News from E3D and Bambu Lab: they’ve collaborated on a new high performance hot end, the E3D x DiamondBack, and there’s a new material to print with it.
E3D DiamondBack Hot End
The DiamondBack is exactly that: the tips are literally made from diamond, the hardest substance known. This allows the hot end to survive and thrive when printing basically any abrasive material. It should last a very long time, perhaps even outlasting the printer itself.
E3D has designed the DiamondBack to be plug-compatible with Bambu Lab’s X1C, P1P, and P1S. They intend on releasing an X1E variant a bit later. The DiamondBack will be available in three diameters: 0.4, 0.6 and 0.8 mm. This enables printing of larger objects in less time, at the cost of resolution.
The DiamondBack is available at the E3D store, and is priced at US$160. That’s a hefty price for a hot end, but on the other hand, its expected lifetime could outlast several normal hot ends.
The DiamondBack is manufactured by E3D under license from Bambu Lab, as would typically be the case in these partnerships. However, a Bambu Lab spokesperson told us:
“We’re proud to continue our commitment to supporting emerging 3D printing talent by donating 100% of our license fee from sales of this product to the Sanjay Mortimer Foundation and a foundation focused on developing countries.”
The Foundation was established after the sudden loss of E3D’s founder Sanjay Mortimer a few years ago, and provides support to those seeking careers in 3D.
Bambu Lab PPA-CF
That’s not all the news from Bambu Lab today. The company also announced a new and powerful material, PPA-CF.
PPA (Polyphthalamide) is a type of high performance nylon that offers very high heat resistance, great strength and chemical resistance. It’s also less moisture-absorbent than most nylons.
Imagine those properties when combined with chopped carbon fiber as has been done in PPA-CF. That should make for an incredibly strong material that could very well substitute for metal parts in some applications — all the while saving weight.
Bambu Lab describes PPA-CF as “48% stronger and 102% stiffer than normal PA6-CF”, with a flexural strength of 208 MPa. As a comparison, Aluminum 6061-T6 is 270 MPa, so the new material is pretty close. For reference, Mild Steel is around 370 MPa, and Stainless Steel is 500-750 MPa.
The heat resistance is perhaps the most interesting feature: 227C. That’s far more than PLA (57C), ABS (87C) and even PET-CF (207C). This should allow the material to be used in more applications.
Bambu Lab strongly recommends drying PPA-CF before printing, so you’ll need a method of doing so. There are multiple dryer options on the market, but X1 and P1x operators could use the 3D printer itself as a dryer, if it isn’t printing. Bambu Lab provides instructions for how to do so.
Bambu Lab said that PPA-CF cannot be used in the AMS or AMS-Lite, and that it definitely is not compatible with the smaller 0.2mm nozzle. That’s likely because of the carbon fibers that would probably clog up the tiny nozzle.
A 750g spool of 1.75mm PPA-CF from the Bambu Lab store is listed at US$150, but is currently on sale for US$100. That’s not a bad price for what seems to be a premium material.
Oh, and it only comes in black.
