4

I need a certain, rather complex shaped, flexible rubber gasket for a Dyson vacuum cleaner. Cutting it by hand would be a pain in the rear. My idea is to 3D-print it on my Ender. And now for my questions. a) Is it a myth, that you cannot use flexible filament I a bowden extruder? b) If no, does anyone of you guys can propose a material, that might be suitable for the above job? Thanks a lot!

top 8 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] StefanT@lemmy.world 3 points 1 year ago

I would rather convert the printer to direct drive first. There are various variations which are not expensive. I went with a cheap BMG extruder clone.

[-] Z_Karma@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I'm going to add, that if you cannot print the gasket, maybe you can print a jig that will make the gasket cutting more accurate. I did something similar with a carpet cleaner where the waste tank gasket was leaking. I printed a jig to allow a hobby knife to trace an outline and not wander.

[-] Ravenlord@lemmy.world 2 points 1 year ago

I have been rather successful with Overture's High Speed TPU. It prints really well with my Bowden tube setup and it has a semi-rigid outer shell that goes away during extrusion. It sounds like exactly what you are looking for.

[-] feinstruktur@lemmy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

I'm at this point not sure how to do it correctly, so I'm giving an individual upvote to every of your comments and leave a separate reply here. Thanks for all of your answer, which are very helpful. I'll give it a try with the materials you've proposed and keep you posted here about the results. Great first impression of this community! 👍

[-] Vashtea@sh.itjust.works 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

Just for a gasket you can probably turn off retraction and print most any tpu if you go slowly. Depending on the shape and thickness it might be stringy but it can probably be trimmed of burned off. Sure direct drive would be better, but for just one flat print that doesn't need to be pretty you probably are fine.

[-] Deletecat@lemmy.fmhy.ml 1 points 1 year ago

You can print TPU using a Bowden setup, though you will have to slow your print down speed and tweak with your retraction settings too. 95A should work, softer TPU may work though I can't really guarantee that

It's easier to print flexibles with a direct drive setup. There are some printable direct drive mods for the ender 3 which others have had success with, may be something to look into!

[-] Gizmotoy 1 points 1 year ago

I have a Bowden printer (Prusa Mini) and regularly print flexible filament. The key is going very (almost painfully) slow. I’ve gotten excellent results.

I used Fillementum Flexfill TPU in both 92A and 98A varieties.

[-] NOPper@lemmy.world 1 points 1 year ago

Keep retraction low and just give it a shot with quality filament! Overture High Speed was referenced earlier here and is a great call.

I have a franken-CR10 V2 that is far from stock but still bowden, and print everything from TPU to ASA to CF Nylon with zero issues. It really comes down to tuning. Direct drive will always have less room to flex of course, but you can definitely get things working with your setup if you take enough time to tweak.

Good luck, and share results here on the community!

this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2023
4 points (100.0% liked)

3DPrinting

15674 readers
36 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: !functionalprint@kbin.social or !functionalprint@fedia.io

There are CAD communities available at: !cad@lemmy.world or !freecad@lemmy.ml

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS