Are you a PrintrBot Simple owner looking forward to printing with NinjaFlex? Well, I hate to be the one to break it to you, but unless you install this extruder upgrade that may not a good idea.
You see, as it turns out the PrintrBot Simple’s extruder drive wheel and its hot end are just a little too far apart for highly flexible materials like NinjaFlex, so they can end up buckling and getting tangled. Unfortunately when you mix things like hot ends and flexible plastics that have a low melt point, things often get messy.
But don’t worry, as usual maker and DIY expert Noe Ruiz and Adafruit Industries are on the case. They’ve just published an easy to follow how-to guide that will walk you through the printing and installation of an extruder upgrade for your PrintrBot that should keep your filament in line. The upgrade file is available for download via Thingiverse and was designed to be printed with your own PrintrBot using any standard ABS filament. Once installed they promise that it will virtually eliminate any NinjaFlex feed issues that you may be having. Here’s their how-to guides companion video:
The extruder upgrade itself is a pretty simple fix. It’s just a small part that can easily be attached to the spring loaded arm that feeds the filament towards the extruder. The part has a small filament guide that will hold the filament in place, allowing it to be fed directly into the drive gear, preventing any buckling or tangles. It’s an elegantly simple solution to a frustratingly simple and unavoidable problem that was only made possible because of 3D printing.
I’m sure the fix will find its way into future PrintrBot extruders, as CEO Brook Drumm always seems to be tinkering with his printers design and is trying to improve them. But for those of you who already have one, you can now enjoy squishy models printed from NinjaFlex, thanks to Adafruit.
I would definitely advocate navigating here to learn more about Adafruit, they have projects for all skill levels and you can purchase most of the needed supplies directly from them. You can download the extruder upgrade from Thingiverse here, and then read through the simple how-to guide here.
Source: Adafruit
