Flexible Filament On The Imaginator 3D Printer

 

Printing with flexible filament is sometimes difficult, especially if the filament is too flexible.  However, Hatchbox is now making a TPU filament (flexible) which is much stiffer and works especially well.  Also, TPU filament lays flat and does not curl after printing much better than it’s brethren, TPC.

Although Hatchbox TPU is easily printed, some major changes must be made to the printing speeds.  I recommend dropping all of the speeds to 35mm/sec or less on the Imaginator 3D printer.  The slower speeds will help prevent the filament from wrapping around the motor gears within the extruder assembly.

Different slicing programs have different interfaces for controlling speeds, however, most will have a page or tab for adjusting printer speeds.  As an example, Makerbot Desktop has the simple interface (below) which can be accessed by clicking the “Settings” button.

 

Makerbot Desktop offer these option for printer speeds.  The ones below are the specific settings I use for my Imaginator 3D.

  • Bridges                                                 35 mm/sec
  • First Layer                                           20 mm/sec
  • First Layer Raft                                  20 mm/sec
  • Floor Surface Fills                             35 mm/sec
  • Infill                                                       30 mm/sec
  • Inset                                                      30 mm/sec
  • Outlines                                               30 mm/sec
  • Raft                                                        20 mm/sec
  • Raft Base                                             10 mm/sec
  • Roof Surface Fills                              30 mm/sec
  • Sparse Roof Surface Fills               30 mm/sec

 

So, you may be wondering why print with flexible filament…  There are many uses, but one of my favorite’s is for printing rubber stamps.  Thingiverse has a huge selection of rubber stamps to print, below are a few from which to choose.

The OK Stamp

The Stamp Set

 

These two examples are great for getting you started, and I hope you enjoy them.  If you find more fun stamps on Thingiverse, make sure to comment below.  Until next time, Happy Printing!

Leave a Reply