I can't believe it's not rubber....

https://www.shapeways.com/blog/archives/1375-Introducing-3D-P rinted-Black-Elasto-Plastic-I-Cant-Believe-Its-Not-Rubber.ht ml

It squishes, it stretches, and erases pencil drawings.... I'm happy to announce that starting today, Shapeways will enable you to print in our first stretchy squishy material!

Check out the above link for more details and some design inspirations.

The rules are flexible and subject to change, since this is an experimental material. Don't be afraid to stretch your imagination! </endbadpuns>

Enjoy!
Nancy

Is Bowie printable in Black Elasto ?

( Let's make that bunny dancing like this "MyKeepon" thing. )

Sure is! Though, there's a bunny in 1.0mm and one in 2.0mm, the minimum wall thickness for this is 1.5mm, so I'd recommend using the 2.0mm version--though it will be a bit stiffer (maybe see if the designer can design a version that's 1.5mm thick?)

Here's the link: https://www.shapeways.com/model/97938/bowie-the-bunny-2mm-thi ck.html

(You might have to ping the designer and ask to enable the Elastic material first)

Check out some of the other items.. the bunny isn't the only cute thing in the shop!

I didn't quite catch the connotation of "this my keepon thing"
And, BTW, where are the winners of the FlexTest contest posted?

Flex test contest!

I have made the new flexible material available as a option.

Cheers,

Rob

I am excited about designing with this great new material. I have one request, and I'd like to hear what others think.

It would be great if the material was light gray in color. That would make the grainy appearance of the material less visible, and would prevent it from looking dirty when used for functional items like phone cases (one of the main problems with WSF material). It would also make it clear, in photos of multi-part designs, which material is being used where. Finally, light gray would photograph very well.

Hi Aaron,

The color of the flex material is actually part of its structure, so for now, we can't change the color as it is a coating integral to its properties.

So there is no option to change the color in Flex, sorry about that!

For now, if you are seeking color options you could use WSF in black red or purple, full color sandstone or ceramics.

Best,
Natalia

Thank you for your reply Natalia.

It would be great if Nancy could interact directly since this is her area of expertise.

I assume Shapeways is using 3DSystems Duraform Flex material, infiltrated with Flex Seal 2-part urethane. While it is true that Flex Seal is only available in Black, Red, Yellow, Blue, and Natural White, the spec sheet says they can be mixed to create custom colors. Take a look at the brochure here:
https://www.rpc.msoe.edu/datasheets/sls/Duraform_Flex.pdf

Just to make things super easy for you all I've attached the brochure and a embedded a screenshot with the relevant information.



The material comes in 1kg cans, and I'm sure Shapeways will go through a lot of it if they offer it in a useful color. Simply mixing 3 cans of white with each can of black would give you a material that is actually useful for end-use products.

Just my two cents as one of your customers.

As always, if you want it, add it to feedback and get everyone that feels the same to vote it up. https://feedback.shapeways.com/forums/111989-shapeways-feedba ck

Good call, Mike. I added to the feedback section here:

https://feedback.shapeways.com/forums/111989-shapeways-feedba ck/suggestions/2918769-appropriate-color-for-elasto-material

Hey Aaron!

Natalia is right in that the color adds structural strength to the product, but you are also right that there are other color infiltrants we can use.. possibly even gray.

Currently, though, we are learning a lot from this material but more colors is definitely on the list if we get some other issues solved first. Right now, the design rules are pretty conservative and we are looking at a bunch of designs incoming that unfortunately are too thin to be printed. We're trying to brainstorm some better way to communicate design rules or draw attention to these things so models that gets submitted are printable models.

Open to suggestions!

(then we can get on to more colors)

Thanks, Nancy.

I spoke with you and the whole team about this in January, in great detail. That is an awful long time to be brainstorming. I can help. Send me an email.

AFAIK it's probably ALM's TPE-210 S. Though they're very similar.

Has anybody tried painting this material yet? What is the best paint to use?

Thanks!

Does anyone know how much the DuraDorm Flex Seal infiltrant costs and where or if I can buy it? I searched all over the internet but couldn't find anything...