SunLu – TPU – Transparent – Clear – 0.5kg – 1.75mm

HELPFUL TIPS FOR PRINTING WITH SUNLU TPU FILAMENT:

• TPU Printing Tips – The Infamous Direct Drive Myth: If you’ve ever done research on or have investigation the exciting but often-tricky TPU filament, you will have certainly seen at least one resources suggesting that TPU printing is impossible with a Bowden setup. However, while this used to be true in the past, this is no longer the case with the more recent models and iterations, and modern Bowden-style desktop 3D Printers now offer a far more constrained filament feed-path, making them more than just capable of printing with flexibles, with some 3D Makers even suggesting that it’s a better setup compared to the older direct drive setups. So if you’re a proud owner of one of the many Creality 3D Printers since as far back as the Creality CR-10S model, you can rest assured that printing TPU is definitely a possibility that you can enjoy, opening up many new opportunities for printing unique, exciting and memorable 3D prints.
• TPU Printing Tips – Speed Kills (Good Prints): When dealing with a new filament (or even one that we already know) it’s always tempting to try to print it as quickly as possible, since time is money and the majority of us are cost-conscious 3D Makers. However, printing TPU too quickly is the easiest way to kill a good print, since TPU demands substantially lower speeds than standard polymers like PLA. This is primarily due to the high level of flexibility and the ability of the filament to compress and stretch, which can easily lead to clogs and other problems as the filament bends over itself and tangles within any open spaces it can feed. This is why it’s important to print slowly, allowing the filament to steadily move without too much speed-related friction, encouraging it to behave nicely and avoid bending or tangling between the filament drive gear and the nozzle.
• TPU Printing Tips – Retraction & Backpressure: In a very similar fashion to the previous tip, it’s important to also get right is retraction and backpressure, since flexible filaments tend to have a slight amount of delay when moving within a constrained filament feed-path. This delay is caused by the compression and expansion of the filament in conjunction with the high levels of friction against the walls of the feed-path, and is precisely why you want to minimise retraction distance and speed by as much as possible, wherever possible. With a high level of retraction, the push and pull action on the filament can happen too quickly, and if the TPU is still hot when this happens, it can easily get stuck along the walls of the cooling tower or Bowden tube, leaving inconsistent chunks that can result in clogging or oozing. Of course, retraction is a lot more complicated than many other settings on a 3D Printer, so be sure to prepare yourself for a bit of trial and error when you get started printed with TPU, and consider even leaving retraction off until you have all of your other settings dialled in just right – then move on to experiment with how retraction can improve your results.
• TPU Printing Tips – Keeping Your TPU in Tip Top Shape: With most of the common filaments like PLA, ABS and PETG, keeping them stored safely and out of reach of humidity and moisture is not too vital, as most of those filaments are relatively neutral in terms of how easily they absorb moisture from surrounding environments. With some filaments, however, such as TPU and Nylon, it’s imperative that you always try to keep them as isolated from humidity as possible. Of course, you don’t necessarily need to invest in expensive (and often unnecessary) specialised filament drying containers, but it is a good idea for get yourself a nice container to keep filament in, and then simply throw any spare sachets of desiccant (Those small silica gel packets you get with new shoes) into the box to remove excess moisture from the small space. This will help keep your TPU filament safe from moisture, which will prevent any bubbling or weaknesses in the filament as it’s being printed.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR 3D PRINTING TPU:

• This insightful Pinshape TPU Filament Best Results Guide is an excellent resource for anyone to being with, offering loads of great information on TPU, and discussing some of the main challenges that newcomers experience when trying out TPU for the first time.
• The second resource to make this list is the MatterHackers flexible Filament Guide, which covers both TPU and Soft PLA, and caters to a lot of factors ranging from print settings to filament storage – also having similar opinions about the classic TPU Filament Direct Drive myth.
• Third on the list is the ever-famous Simplify3D, offering their succinct but highly informative Simplify3D TPU Printing Guide, which caters to both newcomers and veterans, with a few sample projects along the bottom to help you troubleshoot with more clarity.
• Finally, this Prusa Printers Blog TPU Guide is a truly expansive and valuable collection of information about 3D Printing with TPU, offers details on what the polymer is made of, what TPU is most commonly used for in 3D Printing, as well as what kinds of problems and solutions you can expect when starting out with this tricky filament.

HELPFUL TIPS FOR PRINTING WITH SUNLU PETG FILAMENT:

• PETG Printing Tips – First Layer Adhesion: Although it may come as second nature to try and get the squishiest squish-factor around for all kinds of filaments and polymers, PETG is a little different, and actually shouldn’t be squished too hard for the first layer. In fact, it’s good practice when printing with PETG to have your first layer print at around 125% of the defined layer height. This will give it the ability to “grab” the following layers more effectively, and because PETG layers tend to bond well to each other, this dramatically helps with the overall print quality. This is primarily due to the glass transition temperature of around 85°C for PETG, as well as how the heatbed draws heat away from the first layer due to the direct contact with the thermally conductive heatbed.
• PETG Printing Tips – Effective Bridging: With PETG Filament, one of the more difficult factors to get right is bridging between parts, as PETG tends to sag quite dramatically due to the high temperatures required for printing. However, it’s important to note that this is more so for opaque than transparent colours, as the colourants can affect the overall chemical composition of the material being printed. As such, it will take some time to dial in just right, depending on the colour and brand you’re using, but for most cases, it’s prudent to print bridges quite slowly, turn the fan on if you’ve got it off, and then define a bridge overlap of around 1mm. This will help prevent the bridging strands from curling upwards as they’re printing, while also adding some strength to the edges so the strands stick well and don’t pull themselves loose.
• PETG Printing Tips – Strength vs Aesthetics: This factor is certainly one that we love about PETG, and is also a factor that seems quite undervalued in most 3D Maker communities, but with PETG filament you can actually distinctly choose whether you want to focus more on durability and strength, or aesthetics and detail quality. In fact, choosing which you would like to focus on is as simple as defining whether the fan is turned on or off for the print, as printing PETG with the fan on tends to produce a great surface finish, while printing PETG with the fan off helps with layer bonding and lamination, lending itself well to high-strength parts instead. Of course, you could always choose the best of both worlds by printing for strength and post-processing for aesthetics, but if you’re not interested in post-processing your prints afterwards, then the above rule is quite easy to utilise for whatever application your print is being made for.
• PETG Printing Tips – Infill & Top Layers: While it’s typical for people to assume that higher levels of infill result in higher strength prints, the truth is that high infill doesn’t always equal strength, and oftentimes an object with a good internal structure is far stronger than a solid object. As such, it’s important to tailor your infill percentages according to each specific print, and then tailor the number of top layers according to the level of infill. The reason for the differing amount of top layers is because if you are printing with less than around 40% infill, the top layers can easily sink into the infill pattern, resulting in blotchy or patchy top layers. So, if your infill is set to 40% or lower, consider adding up to three extra top layers, allowing for the first one or two layers to fall into the infill spaces, with the remaining top layers producing a strong and aesthetically pleasing top surface.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES FOR 3D PRINTING PETG:

• The following guide is an awesome amalgamation of hundreds of Makers’ hard work, all collected and summarised into a single, easy to understand, rather informal, PETG Filament Printing Guide – with the primary focus being on eSUN PETG, making it very relevant for ultra-cool customers who choose to shop at DIYElectronics.
• This is another PETG Printing Guide, created by a brand known as Rigid Ink. However, it’s important to note that they very likely used their own Rigid INK PETG Filament, so some settings and tips will likely vary from our own.
• This PETG Filament Guide from Tractus is quite unique compared to others, and does an awesome job at explaining what PETG is, how it’s used in various industries, as well as some great technical specifications to help you understand more about this unique but exciting polymer. Bear in mind, however, that their settings and specifications are somewhat specific to their range of 3D Printers, so they may exactly match our suggested settings and parameters.
• Finally, this is a handy MatterHackers PETG Post-Processing Guide, detailing some of the post-processing options you have with PETG prints, as well as tips and basic instructions on how to do each of the different processes.

PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a biodegradable (under the correct conditions) thermoplastic derived from renewable resources such as corn starch or sugarcane. It is one of the most popular bioplastics, used for many applications ranging from plastic cups to medical implants. PLA in its raw form is also FDA and EU commission regulation approved as Food Contact Safe.

TOUGH YET FLEXIBLE

FIL X SBS

Did you know that you are in daily contact with SBS products such as the soles of your shoes or the tyres of your car? But how can SBS be used in FDM 3D printing?

SBS (Styrene-butadiene-styrene) has the unique properties of being both tough and flexible at the same time, thanks to its Polystyrene origin lending it a hard, tough consistency and the Polybutadiene giving it a bit more bounce with its rubbery properties.

This powerhouse combination offers, apart from good layer adhesion, no odour during printing and does not absorb moisture. Furthermore, it has been FDA and EU directive approved for food contact.

Fil X SBS filament is very easy to print with on a glass bed with some hairspray for better bed adhesion and best of all can be smoothed with d-limonene (also available from Fil X!) leaving you with a stunning finished product.

PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a biodegradable (under the correct conditions) thermoplastic derived from renewable resources such as corn starch or sugarcane. It is one of the most popular bioplastics, used for many applications ranging from plastic cups to medical implants. PLA in its raw form is also FDA and EU commission regulation approved as Food Contact Safe.