XT-CF20
Our first special filament based on the Amphora 3D polymer. Reinforced with 20% specially sourced carbon fibers, this filament is perfect for parts which need high stiffness. XT-CF20 has a beautiful matte surface finish when printed.
CARBON FIBER IS ABRASIVE:
A special point of attention is the abrasive nature of the carbon fibers. In general these fibers will accelerate the nozzle-wear of brass nozzles, much faster than unfilled filaments. Therefore we recommend to use hardened steel nozzles.
Product Name | Qty |
---|---|
XT-CF20 1.75 / 750 | 15 |
XT-CF20 2.85 / 750 | 52 |
XT CF20 1.75 / 2200 | 0 |
XT CF20 2.85 / 2200 | 19 |
Availability: In stock
colorFabb XT-CF20 is a copolyester based carbon fiber composite material that is based on the unique Amphora 3D polymer from Eastman Chemical and is loaded with no less than 20% specially sourced carbon fibers suitable for 3D Printing.
Combining carbon fibers in filaments material is not a new idea, but colorFabb has been able to combine a lot of desired properties into 1 new material :
- Extreme High Flex Modulus (6.2 GPa), twice as stiff as PLA/PHA
- Moderate strain at break (8-10%), so no extreme brittle filament, but toughness
- High Glass Temp. (Tg = 80C)
- Very high Melt strength
- Very high Melt Viscosity
- Good dimensional accuracy and stability
- Low odor / Styrene Free solution
- Easy processing on many platforms
- High attractive matt black surface
CARBON FIBER IS ABRASIVE
A special point of attention is the abrasive nature of the carbon fibers. In general these fibers will accelerate the nozzle-wear of brass nozzles, much faster than unfilled filaments. There colorFabb recommends to use nozzle’s from Stainless steel or hardened copper alloys.
APPLICATIONS :
Just think of all the great applications for a variety industries, that now will have a material that performs according to expectations. Functionality, stiffness, dimensional stability, heat resistant, what more can you ask? Applications in the RC Industry / Drones / Aerospace / Automotive / Prototyping and many more can now be developed on your desktop 3D Printer.
AMPHORA 3D POLYMER
ColorFabb XT-CF20 is produced wih AMPHORA 3D Polymer from Eastman Chemical.
Amphora 3D Polymers is a specially developed co-polyester just for 3D Printing. It’s toughness and high meltstrength makes it the perfect material for producing fiber reinforced composites, providing the necessary viscosity for 3D printing, combined with a high toughness in the filament and end application
- Great filament
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Quality
The finished products have a very nice, matte look as well.
Obviously you'll need a hardened nozzle and tweak your print settings a little, although I'm using the same profile for this and standard XT filament now. (Posted on 11/10/2018) - Great results with Prusa i3 Mk2
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Quality
XT-CF20 is only functional and rigid when the printer is well dialed in. Keep the fan speed as low as possible and let the material bond. The oozing is the only downside and requires close attention; you can do the groceries nevertheless. (Perhaps adding a binder/binding agent to this filament will eventually solve this final issue.) For the Prusa i3 the settings below and produced good end results for me...
Printing: 3DLac as primer; E3D hardened steel nozzle (0.4 mm); default extrusion width = 0.44 mm.
Retraction: length = 1.2; lift = 0.2 to 0.4; speed = 45 mm/s; retract before travel and at layer change.
Layers: height = 0.1 or 0.2 mm; shell = 1.6; ensure vertical shell thickness; relative Z-height = off (keep the flow stable to lower oozing).
Bed temperatures: first layer = 85 and 245; other layers = 70 and 245.
Fan: always on; disabled until skirt height is reached; speed between 15 and 30%.
Bridging: fan = 40; flow ratio = 1; speed = 15.
First layer: width = 0.47; speed = 10.
Top infill: width = 0.46; speed = 20.
Other speeds: travel = 140; gap fill = 10; minimal speed = 10.
Perimeters: thickness = 1.6 mm, width = 0.43; speed = 25; seam = nearest.
External perimeters: width = 0.44; speed = 20.
Fill: octagram spiral; cubic at 40%; overlap = 40%; width = 0.42; speed = 35.
Support: honeycomb with sheath; pattern at 30°; contact distance = 0.001 (for perfect snap-off); xy spacing = 0.8; pattern spacing = 1.6; width = 0.43; speed = 25. (Posted on 9/6/2017) - Challenging print, great reward
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Quality
The downside is, it doesn't like to stick very well without a heated chamber and does warp, so only some of my printers are able to use it, also the temperature is way too high for most hobby printers, I calibrated mine to 268°C. But if you can get ambient temperatures of around 40°C, a stable heatbed of 70°C and a cooling fan to very moderately pull away the heat then this is a very tame filament that provides very rewarding results. (Posted on 8/16/2017) - Good Product
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Quality - Great properties / Very tricky to print well
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Quality - Weak in compression
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Quality
The aspect is good and global rigidity of the part is good as well
But it is not adapted for functional assembled parts (Posted on 12/30/2016) - Good and beautiful - but maybe not much more
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Quality
However, what I found was that for stiffness I was much better off with standard grade PLA, maybe even annealed PLA, while this material for me formed a rather weird, soft-ish texture that would bend more than expected, and that with thicker walls.
I was printing with 0.4mm nozzle, 260°C, and speeds around 40mm/s
Another thing to look out for are the "Nozzle blobs". This material will stick to the nozzle and create blobs of itself that grow in size until they get stuck to the print and ruin it. I have no idea why or how, but it makes printing with this over longer times more of a gamble.
However, once thing this material does is look good, and has GREAT temperature and overhang stability while and after printing, as well as appropriate layer bonding!
So at least one thing is somewhat good. (Posted on 11/12/2016) - Excellent... when you get it right!
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Quality - great but with challances
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Quality
The only problem I find is that sometimes with the material a big chuck comes out (something I do not have with any other material) and as this material is super fast very hard and strong, this chuck can be in the way and destroy a print.
On my sigma with a springloaded bed, this usually is not much of a big problem, but on my kossel XL with no spring loaded bed a huge issue and the collision between the chuck and nozzel will force the printer to be out of alignment and ruing the print.
(Posted on 10/16/2016) - I Love This Stuff
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Quality
And naturally, I was a bit skeptical when I ordered my first roll of XT-CF20, but I was (and continue to be) amazed by this product. I use this filament mostly for fabricating or enhancing RC aircraft parts, including landing gear struts.
Before I found XT-CF20, I would have never even considered using a 3D printed part for something like landing gear struts that can take some serious abuse, especially during hard landings. But I have been able to use XT-CF20 for things like this with confidence. In fact, I have found that I am more likely to damage my airframe than break a part printed with XT-CF20.
It's true that you do have to work a bit to get your 3D print job parameters set right for this filament, but once you do, the parts are not only strong but look great too.
So far, this is the most useful, most durable 3D printer filament that I have found, and before I found this filament, I didn't think it was possible to make 3D printed parts that would rival commercial grade OEM parts in terms of strength and durability, but I am convinced that parts printed with XT-CF20 actually do.
I love this filament and always make sure to order more before I run out so that I can be certain to always have some on hand.
(Posted on 7/29/2016) - Approuved by Copterlab
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Quality
We reviewed lot of 3d printed carbon filament and finally this is the best we used (for the moment) ;-)
Layer: 0.15mm
Nozzle temp: 260°c
Bed temp: 50°c
Speed: 75mm/s
Buy with confidence. (Posted on 11/7/2015) - This is some sexy-smexy stuff
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Quality
The only question that remains for me is, what took you so long, Colorfabb? ;) (Posted on 9/8/2015) - Bin enttäuscht
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Quality
Jedoch ist das drucken mit dem CF20 ein Qual. . Jede neue Geometrische Form benötigt ihre eigene sehr sensible Einstellung. 3 Rollen Bestellt. Und nach 5 Tagen dauertest gebe ich auf... Die paar Ergebnisse die nach vielen hin und her gespiele in den Einstellungen erwecken nicht den Eindruck eines Prozesssicheren Materials. Sehr schade.
Reply: Create ticket @ support.colorfabb.com (Posted on 7/29/2015) - Fantastic product
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Quality
In-house production
All colorFabb 3d printing filaments are produced in our own production facility, situated in the Netherlands. Since no external parties are involved in the making of colorFabb filament we can ensure consistent quality on every order.
Excellent diameter tolerance
An important machine in our production are the laser measurement systems used to check the diameter of our filament real time during production. It’s measured over 1000 times per second and helps us guarantee that each spool of colorFabb 3d printing filament produced within tolerance. We can guarantee 0,05mm +/- on both 2,85mm and 1,75mm colorFabb 3d printing filament, which means you can rest assured that your printer is extruding the exact amount of material.
Packaging
Within minutes of production a spool of colorFabb 3d printing filament is sealed airtight with a double barrier foil. To go the extra mile, we’ll also seal the fancy cardboard box that we use to ship our product. You can make sure colorFabb 3d printing filament is fresh and ready for 3d printing when you’re done unboxing.
In-house testing
The colorFabb testlab features a wide range of popular 3d printers. We’re continuously testing on our 3d printers to keep checking the quality of the materials we produce and to develop exciting new materials for the maker community. If your not sure how to print with our materials on your 3d printer, please contact us at support@colorfabb.com
The following printers are used in our lab:
- Ultimaker Original
- Ultimaker Original Dual Extrusion
- Ultimaker 2
- Makerbot Replicator 2s
- Delta Tower (E3D hot-end)
- Felix 20
- Leapfrog Creator
- Beethefirst
- Mass Portal Pharaoh ED
- Prusa i3 HEPHESTOS
Companies who are interested in having their 3d printer(s) featured in our testlab can contact us at support@colorfabb.com
Material science
ColorFabb was founded as a brand of Helian Polymers, a sister company of Peter Holland which have been active in the master batch and additives for the plastics processing industry. Our knowhow, network and partnerships is driving material innovations and quality. You can expect colorFabb to keep on developing interesting new materials, which will be tested on a variety of printers to make sure it’ll get the job done.