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Aug 2017

I’ve noticed rolls of nylon or PLA with carbon fibre dust embedded. How is the MarkForged better than this?

Where can I find a service to print in plastic with carbon embedded?

  • created

    Aug '17
  • last reply

    Aug '17
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There are several filament producers that now have their own version of carbon fibre filled filaments. In all these cases, the standard material is PLA, PETG or another polymer mixed with very short carbon fibers. I have printed with several different brands of this carbon filled filaments have, in my opinion, actually not much to offer for most applications. The prints made with this are usually a bit lighter than with the pure filaments and are supposed to be much ‘stiffer’ than with ‘normal’ filaments. I case of the base material being a PETG-variant the prints are really stiffer, but I doubt very much if it is really stronger. As a matter of fact, prints with these carbon fiber filament will break more easily than using the ‘normal’ filament. With the MarkForged however, the technique is very different. In stead of using chopped carbon fibers, the MarkForged will lay a continuous carbon fire through your print. This DOES increase the strength of that print significantly. However, you must keep in mind that this does not work for very small parts and neither with very thin layers. Small parts just do not have the room for the fibers.

It is possible to use the Markforge materials in a FlashForge creator Pro? I have a hardened nozzle to resist wear.

Thanks. The quote for a longboard surfboard fin came out as 82GBP. That’s not cost prohibitive but I definitely want to get a few prototypes right first