretty, though I'm not sure what the best application would be.

[OVersliders]

I can imagine using this making part that will require some tensile strength and rigidity.
I do parts for RC cars and I'm glad I stumbled upon this thread.
Most plastics used in the industry is FRP (fiberglass reinforced plastic) so carbon reinforced will be a plus.
Since most cars require stiff carbon decks, I'd be nice to substitute them with this.
Anyone tried the proto pasta in a Da Vinci 1.0 yet?

[Hugues]

I used a spool of Proto Pasta, it gave me the best looking part so far.
In video here:
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=lxnFPgUuunY

More stiff than PLA.