ProtoPasta é uma empresa situada nos Estados Unidos da América, de produção de filamentos para impressão 3D de alta qualidade.
Caracterizada pelos rolos feitos em cartão, esta marca é mundialmente famosa por ser especializada em materiais como PLA e ABS modificados com outros materiais, como o PLA Magnético; o PLA Condutivo; PLA de fibra de carbono; HTPLA de cobre, latão ou bronze; ou o ABS-PC.
Our most popular exotic material, Protopasta Carbon Fiber Composite HTPLA is a combination of milled carbon fibers and high-performance PLA.
Resulting 3D prints made with our Carbon Fiber HTPLA are demonstrably more rigid, providing excellent structural strength and layer adhesion with very low warpage.
The embedded carbon provides a beautiful matte black finish with a slight sheen, resulting in 3D prints with exceptional accuracy, finish, and performance!
For exceptional accuracy, finish & performance, choose Carbon Fiber
Proto-pasta Carbon Fiber Composite HTPLA is a combination of milled carbon fibers and high-performance, heat treatable PLA (HTPLA). Resulting 3D printed prototypes and end-use parts are characterized by exceptionally stability of form and potential use up to 155 deg C (310 deg F) when heat treated.
Finish
Printed parts have a beautiful matte black finish with layer hiding sheen and texture. The carbon fibers give the surface a nice sheen and with layer heights under 0.1mm the layers blend into the texture and almost disappear.
Performance
Printed prototypes and end use parts using Protopasta Carbon Fiber HTPLA are characterized by exceptional stability of form and potential use up to 155 deg C (310 deg F) when heat treated. Carbon fiber’s rigidity and hardness results in prints with improved form and function compared to standard HTPLA without carbon fibers. Excellent layer adhesion and minimal warpage (even without a heated bed) make this a great everyday filament for accurate parts. Increased rigidity from the carbon fiber means increased structural support but decreased flexibility, making our Carbon Fiber HTPLA an ideal material for frames, supports, shells, propellers, tools… really anything not expected (or desired) to bend. It is particularly loved by drone builders and and RC hobbyists.
Compatibility
Adaptable to most PLA-compatible printers. Heated bed recommended for process ease, quality, and reliability, but not required. Printer should allow 3rd party filament, parameter adjustment, and nozzle replacement. Specialized machine adaptation and maintenance may be required for Proto-pasta materials, particularly in continued use of abrasive materials. Some machines may require specific considerations for filament placement, path, adjustments, settings, or other preparation & maintenance.
Abrasive materials like Carbon Fiber and Metal Composites may cause premature wear of in line components such as bowden tubes, drive gears, nozzles, and other items in the filament travel path. Serviceable hardware including replaceable nozzles suggested. Wear resistant nozzles are recommended for extended use. Nozzles wear most quickly with flattening of the tip which affects nozzle diameter & distance to build plate. Inconsistent extrusion, inaccuracy & process instability. Extrusion width & first layer distance adjustments and/or replacement of nozzle. For more on nozzle replacement consider this blog demonstrating nozzle replacement & adjustments on a Prusa MK3. Reduce nozzle wear by minimizing over-extrusion & infill.
Finishing
Printed parts using Carbon Fiber HTPLA can be shaved/carved with a sharp blade for a smooth finish. Experiment with weathering or other painting techniques for a unique look. Also, expect improved bonding strength with glue compared to plastic without carbon fiber.
Carbon Fiber HTPLA is optimized for heat treating (also known as annealing or crystallizing) for higher temperature use. Heat treating creates a more crystalline molecular structure for maintaining stiffness to near melting, thus extending the useful range of HTPLA, but crystallization also creates shrinkage. HTPLA parts should be scaled in slicer to compensate for shrinkage when heat treating.
Additional post processes might inlcude sanding or painting. The addition of carbon fiber can lend well to ease of sanding and adhesion of coatings like paint, however, there are also additional safety considerations when generating dust through sanding and fumes through coating. Please seek safe practices with appropriate persona protective (PPE) and ventilation.
Getting Started with Proto-pasta PLAs including HTPLA
We’ve created this page to bring you a premium PLA and HTPLA printing experience that rivals our premium material. Follow below to improve your 3D printing experience. In other words, here’s your shortcut to awesomeness with pasta. If at the end of this document you have questions or need assistance, please contact us at [email protected].
Filament Handling
Loose coils can be very tricky to manage. Going cowboy on your spool handling can quickly end up in a frustrating, tangled mess. Keep your loose coils wrangled with a spool holder like masterspool for a more trouble-free experience. Find out more about loose coil handling in Keith’s blog post.
And for spooled filament, never let go of the loose end. When not in the printer extruder, tuck it away in the cardboard spool’s corrugation! Also, avoid sharp bends and excessive force when loading filament into your printer.
Print settings
At Proto-pasta, we make high quality filament. We aspire to make exceptional results easy, but a positive result is very much dependent on your hardware, set-up, adjustments, and process parameters. Matching hardware with process and material for a positive experience is not always straight-forward, but you can start by pairing the following settings with your printer for a good starting point, then tune or troubleshoot as required.
Example settings for typical printer
- Nozzle size = 0.4 mm (Standard to most printers & balances detail with productivity.)
- Extrusion width = 0.45 mm (Typically larger than nozzle size. If using a larger nozzle diameter, be sure to set the extrusion width larger than that nozzle diameter.)
- Layer thickness = 0.15 mm (For a balance of speed, quality & reliability.)
- Speed(s) = 15-45 mm/s (Respecting mechanical and volume flow limits. Stay within the recommended speed range but apply slower speeds to the walls and faster speeds to the infill.)
- Volume flow rate(s) = 1-3 cu mm/s (The result of above speed range, width, and layer thickness. Respect hardware and geometry limitations.)
- Typical temperature = 215 C +/- 10 C (Matching material, hardware, and volume flow rate.)
Volume flow rate together with temperature dictates how melted the material is. This is hardware & condition dependent based on hot end, nozzle & extruder type, material & manufacturer as well as layer fan type, position & settings. Extrusion width, layer thickness & speed changes affect volume flow which may change required/desired temperature.
Additional settings of note
- “Grid” infill type at 20-30% – “connect infill lines” unchecked (off).
- Minimum 3 shells & 4 top/bottom layers for good surface quality.
- Layer fan set to cool enough for build rate, but not so aggressive as to fail process by over-cooling nozzle and heater block.
Validation and fine-tuning
- Single wall box to tune temperature and extrusion-related settings.
- Protognome to validate results.
Post your prints & tag us @Proto_pasta on Twitter and Instagram. Need more help? Consider typical pitfalls and fixes below.
Typical pitfalls
- Exceeding hardware capabilities.
- Mismatch of flow rate and temperature.
- Excessive nozzle cooling from layer fan yielding lower heater block and/or nozzle temperatures than set point.
- Hardware shortcomings such as MK3 heat break, poor nozzle diameter, or other hangups.
- Poor assembly or adjustment of components.
- Excessive retraction distance or number of retractions.
- Inaccurate flow with missing cross-sections or wall thickness not matching extrusion width software setting.
Typical Fixes
- Heat break replacement with OEM, straight-through design and defect-free, smooth bore.
- Proper assembly of components without plastic oozing gaps & with thermal grease.
- Lightly oiling filament, but careful, a little goes a long way.
- Reducing layer fan speed and/or isolating from heater block and nozzle.
- Installing heater block sock to isolate heater block & nozzle from layer fan.
- Increasing temperature to flow past internal hang-ups.
- Reduce speed and/or choose a single speed for a single volume flow
- Consider drive gear tension adjustment, bowden tube coupling/replacement, and spool mounting
We visited Joel and ended up with a helpful video on the subject:
Carbon Fiber PLA
Carbon Fiber Reinforced PLA
Our most popular exotic material, prints made with our Carbon Fiber PLA are demonstrably more rigid, providing excellent structural strength and layer adhesion with very low warpage. It has a beautiful matte black finish with a slight sheen due to the embedded carbon.
What is it made out of?
Because of the chopped carbon, Protopasta Carbon Fiber PLA may have trouble getting through smaller nozzles. We have had good success using a .5mm nozzle and direct-drive spring loaded pinch-roll style extrusion head.Generally, our customers find it prints just like standard PLA on their machines (at around 195-210° F), though others find success running it a bit hotter (around 220° F). Experiment with your printer and see what works best for you.
1.3 g/cm3 (1300 kg/m3)Parameters:
Bed Temp (if available, is not required): 50° C
Hot End Temp: 195 – 220° C
Carbon fiber and your printer nozzle
The carbon fibers in our filament are processed for an optimum size: short enough to print in PLA without clogging nozzles, but long enough to provide the added rigidity carbon fiber is famous for. At this length, the chopped carbon fiber makes this filament more abrasive than standard PLA. Prolonged use may result in more wear on your 3D printer, particularly lower-end nozzles.
Para uma correcta manutenção da sua impressora 3D, recomendamos sempre que trocar de material de filamento 3D, a efectuar uma purga com filamento especial de limpeza.
Desta forma garante que não ficam vestígios de material nas paredes do nozzle, evitando o acumular de crosta que é criado sempre que efectua trocas de material.
Com este produto evita problema como “clogs” e “jams” e fará com que o seu nozzle mantenha-se sempre limpo, durando muito mais tempo.
Poderá encontrar a partir de 1.49€ no seguinte LINK
Este material é altamente abrasivo. Recomendamos a utilização de Nozzles de aço endurecido.
Poderá encontrar no seguinte LINK
Para obter maior aderência à superfície da sua impressora 3D recomendamos a aplicar 3DLAC na base da plataforma.
Poderá encontrar no seguinte LINK
Este material é altamente higroscópico, absorvendo rapidamente a humidade do ar passados poucos minutos após aberto, impossibilitando desta forma a correcta impressão 3D do mesmo. O resultado das impressões 3D de materiais com humidade tendem a ser frágeis e de acabamento irregular ou em certos casos, torna-se simplesmente impossíveis de imprimir.
Deverá de usar soluções de caixas fechadas com dessecante como sílica ou caixas próprias secadoras de filamento.
Poderá encontrar no seguinte LINK
Download:
Technical and Safety Data Sheet
500g– Rolo
HTPLA Black ( Carbon Fiber Composite ) – Cor
1.75mm (+-0.05mm) – Espessura / Tolerância de diâmetro
Fácil – Facilidade de Impressão
