Hi, I'm really interested in getting hold of some Polyamide 12 (Nylon 12) for 3D Printing at home; As Shapeways seems to be fairly well-established now I thought I'd ask whether you are willing and/or able to provide 3mm diameter filament reels of your White Strong Flexible material for home use? This could be a real boon to the 3D printing community as there are (seemingly) no reliable sources for this material. Thanks, Alex.
The nylon comes as a powder. You can't get the powder either. The only plant that supplies the primary ingredient blew up. You can definitely get nylon filament, just not PA12. Though I'm sure it's being worked on, I have not heard of a nylon that's been engineered for home printing.
Hi Guys, We've been aware of this issue for some time now (since it happened) and we've been working really hard to mitigate any impact on our community. Currently we have our own ample supplies of powder for WSF and we are working closely with EOS to ensure a continuing supply whilst the factory is being rebuilt. The team has done a fantastic job ensuring there will be no negative impact to you or your customers. Rest assured that if this becomes an issue then you will be the first to know. For now, all is well, business as usual and you can order as much as your heart desires! Best, Natalia ps - Aaron is right edgecrusher, for home use, you don't need powder, if you are looking to buy filament reels, you may be interested in checking out a RepRap or MakerBot.
Thanks Natalia, I have built a REPRAP and am happily printing ABS with it; I was primarily looking for a reel of nylon so I can print flexible parts ala this instructable: http://www.instructables.com/id/Combination-CNC-Machine-and- 3D-Printer/ Thanks anyway. Alex.
Hi Alex, Wow that looks interesting, perhaps contact the author directly to find out where he buys nylon that is usable in that way! Best, Natalia
It looks like he gets it from city plastics? http://www.instructables.com/files/orig/FME/OPPB/H2BMNWA8/FM EOPPBH2BMNWA8.pdf
A thread on the Reprap Forum has raised the use of Nylon. It has been made clear that the use of Nylon at higher temperatures has the danger of giving off toxic and poisonous gasses. Extruding Nylon is not for the amateur, or any domestic set-up.
I was of the understanding (having read/digested that very thread) that the reason for the higher temperatures being required was due to added materials such as fibreglass. This requires the nylon to be pushed to near boiling point >300°C - the melting point of nylon according to many of the Materials Safety Data Sheets I've seen is only 200°C I do actually have a reel of Garden Strimmer line which I cut a small piece off and pressed against the up-to-temperature (205°C) ABS-printing hot end on my REPRAP and it melted it just fine. That-said, I won't be putting this or any Nylon material into it until I fully understand the precautions required.. The reason I started this thread was to test the water on getting some of the very same material that Shapeways use for their WSF prints. As was answered above, they don't have it in the form that's required for REPRAP printers. I firmly believe that nylon in its various forms/versions (6/12/66 etc.) is a viable print material; we just need to find a (cheap) source of pure nylon filament.