3D Printing on Fabric (Test Successful)

MorbidCharlie

Sr Member
RPF PREMIUM MEMBER
Cut and paste from my page over at www.facebook.com/chaksproductions:

There's a video that started making the rounds yesterday of someone who 3D printed on fabric and it's got everyone talking. The video doesn't show the "how to" though, just the end result. It's an interesting concept with a lot of potential, so I thought I would give it a go.
First, caveats:
- 3D printers weren't designed for this. You're introducing material that wasn't meant to be there. Do so at your own risk.
- I'm no tailor and know squat about fabrics so I really can't answer any questions about fabrics.
Next, quick lesson on 3D printing to answer any potential questions. This will only work with an FDM printer. FDM printers print objects by adding layers of melted material on top of each other. These layers can be as thin as .1 millimeters. The idea here is to sandwich the fabric between the layers of the print. The fabric HAS to be porous - the material has to make contact with the previous layer to melt the plastic together.
Equipment used:
- Taz 4 upgraded to Taz 5 with E3D toolhead.
- Gizmo Dorks ABS running at a temp of 230 degrees and heated bed at temperature of 105.
- Tulle? I have no idea what the fabric I used was. It was on a spool.
- ABS "slush". ABS plastic melts in acetone. "Slush" is ABS that is melted in acetone and kept as a glue for ABS printing/parts.
- Slicer: Lulzbot Cura edition 2.6.
The objects I printed were scaled down spikes from my Megamind costume printed at "fast" settings. I forgot to check the layer size, but it was probably no more than .14. I let the first three layers print, paused the printer and moved the toolhead out of the way. I applied some slush to a paper towel and lightly applied it to the top of the printed layers until they were sticky and then pushed the tulle down on top of the prints. The reason I did this is, when you're printing at sub-millimeter layers, the fabric is adding another "layer" and I didn't want to risk the toolhead snagging the fabric, plus it gives the fabric some anchor. I resumed the print and it continued without any problems. I didn't complete the print, just enough to give the pieces some size.
Results - theoretically this works and my test was promising. There were three spikes printed on the tulle and they came off the bed without any problems. I did some stress testing and one of the spikes did pull off but the other two are on there pretty solid. Even for pieces that come off, super glue would do the trick. In addition, these pieces are very small as you can see in the picture. Larger pieces mean more surface area for adhesion. I'm going to run a higher quality print tonight with scales that's more showy.
Happy to answer any questions and if you give it a go, good luck and share your results!

27707274_10211430968066011_981591081_o.jpg

I'm going to continue improving the prints and posting results here.

27707274_10211430968066011_981591081_o.jpg
 
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I saw this and then wondered, "Why take the risk of ruining your print/printer?". It would be just as easy to run a print in two pieces and then "slush" them together after the print is done. It might make sense if you are doing a big piece with lots of small intricate details. It does have a lot of promise if the layer issue is well planned out and your design calls for small areas of intricate design.
 
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