Avante Technology Announces Water Removable Support Material Optimized for Engineering Grade Plastic Filaments

3D printing materials and technology developer Avante Technology, LLC is releasing a new water soluble support material formulated to work with their advanced industrial-grade composite filament. The new FilaOne Water Removable Support Material is capable of being completely dissolved in water and will produce no hazardous waste of any kind. The new material is a companion filament to their FilaOne GREEN Advanced Composite filaments and was given a yellow coloring to contrast with it.

Avante’s new FilaOne Water Removable Support Material is the first water soluble support filament that was designed specifically to work with high quality engineering grade filaments on standard desktop FDM 3D printers. It was intended to offer sturdy and reliable support for parts and components with highly complex geometries that typically would not print on an average FDM printer. The new material will expand the capabilities of any desktop 3D printer, while greatly reducing prototyping costs.

The FilaOne support material will adhere firmly to FilaOne GREEN when the two materials are printed together, however once it is removed it will leave a smooth surface behind. The part simply needs to be submerged in boiling water to pull the support material away from the composite part, and it will not cause any surface texturing or burrs once separated. According to Avante the material will almost completely dissolve in water, requires no chemical solvents to remove and the waste water and remaining material can be disposed of without any sort of treatment or specialized disposal.

FilaOne Water Removable Support Material was optimized to work with Avante’s FilaOne GREEN so more complex parts can be easily 3D printed without the need for expensive industrial 3D printers. Any objects that have been printed with FilaOne GREEN filament will be mechanically stronger than standard ABS, however it isn’t as fussy or difficult to print with. Not only does it improve the durability and chemical resistance of parts over those printed using ABS, Nylon or PLA, but it also adheres to itself, the support material and the printing bed much better than those other materials.

Here is a brief video about the properties of FilaOne GREEN:

“Users can create stronger, more complex parts that typically require expensive, industrial grade FDM printers. Manufacturers can use affordable desktop printers to create functional prototypes and production parts safely and easily, without spending tens of thousands of dollars on an industrial grade printer,” explained Avante Technology CEO Robert Zollo.

While many 3D printing materials like ABS and nylon often produce potentially dangerous and harmful gasses during the printing process, but both the FileOne support material and FilaOne GREEN remain nearly odorless. The material is also hydrophobic, so not only is it moisture resistant, but it reduces the effects of any exposure to humidity to the filament, which can cause costly misprints and printing glitches.

The FilaOne Water Soluble Support Material is set to be released for sale in December 2015, and is priced at $99.95 for a 0.75Kg spool. It will be made available in both 2.88 mm and 1.75 mm sized filaments and along with FilaOne GREEN prints at 410º to 420º F (210º to 215º C) on any desktop 3D printer with a heated printing bed.

Will you be using this new material in the future?  Let us know in the Avante Technology forum thread on 3DPB.com.