Dutch filament manufacturer colorFabb announced they’re working on a new high temperature filament.
The new product is called “ColorFabb_HT”, for “High Temperature”. But it’s not actually the high temperature you might think it is.
There are high temperature 3D printer filaments available already, but they are a bit different than what colorFabb announced. A typical high temp filament might be ULTEM, which is a strong plastic with melting point around 350-400C, far, far higher than is typically found on desktop 3D printers. By having such a high melting point, the prints can resist higher temperatures during use. But it requires specialized 3D printers or modifications to print at such high temperatures.
Meanwhile, colorFabb’s HT filament is a bit different. It appears to be printable at normal desktop 3D printer temperatures, but its thermal resistance is a bit stronger.
If you’re printing plain old PLA plastic, for example, you may find that prints begin to deform at commonly encountered temperatures. If you were to leave a PLA print on your car dashboard in summer, you might find it a bit droopy when you return. That’s because PLA does not have good temperature resistance.
The new HT filament provides greater temperature resistance. Where PLA tends to flop at temperatures as low as 60C, HT has resistance up to 100C, meaning prints made from it would likely survive the summer-car test. In fact, they say:
By using colorFabb_HT, Dennis is able to experiment with custom shaped inlet manifolds to improve the performance of this Mini track car. The fact that he can now test these parts on a running engine means a lot in his design process.
You can see this in the image at top. Incredible!
And like many other filaments in colorFabb’s inventory, the new HT filament is FDA compliant, Styrene and BPA free.
This product is likely another outcome from their collaborations with plastic engineering firms. Expect more to come.
There is little further information on HT, particularly the price, but I suspect they’ll sell HT on a 750g spool in 2.85mm and 1.75mm formats. The price? Who knows, but as a premium filament, it could be in the €50 (USD$54) range.
Via colorFabb
