From cork fill to functional polymers, filament maker colorFabb is constantly expanding their material capabilities, and the rest of the 3D printing industry has definitely taken notice. One particular 3D printer company from Spain, called BCN3D Technologies, has decided to partner with ColorFabb to provide users of their new BCN3D Sigma with a wide range of material options. The BCN3D Sigma is a FFF printer with a dual independent extruder system, allowing users to combine two different materials onto on print.
It seems that there was mutual benefit for both BCN3D Technologies and ColorFabb in the move; the BCN3D Sigma will be able to better utilize the unique and expansive colorFabb filament line, which includes their WoodFill, CopperFill or ColorFabb_XT filaments. On the other hand, colorFabb feels that the BCN3D Sigma can help their engineers develop even higher quality materials, which is where the dual independent extruder system certainly will assist. The collaborative project between ColorFabb and BCN3D Technologies is focused on three main pillars.
First, colorFabb will use BCN3D Sigma 3D printer in their facilities, making the printer an exclusive tool for developing and testing new filaments. Secondly, BCN3D Technologies will distribute colorFabb products throughout Spain and Portugal, and will also provide these two countries with technical support as well. Lastly, the Spain-based prototyping center Fundació CIM will create a series of post-processing guides for colorFabb’s functional materials, which will be published and made available to all colorFabb users. The progress of this collaborative project is on display this week at RapidPro, an annual 3D printing faire that takes place in the city Eindhoven, Netherlands.
Speaking of functional materials, colorFabb has also just announced the development of the colorFabb_HT, a 3D polymer material with extremely high heat resistance. The new material is made from Eastman’s Amphora HT5300 3D polymer, which is a low-oder and styrene-free material that is engineered with high durability, stability, toughness, and temperature resistance. colorFabb has turned this polymer into a functional filament, and is especially useful in applications that require a temperature resistance of 100C or less. The colorFabb_HT filament will be available in five colors, which include clear, white, light gray, dark gray, and black.
The colorFabb_HT will be made available on March 21, but pre-order for the new filament will be open sooner. The new material has already been used in an experiment by designers Wouter Wolfs and Dennis van Bergen van der Grijp, who used the colorFabb_HT filament to create custom shaped inlet manifolds to improve the performance of this Mini track car. You can find more information, including the material data sheet, on colorFabb’s website.
