The 3D printing materials developers at Dutch filament manufacturer ColorFabb just unveiled a copolyester-based, carbon fiber composite material called XT-CF20, which includes 20% or more of the tough fiber material.
Colorfabb was founded by Ruud Rouleaux, an expert in the field of additives and master-batches for the plastics industry. Rouleaux began the company by focusing his efforts on creating a high quality 3D printing filament, and during the summer of 2012, he began his first experiments. Those initial steps led to the official launch of the brand, Colorfabb, during March of 2013. Now that
Based on the Amphora 3D polymer from Eastman Chemical, ColorFabb says the new filament has been tested for the last six weeks – and without a single nozzle jam or related thermal issue. While the material showed excellent test results, they say the abrasive nature of the carbon fibers in the filament can cause accelerated wear of brass, so they recommend using stainless steel or hardened copper alloy nozzles.
To highlight the features XT-CF20, the company built the OpenRC Truggy from Thingiverse entirely from their new material, and the result is no less than stunning. They say the material features an extremely high “flex modulus” which is twice as stiff as PLA, is not extremely brittle, features very high melt strength, high melt viscosity, good dimensional accuracy and stability, low printing odor and an attractive matte black surface.
ColorFabb says their new filament is good for a number of applications and industries, and that it’s stiffness, dimensional stability and
Have you ever used ColorFabb products before? What are your thoughts on their new carbon-fiber composite filament? Let us know in the ColorFabb XT-CF20 Filament forum thread on 3DPB.com.