How To Succeed When 3D Printing With Nylon

Unlock the complete potential of your 3D printing tasks with Nylon – the sturdy, versatile materials that outperforms conventional PLA and ABS in energy and sturdiness. Splendid for creating practical components, instruments, and high-wear objects, Nylon’s distinctive properties make it a best choice for hobbyists and professionals alike. Embark in your Nylon printing journey outfitted with our professional ideas and methods, and watch your creations come to life with unmatched high quality.

Nylon filament is an extremely robust, sturdy and versatile 3D printing materials. Versatile when skinny, however with very excessive inter-layer adhesion, nylon lends itself nicely to issues like dwelling hinges and different practical components. Its low friction coefficient and excessive melting temperature make it a superb alternative for quite a lot of on a regular basis gadgets corresponding to 3D printed instruments, gears, RC automobiles and extra.

Take a look at our ideas under on tips on how to efficiently 3D print with nylon filament.

Improve to the Proper Hotend

Earlier than diving into Nylon printing, guarantee your printer is provided with a hotend able to reaching at the least 250°C. Commonplace PEEK and PTFE hotends will not lower it, as they degrade at excessive temperatures. For a seamless expertise, contemplate upgrading to an all-metal hotend just like the E3D V6, which might safely deal with the warmth required for Nylon. If you happen to’re uncertain about compatibility, attain out to us or seek the advice of your printer’s producer.

Discover Hotend Upgrades HERE. 

Select the Splendid Mattress Floor

Like with some other sort of filament, the mattress floor you select to print nylon on might be the make or break between warping and profitable 3D printing. For nylon, garolite sheets and glass plates are two construct surfaces we have seen produce essentially the most constant profitable outcomes. With the addition of a PVA glue stick, each surfaces present the mattress adhesion essential to bind prints to the construct floor for a clean 3D printing expertise.

Our private favourite floor to make use of with nylon filament is LayerLock Garolite Construct Floor. Made out of fiberglass linen material laminated with epoxy resin, this floor has excessive stability over temperature so it simply withstands the 60°C really useful for profitable nylon mattress adhesion on a heated mattress. One other perk of utilizing a garolite floor is its robust adhesion high quality that lasts for 1000’s of prints with sandpaper. Utilizing a sheet of 220 grit sandpaper, evenly sand down the highest of the garolite to take away any blemishes and reveal a extra textured, even floor. This permits nylon to attain a greater grip on the mattress for a profitable flat first layer, resulting in a profitable nylon 3D print total for years to return.

We belief within the success of garolite a lot that we provide it because the inventory mattress floor for our Pulse XE, the 3D printer designed to succeed with 3D printing nylon and nylon-based filaments (on high of normal filaments). For optimum success, PVA glue and sandpaper are additionally included with LayerLock Garolite Construct Surfaces for added adhesion and minimal upkeep for longevity. To study extra about printing on garolite, try our “How To: 3D Print Nylon on Garolite Print Beds” article.

Nylon Filament Should Be Dried Earlier than Printing

Nylon filament is extremely hygroscopic, that means it readily absorbs water from the air. Nylon can soak up greater than 10% of its weight in water in lower than 24 hours which is why it’s best to not go away hygroscopic filaments sitting out within the open.  If you 3D print with nylon filament that isn’t dry, the water within the filament explodes inflicting air bubbles throughout printing that forestalls good layer adhesion, significantly weakens the half and ruins the floor end. Little doubt about it; profitable 3D printing with nylon and nylon-based supplies require dry filament.

Dry nylon, however, prints buttery clean and has a shiny end.

Desiccant helps maintain filaments dry, however packets of desiccant are nowhere close to sufficient to really extract the moisture out of your 3D printing supplies. MatterHackers’ most popular device for drying Nylon is the PrintDry system.  Simply place the spools within the PrintDry chamber, set the system to 75c, and go away to dry for 8-12 hours.  

One other strategy to dry nylon filament is by inserting it in an oven at 160°F – 180°F for six to eight hours. Understand that most all convection and family ovens don’t regulate their temperature nicely at these decrease temperatures and may simply warp your spool or soften the plastic inflicting it to deform and even adhere the filament stands collectively.

After drying, both instantly print with it in a room that is not chilly or drafty or retailer it in an hermetic container with desiccant to make use of for later. If utilizing a system just like the PrintDry, you’ll be able to go away the spool within the unit and print straight from it, holding moisture at bay whereas on these lengthy prints. To study extra about desiccant in addition to some helpful 3D printing instruments, click on right here.

Dry 3D printed nylon on the left, moist 3D printed nylon on the suitable

Whereas kitchen ovens are able to drying filament, we extremely advocate utilizing a PrintDry PRO Filament Drying System as a substitute. PrintDry is a secure, desktop-friendly machine engineered particularly for eradicating moisture from filaments. With its compact, transportable design, you’ll be able to merely place the PrintDry PRO subsequent to your 3D printer and feed dry filament into it whereas it is printing. In case you are unable to feed the filament within the PrintDry PRO straight into your printer, this filament drying system nonetheless works very nicely for merely drying filament after which storing it in an air-tight container for later. To get the very best quality prints doable, filament drying programs just like the PrintDry are a 3D printing accent we extremely advocate for constant success.

To study extra about the advantages of drying filaments, try our article right here.

Nylon Can Warp

We have discovered 3D printing nylon can warp about as a lot as ABS.

When printing on glass or garolite, a heated mattress is required with nylon filament. A PVA based mostly glue stick utilized to the mattress is the very best methodology of mattress adhesion. Elmer’s or Scotch everlasting glue sticks are cheap and simply discovered at an inexpensive value.

We have discovered {that a} mattress heated to 75°C with a skinny layer of glue utilized in a cross-hatch sample works greatest for glass plates.

When printing on a garolite floor, a construct plate is required with nylon filament. Whether or not it is straight on a heated mattress, a sheet of glass, PEI glass or a FlexPlate System, we advocate the garolite sheet be connected to some sort of construct plate that is ready to switch warmth to this construct floor. Like printing on glass, a PVA based mostly glue stick utilized to the mattress might be useful with mattress adhesion for garolite construct surfaces. We advocate Elmer’s glue sticks for this floor. If extra adhesion is required, use 220g sandpaper to evenly sand all throughout the garolite for a textured, even floor that the print can seize onto.

For mattress temperature, we advocate wherever between 55°C – 65°C relying on what sort of name and nylon or nylon-based filament you are printing with. If it is NylonX, we advocate 60°C. If it is NylonG, we advocate 65°C.

Don’t use layer cooling followers and keep away from drafty or cool rooms for greatest outcomes. If you cannot keep away from inserting your printer in drafty or chilly rooms, contemplate both make shifting your individual printer enclosure or buying one of many 3D printer enclosure kits bought right here.

3D Printed Nylon Surfboard Fins Strengthened with Carbon Fiber utilizing the MarkForged 3D Printer

Advisable Nylon 3D Print Settings:

• Extruder Temp.: 240°C – 260°C
  • Begin printing at 250°C and regulate in increments of 5°C till you discover the suitable temperature that produces a powerful, sturdy print with a gorgeous ending floor
  • The appropriate temperature could differ between nylon and nylon-based filaments
  • The appropriate temperature could differ between manufacturers of nylon and nylon-based filaments
• Mattress Temp.: 55-65°C
  • That is for garolite surfaces with PVA based mostly glue
• Mattress Temp.: 70-80°C
  • That is for glass and different surfaces with PVA based mostly glue
• Pace: 30-60 mm/s
• 0.2 mm – 0.4 mm layer heights
• 0% Layer Cooling Fan