printing polycarbonate

[teresa h]

Has anyone tried to print polycarbonate filament on the Makergear M2?  My workplace recently bought a Makergear and PC has the specs we need for a particular application.  But If there is any postings on it with the Makergear I have not found it.  Will the M2 need any extruder head mods to print PC?

thanks in advance

[Bryan Boettcher]

You need the all metal v4 hotend, full stop. No other mods should be required.

On Sep 27, 2014 11:12 AM, "teresa h" <ter...@charter.net> wrote:

Has anyone tried to print polycarbonate filament on the Makergear M2?  My workplace recently bought a Makergear and PC has the specs we need for a particular application.  But If there is any postings on it with the Makergear I have not found it.  Will the M2 need any extruder head mods to print PC?

thanks in advance

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[teresa h]

Thanks Bryan.  Appreciate your advise.

[jimc]

even with a v4 your only going to print tiny items in it. it curls and warps really bad. look at colorfabb xt. it is petg and has properties very similar to acrylic/polycarb when its done plus its very easy to print with. layer bonding is the best of any filament i have every used.

[teresa h]

I looked at the PETG and unfortunately it has a lower glass transition temp than ABS so I dont think it will work in our application.  Since under operating conditions, the ABS will warp due to the temperature conditions under which the part is subjected.  Polycarbonate has a really high transition temp and think it might work for our application if I can get it to print.  Are these folks just lucky that they are getting it to print or just patience of Job? http://www.protoparadigm.com/news-updates/printing-polycarbonate/

[Bryan Boettcher]

It's because they're printing a piece with a small cross section. Polycarbonate does like to warp and not stick at the same time.

That said, it's not a terribly expensive test relative to your other options for materials that hot, try it out?

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[jimc]

exactly! look at what they are printing and how big it is. they are printing it on its end. 

[jimc]

also that blog post was back in 2011. did you notice how much polycarb proto is selling now......none! they never did make it available either.

[Bryan Boettcher]

UltiMachine sells it.

On Oct 1, 2014 6:44 PM, "jimc" <xtremekr...@gmail.com> wrote:

also that blog post was back in 2011. did you notice how much polycarb proto is selling now......none! they never did make it available either.

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[teresa h]

I agree...we will definitely give it a try.  Just trying to get my story straight before i say "I think we need this and I think this is what we can expect".  Corps can get pretty fussy about a few bucks...

[Bryan Boettcher]

I'm supposed to be playing with polycarbonate here in the near future anyway.  I can find out what it needs to stick, although I don't have any timeline.

[teresa h]

the airwolf 3d advertises that it is optimized for polycarbonate and nylon out of box...but I havent seen any reviews on how well that is working.

and well, i have a makergear (not an airwolf) which I am quite happy with so far (only had it about 6 weeks).  M2 is a pretty fun machine.

[jimc]

concerning the airwolf, they just claim that because it has an all metal hot end. other than that there is no difference between that machine and any other. its all just marketing crap they throw in there to make you think its somehow revolutionary. i have an e3d hot end on my m2 and its just as polycarbonate optimized as the airwolf lol.

[teresa h]

That is sort of what I figured might be the case with airwolf...nice to get a reality check. lol