Do I need a teflon feed tube for printing ninjaflex on makerbot rep 2

[User_1227]

Do I need a teflon feed tube for my makerbot replicator 2 to print Ninjaflex? I am about to get started in the next few weeks on a project using this material and I have seen a lot of different information out there. Anyone with experience on a makerbot? I would appreciate any input

Thanks!

[3DAnything]

Not if you hang the roll above the printer. I hang the roll and have printed 2000+ hours in pla and petg like that. Ninjaflex won’t be able to pull through the tube if the roll is mounted in the stock location. If you put a rod through it and hang it on the top without a tube it can self feed. It helps to put some grease on the rod though.

[User_1227]

Thanks for the tips

Is there anything else I should do to prep the printer - I plan on switching between the pla / ninja flex for the next few months?

I know keeping the nozzle unclogged seems to be an issue for some people

[Daniel_Gray]

2000 hours with the stock extruded and hot ends?

[wayne]

When I printed with Ninjaflex on my MB2 I didn’t bother using a feed tube and it came out ok.

[paul_15]

It is a good cost effective upgrade for all filament types. The key to good prints with ninja flex is speed, retraction and temperature settings.

[Dickdasi]

ninjaflex is pretty sticky so a feed tube will not work with this material. As stefano suggested it’s best to hang the spool above the printer and provide the least resistance to get the filament from the spool into the extruder.

[User_1227]

Thanks everyone for the input - Appreciate it all.

For infill’s I have heard close to 0% or 100% - Any opinions?

[Dickdasi]

It really depends on how flexible and “spongy” you want the resulting print to be. Most of my customers ask for 5-10% infill. i have gone as high as 50% - at that point it gets pretty stiff already. i printed several 20x20 calibration cubes with different infills 0%, 10%, etc up to 100% so i could see what the resulting impact would be. you might want to do that too. You’d be surprised how infill affects the end result.

[Jinxbot]

I get a flex filament from fry’s called GP3D and I use my feed tube with it. It is not as sticky as Nijaflex apparently and I get good results with it. Personally I would not print anything without the feed tube. You will get inconsistent layers as the feeder pulls the filament. Placing it above the printer will help as Stephano said, though.

[Alex_9]

I agree with this - ninjaflex is quite sticky even with PTFE (teflon) tubes, over a length with a curve in it.

Hang the spool above, ideally dead centre of the machine, in line with the Z axis, and as high above the printer as you can, to minimise any effect of movement of the axes.

[Alex_9]

I agree with this - ninjaflex is quite sticky even with PTFE (teflon) tubes, over a length with a curve in it.

Hang the spool above, ideally dead centre of the machine, in line with the X axis, and as high above the printer as you can, to minimise any effect of movement of the axes.

[Mark_Ingle]

I don’t have a MakerBot but I do print with Ninjaflex. A direct drive extruder is required for ninjaflex or any other flexible filament. hope this helps!