colorFabb has always seemed to be one of the first to introduce unusual new 3D printing materials and now they’ve released nGen, a more durable substance.
The new material is once again a cooperative venture with colorFabb’s partner, Eastman Chemicals. Previously the duo produced filament based on Eastman’s pioneering “Amphora” material, a new polymer specifically designed for 3D printing applications. nGen is also made from Amphora.
Amphora has a number of very useful properties for 3D printing, including lack of odor and emitted particulates, strength, FDA approval, excellent bonding and more. It produces superior prints.
Now they two companies have introduced nGen, based on Eastman’s Amphora 3300, which not only includes all the good properties of the original Amphora, but has some new features.
The primary new feature is a wider (and lower) temperature range for 3D printing. This means that the material is less sensitive to variations in temperature that might occur in a misbehaving hot end, resulting in better prints, even on imperfectly calibrated equipment.
This is very good news for 3D printer operators, who know well the failure rates of printing, particularly with less than optimal plastic filament. The new nGen should solve some of those issues.
nGen also has a much higher glass temperature than PLA: 85C vs only 50C for PLA. The glass temperature is the point at which the plastic begins to soften, and because it’s higher with nGen, you’ll be able to use 3D printed parts in more applications. Consider that your automobile’s dashboard may easily exceed 50C in the summer, but it might not reach 85C.
colorFabb is selling nGen now in no less than 17 colors (well, one of them is clear, but we’ll call it a color!), some of which are quite explosive: fluorescent green, traffic red, intense green and more. There’s also a “bluish white”, which we haven’t seen before.
nGen filament is sold in either 1.75mm or 2.85mm formats, but is available on two sizes of spools. The size most people will use is colorFabb’s standard 750g, which is priced at €35.95 (USD$38) for all colors. What’s new is a 2,200g spool (4.85 pounds), which is listed at €79.95 (USD$85), or USD$38 per kg. That’s a premium price for sure, but it’s for a premium product.
Via colorFabb
