PLA+ and Carbon Fiber

Has anyone tried parts yet from the carbon fiber or PLA filaments yet?

What was your idea? The machine is quite robust already. Only one item missing from the parts list: patience.

For greater dimensional accuracy of printed parts and a nicer surface finish…

printing a batch at 80% infill right now. The top roller bearing comes out with a 0.27mm tight spacing so got to shave away that much plastic.

I haven’t tried any of those filled pla’s but I have heard they are weaker than the stock pla which makes sense since you are just adding powdered stuff and breaking up the plastic.

I have found the parts I made with petg to be much stronger than pla. I would think nylon would be the best bet I don’t want to try due to the cost and hearing it’s hard to print.

Protopasta claims its a bit stronger and theirs you can do a thermoset type curing in the oven with it to raise the point where it softens to 140c for use with auto parts.

The guy over at Gear Switch told me that he is using ABS with carbon fiber on his auto parts he sells. He says it does not warp at all.

Just for reference but not recommended at all because shrinking, I printed in ABS about ~15% less infill than the parts lists, in order to avoid warping due to excess infill. The finish at bottom is horrible because of the ABS slurry. But strong as an assembly

I’ve used the Protopasta HTPAL-Carbon, with heatset treatment.

Like: Super light, easy to process, nice matt finish

Don’t like: warps easily during heat treatment. So follow instruction and leave support material and raft in place when moving object to an oven.

I use my heating plate, and simply placed a small insulated box on top of the object, set the bed to 100c and leave it overnight. Reduce the temp to 80c for 1/2 hour, then 60c for another 1/2 hour. Before removing.

It is stronger. But I am not 100% sold on the added cost / Value. Wish I had access to a stress tester and validate the claims.

I’m still printing my MPCNC, but I’m using eSun PLA+ (or PLA PRO, it goes by both names depending on where you buy it). I’ve done strength tests with it, and it easily has 3 times stronger layer adhesion than regular PLA. It also tends to bend like ABS, instead of shatter like normal PLA. The only down side to it is that support material doesn’t come off quite as easily, but since nothing on the MPCNC requires support it’s not really an issue.

It doesn’t warp or shrink like ABS.

PETG might be stronger, but it’s also way more flexible than PLA or ABS, and I wonder if that wouldn’t cause problems? Anyone know?