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Wear-Resistant Tungsten 3D Printer Nozzle Launched on Kickstarter

Just a few months ago, we learned from 3D°Hex that it would soon be launching a Kickstarter campaign for a new, highly temperature and wear resistant tungsten 3D printing nozzle, called the Tungzzle, that it had been working to develop for about a year. The startup, based in the Ruhr region of western Germany, is focused on designing and manufacturing better 3D printing materials and components in order to solve some of the current problems in the 3D printing industry, and started with the Tungzzle, which, as you may guess from its name, is made of an alloy with 95% pure tungsten content, and not a combination.

We’ve just learned from 3D°Hex that the crowdfunding campaign for its Tungzzle is now live on Kickstarter.

“The most affordable wear and high temperature resistant 3D-Printing nozzle on the market, made completely of tungsten heavy alloy,” the 3D Printing Tungsten Nozzle campaign’s headline claims. “While many new, cutting-edge 3D-Printing nozzles hit the market every few months, there is a huge disparity in their respective qualities. If you want something that is reliable and durable, you need to put some effort into selecting the right technology. You want something that is affordable, of course, but you want also something reliable, that will produce high quality as well.”

The nozzle is the last piece of your machine that touches your print, so it’s important that it can perform reliably. 3D°Hex founders Christopher and Paul explain on the Kickstarter campaign page that when you need an individual printer nozzle for specific tasks, you may be shelling out a high amount of money for something you’ll be using on a lower cost desktop printer. But they say that the Tungzzle combines all the important benefits of these different nozzles into one. This allows the startup to, as it told us in April, create “the ultimate balance between performance and price.”

3D printed part made of carbon fiber-reinforced filament, printed using the 3D°Hex Tungzzle.

Tungsten is an extremely dense (19.3 g / cm3) and hard (7.5 up to 8 on Mohs scale) metal, with high wear resistance and thermal conductivity, and features the highest critical melting point of all refractory metals. All of these properties mean that the Tungzzle, which is made of 95 WNiFe Tungsten heavy alloy, can print with highly abrasive materials, like carbon fiber, without the inside of the nozzle being damaged, and that it can also work with high temperature materials such as PEEK and nylon. Its excellent thermal conductivity allows for better extrusion performance out of your printer, in addition to better temperature calibration effects.

“With steel with a coefficient of 10.8 to 12.5 and brass with a coefficient of 18 to 19, tungsten has one of the lowest expansion coefficients with 4.5 and does not experience an extreme tempering effect, which means that its properties are retained even at long high-pressure temperatures,” the Kickstarter campaign states.

The Kickstarter campaign has plenty of available rewards left, such as the €12 Supporter pack, which comes with a Tungzzle sticker set and a carbon fiber 3D printed 3D°Hex logo, and the €15 3D°Hex supporter t-shirt. The Ultimate Tungzzle Super Early Bird reward is just €29, which saves 55% off the RRP and comes with the Tungzzle itself, which features an M6 thread, 0.4 diameter, and works with 1.75 mm FDM 3D printing filament. A double Tungzzle pack is €74, while a triple pack is €107, and you can purchase a pack of five Tungzzle 3D printer nozzles for €160.

(Images courtesy of 3D°Hex)

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XYZprinting Showcasing da Vinci Color mini and Three New 3D Printing Materials at CES 2019

Today in Las Vegas, CES 2019 officially kicked off, though the official CES Unveiled media event took place on Sunday at the Mandalay Bay hotel. Taiwan-based 3D printer manufacturer XYZprinting attended the media event and showed off its newest product, the consumer-oriented da Vinci Color mini, which was first introduced this summer. The company plans on unveiling several additions to its 3D printer line at the show this year, including an upgraded extruder option and an expanded filament line.

XYZprinting is committed to making 3D printing more accessible to the masses, and the compact da Vinci Color mini, its second-generation desktop full-colored FFF 3D printer, is crushing full-color 3D printing size and price barriers. It’s a good choice for consumers, designers, makers, and small business owners looking to use full-color 3D printing for the purposes of prototyping. The da Vinci Color mini uses the company’s 3DColorJet technology, which creates millions of color combinations by applying a single CMY ink cartridge to a color-absorbing PLA filament; however, it’s also possible to print in monochrome if you wish.

“Our investment in full-color 3d printing technology has opened the door to the next level of 3D printing innovation. By providing an affordable and compact full-color printer, we are very pleased to be bringing color 3D printing technology within reach for small businesses, schools, designers, makers and general consumers,” said XYZprinting CEO Simon Shen. “We will continue to provide innovative, high-quality 3D printers while making it affordable for everyone to utilize this technology and incorporate it into their daily lives.”

The da Vinci Color mini features a 5″ color touchscreen, which gives users an intuitive way to work the user interface, and also comes with a 5.1″ x 5.1″ x 5.1″ EZ-removable print bed.

In addition, there are several upgradeable options for the desktop 3D printer, such as a Laser Engraver module for engraving on leather, paper, wood, and other materials, and a Hardened Steel nozzle for 3D printing with some of the company’s newest materials.

The newest filaments by XYZprinting include a Metallic PLA and a Carbon Fiber PLA, which gives users access to higher-performing materials. The Hardened Steel nozzle upgrade, which is very wear-resistant in terms of these more abrasive materials, will cost 119.95 with the da Vinci Color series, and $79.95 for select XYZprinting 3D printers, like the da Vinci mini-series and the da Vinci Jr. Pro. series.

The company also launched an additional new filament that was designed with antibacterial properties. The special Antibacterial PLA inhabits bacterial growth by at least 99% through the use of silver ions, which majorly lowers the risk of infections.

Antibacterial PLA

Because the Antibacterial PLA comes with enhanced protection against germs and infections, it’s a safer and more hygienic choice of material for young kids who are just starting to learn about 3D printing. Educators and parents who use this new filament can rest assured that their 3D printing experience will yield safe, functional prints that can be used in the household and the classroom with no worries. A 600 gram spool of XYZprinting’s new Antibacterial PLA costs $29.95 on the company’s online eShop, and the material is compatible with the company’s Color series, Nano series, da Vinci Jr. and Jr. Pro series, and the da Vinci Super 3D printer.

The company’s newest 3D printer, along with its other new products, materials, and accompanying software, will be available for purchase by the end of the first quarter of 2019 on the XYZprinting online eShop. At just $1,599, the da Vinci Color mini is a more affordable option for users interested in full-color 3D printing. You can take a look at all of these new products, along with a range of other commercial 3D printers and ancillary products, at XYZprinting’s booth #31524 in South Hall 3 of the Las Vegas Convention Center (LVCC) at CES 2019 this week.

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[Images provided by XYZprinting]

Interview with Martin Bondéus of Bondtech

If we look at a FDM (FFF, Material Extrusion) 3D printer the three key components are the feeder, extruder and nozzle of the 3D printer. These components determine the rate and pressure at which the material is deposited as well as (together with fans) how quickly this material solidifies. There are hundreds of 3D printer companies making the boxes that print but precious few companies working on improving the key components of 3D printers. It would be kind of like we were doing a biathlon where hundreds worked tirelessly on the skiing portion of the race but no one was learning how to shoot. One of the very few companies working on improving the key components of 3D printers is Bondtech. Known for its QR extruder and first getting noticed for its V2 extruder the company makes high-quality components that can improve your 3D printer. Better looking parts, faster printing and less failed prints are just some of the possible benefits. My favorite component of Bondtech’s is their drivegear for their feeding system. An incredibly well-designed part it prevents digging and slipping due to incorrectly dimensioned, tensioned or smooth filament. We interviewed the founder of Bondtech, Martin Bondéus, to find out more.

The drivegear seems like such a tiny part but it really has extensive effects in 3D printing. What kinds of effects are they?

“Our feeding system makes a big difference in terms of reliability, our system provides very high feeding force without any slipping or grinding of the filament that will make the process more stable, the operator does not have to worry that an overnight printjob does not finish due to problem with the material feeding.”

How did you make a better drive gear?

“After extensive testing with different solutions in our machine shop with manual machines we were able to define an optimized geometry, after the design was finalized we have moved over to volume production in best in class CNC machining centres.”

What are the effects of this for the user?

“The user can focus on being creative printing new exciting designs instead of worry about if the print job will fail or not.”

What do your QR kits do?

“Our QR kits is our high-end extruder that is virtually indestructible, it is currently our strongest feeder and is available for both 1.75 and 2.85 mm filament in right and left-hand versions to make installations easier, it is the obvious choice if you are looking for the best of Bowden extruders.”

How do they work?

“Featuring two counter-rotating drive gears, the Bondtech extruder grips the filament from both sides, thus eliminating the risk for grinding, slipping, filament deformation and under extrusion. In addition, the extruder is powered by a strong stepper motor and planetary gearbox that provide a superior pushing force.”

Whats a pancake stepper?

“A pancake stepper motor is a shorter version of a normal stepper motor, as these motors have less torque than normal Nema17 motors they require a gearbox inside the extruder in order to provide enough pushing force. The big advantage is that they are lighter than normal Nema17 stepper motors so the moving weight of the printhead is reduced and this makes it possible to print faster with sustained quality. The gearbox also improves the resolution of the extrusion and this is especially important when printing will smaller nozzles.”

What is dual drive and how does it work?

“The DualDrive technology features two counter-rotating drive gears, the Bondtech extruder grips the filament from both sides, thus eliminating the risk for grinding, slipping, filament deformation and under extrusion.”

Why don’t you make hotends?

“Currently, we are focusing in extruders and the parts around this but for the future, we will probably expand our range of products used in the additive manufacturing area.”

Interview with Anders Olsson about the Olsson Ruby and Olsson Torque Wrench at the TCT Show

Anders Olsson is an all-round great person and a boon to the 3D printing community. His Olsson block gave us easy to exchange nozzles, with the Olsson Ruby we got a great nozzle and now with the Olsson Ruby High Temperature we have a high-performance nozzle for abrasive materials. The ruby material lasts long and is meant to withstand many hours of abrasive materials. The new Olsson Ruby High Temp can handle 500 C which means it can be suited for PEEK and other high-temperature applications.

The Olsson Torque Wrench

Anders also designed a unique torque wrench which will be available soon. This 3D printed wrench-ling is part standard wrench head but augmented by a part 3D printed in HPs multijet fusion technology. Very easy to use it gives you the precise pressure needed to mount a new interchangeable nozzle. Another item developed by Olsson is the new Print Core CC Red from Ultimaker also used for abrasive materials. A wealth of new and exciting things at the Olsson stand and more than enough reason to interview him at the TCT Show where he was attending with his partners at 3DVerkstan which I think is a market leading reseller of 3D Skrivare and 3D Skrivare supplies in the Nordic countries.

The Olsson Ruby, left and the new Olsson Ruby High-Temperature Nozzle

What is the Olsson Ruby?

It’s a unique nozzle for 3D Printers, designed to print highly abrasive materials while retaining the excellent heat conductivity of brass. It works equally well for printing common FDM (FFF, Material Extrusion) 3D printing materials up to 300C. There is also a high temp version of the Olsson Ruby, enabling the use of high temp materials up to 500C.

Why is it so successful?

Our customers are getting high performance and consistent results out of using the ruby nozzle when printing abrasive materials. The materials are composites with fillers such as carbon, boron carbide, and glass fiber among others. This lets them get a new type of functionality in materials that can bring improved mechanical properties as well as radiation shielding, electrical conductivity, ESD shielding and more.

How many have been sold?

We have sold more than 15000 units worldwide.

Wait you use real rubies for this?

Yes, for consistent results we use industrially grown rubies, which are also better for the application than natural rubies with their inherent flaws.

Why is wear resistance important in a nozzle?

Because when printing abrasives with common nozzles, they wear out fast and affect print quality in a negative way.

Why do nozzles always use brass and not copper or another material?

This is usually because brass has a combination of good properties:

High machinability
Excellent heat conductivity
Relatively low cost

Other materials might have worse heat conductivity or worse machinability, and might be more expensive or a combination of these qualities. For copper alloys, they are a little harder to machine than brass and depending on the alloy they might also be too soft and start to anneal at common printing temperatures. That said, in our new High Temp version of the Olsson Ruby nozzle, we are using a special, high conductivity copper alloy which has excellent thermal conductivity and retains its mechanical strength at over 500 degrees Celsius.

Will you develop new nozzles?

Yes, we just launched a High Temp version of the Ruby Nozzle and are continuously developing new nozzles and other accessories. Some are in collaboration with 3D Printer manufacturers, such as the newly announced Print Core CC Red for the Ultimaker S5 3D Printer.

Acoustic Nozzles Improve the Performance of 3D Printed Parts

Usually when we’re talking about 3D printing in terms of acoustics, it has to do with making a good set of speakers. But, recent research has determined that acoustic signal processing could be used to monitor the build quality of a 3D printed part while in progress. There are 3D printable sound-shaping super-materials, and 3D printed objects have even been implanted with sound data for tagging purposes. New research out of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore looks at using acoustics to manipulate microparticles inside the actual 3D printing ink itself to improve the final object’s performance and functionality.

Properly orienting and aligning the fibers in a polymer matrix could help transfer loads from critical areas for better performance, and creating 3D scaffolds with a controlled hierarchical structure at the nano- and micro-scale levels could increase their mechanical strength, which is good for cell and tissue regeneration and load-bearing bone defect repair. In addition, using surface acoustic waves to focus microparticles inside the microchannel could delay accumulation on the wall, which can improve extrusion-based 3D printing.

Schematic diagram of experimental setup.

Researchers from NTU recently published a paper on their 3D printing work with acoustics, titled “Cells alignment and accumulation using acoustic nozzle for 3D printing.”

The abstract reads, “Arrangement or patterning of microparticles/cells would enhance the efficiency, performance, and function of the printed construct. This could be utilized in various applications such as fibers reinforced polymer matrix, hydrogel scaffold, and 3D printed biological samples. Magnetic manipulation and dielectrophoresis have some drawbacks, such as time-consuming and only valid for samples with specific physical properties. Here, acoustic manipulation of microparticles in the cylindrical glass nozzle is proposed to produce a structural vibration at the specific resonant frequency. With the acoustic excitation, microparticles were accumulated at the center of the nozzle and consequently printed construct at the fundamental frequency of 871 kHz. The distribution of microparticles fits well with a Gaussian distribution. In addition, C2C12 cells were also patterned by the acoustic waves inside the cylindrical glass tube and in the printed hydrogel construct. Overall, the proposed acoustic approach is able to accumulate the microparticles and biological cells in the printed construct at a low cost, easy configuration, low power, and high biocompatibility.”

Morphology and distribution of the cells in 5% GelMA without the acoustic excitation on (a) day 1, (b) day 4, (c) day 7, and with the acoustic excitation on (d) day 1,(e) day 4, (f) day 7.

The team numerically and experimentally studied the structural vibration of a cylindrical tube, as well as the patterning of the microparticles and cells inside of it.

“Firstly, the resonant frequency was numerically predicted and validated with experiment,” the researchers wrote. “Subsequently, the distribution of microparticles and biological cells inside the cylindrical tube and printed construct was investigated. Lastly, the growth of biological cells undergone the acoustic excitation was monitored for up to 7 days.”

During an acoustic excitation, a mixture of C2C12 cells embedded in 2 ml of 5% GelMA was printed on a 4″ petri dish, with the nozzle perpendicular to the print bed. The researchers discovered that during the excitation, most of the microparticles that were initially suspended in fluid ended up accumulating at the center of the glass tube. There seemed to be a good overall agreement between the experimental results and numerical simulation of the excitation frequency, along with the location of pressure nodes in the glass tube.

The researchers further evaluated their acoustic nozzle’s performance using C2C12 muscle cells, and determined that without the excitation during printing, the distribution of the cells in the tube was very random.

Microparticle distribution in the cylindrical tube (a) without and (b) with the acoustic excitation at 877 kHz.

“Results of simulation and experiment are agreeable with a slight difference in the resonant frequency (< 2%). In the experiment, microparticles were accumulated at the center of the nozzle and consequently printed construct. The distribution of microparticles fits well in a Gaussian curve with a standard deviation of (V = 0.16 mm). Furthermore, the acoustic excitation could also be used for patterning biological cells in the 3D printed construct of GelMA,” the researchers concluded. “Subsequently, the distribution of cells was quite dense at the center of the printed structure, and accumulated C2C12 cells had greater growth and differentiation in comparison to the suspended ones in the control group.”

Co-authors of the paper are Yannapol Sriphutkiat, Surasak Kasetsirikul, Dettachai Ketpun, and Yufeng Zhou.

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Scroll and Diaphragm Nozzles with Gear Pumps: A Better Way to 3D Print?

FDM 3D printing. [Image: Fraunhofer IPA]

Fused deposition modeling (FDM) 3D printing, also referred to as material extrusion, is a technique that deposits heated material through a nozzle in order to fabricate parts and components. Rollers in the extruder generate enough pressure to squeeze material into a liquefier, before it melts into a semi-liquid or liquid form and is pushed out the nozzle to solidify and form filament upon contact with either the build platform or a previously extruded layer.

You may not realize it, but the type of 3D printing nozzle you use does actually make a considerable difference in the quality of your 3D print. A group of researchers from the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering at the University of Florida recently published a paper detailing two types of nozzle that may be better for the FDM 3D printing process.

In the paper, titled “A fundamental study of parameter adjustable additive manufacturing process based on FDM process” and published in the open access MATEC Web of Conferences publication series, the researchers explain that traditionally, it’s believed that an important part of a 3D printed part’s resolution is contributed by a small cross-sectional area of each material extrusion stand. But, smaller cross-sectional filaments have slower rates of extrusion, which increases build time.

There have many attempts to fix this issue, such as applying each layer’s maximal permissive thickness or using lower support volume to target a shell-like structure. But, the researchers note that there hasn’t been a lot of adjustment to the extrusion parameters to control resolution during the FDM process.

The abstract reads, “In Fused deposition modeling (FDM) process, there has been a confliction between high productivity and high quality of products. The product resolution is proportional to the flow rate of heated material extrusion, which directly affects the build time. To reduce the build time with acceptable resolution, the idea of parameter adjustable printing process has been introduced. The controllable extruder was modified and two types of diameter changeable nozzle have been designed. This work realizes different resolution building based on the part geometry during FDM process, which can efficiently assure the quality of products and improve the productivity at the same time.”

The diameter of an FDM 3D printer’s nozzle can not only affect the material extrusion rate, but also the resolution of a 3D print. Once the resolution has been determined, its corresponding extrusion parameters can be successfully calculated to determine the relationship between the parameters and the part’s geometry.

“In this paper, the nozzle diameter was chosen as the main changeable extrusion parameter,” the researchers explain. “The extruder of the printer was modified to fit the new process, which determined the extrusion parameters under the certain resolution. The relationship between the part geometry and needed resolution was derived and two kinds of diameter changeable nozzle were designed for the process.”

Viscous fluid flows are typically metered with positive displacement gear pumps, so the researchers used one in the 3D printer’s extruder for their study.

“The speed of the nozzle movement is assumed to be the same as the material extrusion speed for a reliable resolution,” the researchers said.

An optical component called an iris diaphragm has several thin, smooth blades arranged in such a way as to form a round aperture. Due to its controllable aperture diameter, this diaphragm is often used to limit how much light is transmitted to an imaging sensor in camera shutters. That made it a good choice for a component that can change a 3D printer nozzle’s diamater.

“Compared to the traditional extrusion printing nozzle, the iris-shaped nozzle can adjust the diameter easily and realize the changeable diameter during the printing process,” the researchers explained in the paper. “The multi-blades of iris diaphragm can guarantee the circular cross-sectional shape of the nozzle. It is feasible to change the diameter of the nozzle precisely and rapidly by utilizing electronic control system.”

Geometry of scroll nozzle.

But, even if an iris shape could change a nozzle’s diameter, it may also have some gaps around the round aperture, cause leaks during material extrusion, and the high temperature could even soften the blades and lead to damaged prints. That’s why the researchers conceived of a scroll model that would work “without setting the extra planes in the nozzle.”

Inspired by paper scrolls, the circular bottom of the scroll nozzle will become smaller as the shape is rolled, though it will continue to be round. That’s why a scroll model, with its easy diameter control, may be a better choice for a 3D printer nozzle with a changeable diameter than the iris diaphragm shape.

The researchers concluded, “So far, the theoretical model for the parameter adjustable FDM process has been built up. The extruder of the printer was modified using positive displacement gear pump for controlling the flow rate by changing rotation rate so that the resolution, which is represented by filament diameter, could be adjusted by the flow rate during the extrusion process under certain optimal extrusion speed. The desired filament diameter of each building layer was determined by the part geometry using either external-slope criterion or small-feature criterion.”

A few issues to be cleared up during future studies include mechanical performances and resolution of a part’s internal sections and challenges in material selection.

Co-authors of the paper are Qia Wan, Youjian Xu, and Can Lu.

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