We’ve been experimenting a bit with t-glase here at Aleph Objects, and it’s pretty great stuff.
It prints similarly to PLA, with very little warping and nice sticky extrusion. It’s highly translucent - you can even use it to create light paths in printed parts (http://taulman3d.com/t-glase-features.html). T-glase parts are about as stiff as PLA but much more resilient, great for parts that require snap fits or some flexing.
We’re running this through our normal extruder, though either should work. The flexystruder will print harder materials like abs, pla and t-glase just fine, but will eventually wear out the PTFE lining.
Bam,
Do you guys have any configuration files for the AO-101? (Based on the bed size it looked like it was for TAZ)
Also do you have any recommended bed temperature for the AO-101? (In another post, I read that there are different bed temperature recommendation for the AO-101 vs is the TAZ due the the thermistor locations.)
Lastly has anyone done anything with fusing t-glase together for parts that are to large for the print bed?
Should have my first roll of t-glass this weekend.
Not yet on the AO config, but i’ll post one shortly!
The speeds should be about the same, just the bed size will change. As far as bed temperature, the T-glase seemed to stick well to the bed as low as 60 and stuck better at higher temps, up to about 80C. Above that and the parts start to stick TOO well and you’ll have a hard time getting the part off. I’d set your bed at 60-70C and bump up the temperature in 5C increments if you see the corners peeling up.
I don’t know of any good solvents for PET, it’s pretty resistant to most common solvents. It will eventually dissolve in acetone, but it will be quite a bit longer of a process than acetone welding ABS parts. I’ll keep thinking about it.
Hope this helps!
-bam
—edit—
AO-10x configs for .5mm and .35mm nozzles have been uploaded (http://devel.lulzbot.com/filament/T-Glase/). I’d recommend a 0.5mm or larger nozzle, the stuff does better with big fat layers.
Got my T-Glase today and while I can get it to extrude just fine, when I try to print with it (using expert instead of quick-print settings) suddenly my Mini decides that the bed is about two millimeters above where the bed really is (it starts printing in mid-air). I know how to set the z-height on the old Lulzbots at TinkerMill, but apparently one does that differently on the Mini. Since when I use ABS and quick-print, the printer sets itself up perfectly, I’m not really sure I should be playing with the settings anyway.
Is there anything (probably something blatantly obvious) that I need to do here, or that I am doing wrong? I am running Cura on a WIndows 7 laptop. My black T-Glase measures 2.6 mm, nowhere near the almost-kinda-3mm it says on the spool.
When you switch from “Quick Print” to “Expert Settings” your profile is changed to a generic one. You need to import the slicing profile you want to use from here: https://www.lulzbot.com/support/mini-cura-profiles. If your Mini isn’t probing the bed that’s confirmation that you need to load the right profile.
Do you have any good hints for getting T-Glase off the bed? It adheres with a vengeance! The best way I’ve found to get it to release is a good spray with Aqua-Net and using a potter’s knife (extremely thin and flexible) to get it loose. Other than that, I’m having waaaaayyy too much fun with this stuff! I will probably bring some results to TinkerMill and put them in the Showing Off cabinet.
Hi folks, got the T-Glase working just fine–except for the colorless. It… I don’t know the actual jargon, but pills up and sputters, leaving a rough surface in spots that the blue and the black don’t seem to do. Here’s an example.
I don’t know that specific fillament well, but often colorless fillaments need to print at a lower temperature than colored ones, for some reason related to the dyes in the plastic. You might also check and see if the diameter of that particular fillament is alot different than the other two.
Re: printing at a lower temperature, I’ve been finding that on the whole, the colorless T-Glase (is it pronounced T-glass or T-glaze? I’ve heard both) is much better behaved being extruded at around 220º than the 240º the profile asks for. The blue and smoke don’t seem to care. Haven’t tried the other colors yet. My clear T-Glase does have bubbles, and that may be an issue with it fraying as it does at the higher temperatures.
Wish T-Glase came in more colors, though! An amber and a violet would be more than excellent!
