Unicorn Filament? Tullomer from Z-Polymers!

[@daniilbash512]

Hey Joel, great interview! Small thing - the popup you did in the end of the video ( 19:52 ) is wrong, he said fluorine-carbon bonds (PFAS - Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances), not chlorine-carbon bonds

[@3DPrintingNerd]

Thanks for the heads up! Mike also reached out about that. That’s our bad and unfortunately KZbin doesn’t let us correct it in place.

[@lio1234234]

@@3DPrintingNerd Maybe a pinned comment?

[@3DPrintingNerd]

@@lio1234234 sure!

[@nadahere]

@@3DPrintingNerd Your answer to my question 'Can it be machined to a fine finish required for roller bearings?' was pined but I can't see it. Please provide the answer again.

[@Atomidis]

get this to CNC kitchen for testing stat.

[@nicoleibundgut534]

@@kirahund6711 This may be correct but the diy community has it's own feeling for strength with videos from people like stefan. Therefor best comparision for us is to give it to stefan so we can see how it performs.

[@deucedeuce1572]

@@kirahund6711 You trust more what you don't see with your own eyes? I know the tests online aren't always so perfectly scientific, but you may as well be trusting the drug companies whom are all professionals and do their own testing... whom Constantly hide important and ever dangerous (and even lethal) information from their customers. Countless people have died from medications they were told were safe, by side effects and mechanisms of drugs that the companies knew about, but did not warn the customers. (edit: arguments of authority are always a logical fallacy).

[@S....]

@@kirahund6711 I too, always trust big corporations more, than independent testers. My man!

[@kirahund6711]

@@S.... When doing such testing it's important that established, standardized and widely accepted methods are being used, like DIN or ASTM procedures. Otherwise you can't compare the results. I happen to work for a small corporation, I do such testing for a living. We don't cheat and report true results.

[@S....]

@@kirahund6711 You telling me his way of testing are wrong and he can't compare his results?

[@Robothut]

$275.00 for 500 grams. Wow. Sounds like a fantastic material. Hope they can bring the price down to where it can be used by DIYers. Thank you for sharing this information with us.

[@krollmond7544]

I mean that's pretty cheap for an engineering material

[@Splarkszter]

Engineering Material is a Marketing term to gatekeep it from Hobbyists

[@x_ph1l]

Yeah, it'll be for industrial applications at first. Hope that price is from cost of RnD and not cost of producing the material.

[@user-xe2ek1td1x]

That's cheap compared to cncd metal

[@WhatsTheWordBozo]

It is stronger than steel man... I am VERY tempted. It also has low hygroscopy so you dont have to worry much about drying it.

[@pirobot668beta]

Well...I done did a thing and ordered 500 grams...and some glue. Gonna run it through the X1 Carbon, see for myself what all the fuss it about.

[@pirobot668beta]

Oh boy...best results so far are realized using thicker layers and slower walls/infill than the Specs indicate. I am beginning to think that the published Specs are absolute maximum speeds and thinnest possible layers rather than 'typical use' settings. What I am using: 300C hot-end, 120C print bed, +55C chamber, 30mm/sec outer wall, 250-350mm/sec for inner-walls and infill, 0.08mm/layers. Bed adhesion has been the #1 failure, second to that is 'wash-boarding': regular bumps/waves in the top surface of the print. It doesn't happen right away...usually shows up about 1/2 way through the print. The bumps get bad enough you can hear the print-head running into them! Brrt, brrt, brrt... Using 'random' seam placement helps quite a lot...regular seam placement seems to trigger the 'wash-board' formation. More experiments ($5.78 per test print!) are needed. Layer to layer adhesion has been quite poor, somewhat better when printed slower. Despite the fails, I've managed a few bits with truly surprising strength.

[@pirobot668beta]

Me again! More testing...thin (0.05) layers printed slow (150mm/sec) seems to give smoother (but weaker) parts. Printing at faster rates (300-500) produces a 'wash-board' surface...bumps/waves that get bigger the longer the print runs. After a time, you can hear 'brrrt' every time the print-head passes over the bumps! I'm trying everything I can think of on this one, but every advance seems to set me back in another way. Strong parts from a messy print that can't finish? You got it. Weak parts from a clean looking print that finishes? Got that too! $275 for 55 grams sounds like extravagance, but I am having the time of my life! BTW, X1 Carbon, 120C bed, 60C chamber, 300C nozzle for all tests.

[@deucedeuce1572]

@@pirobot668beta lol. Appreciate the info and testing. I couldn't afford it myself, so I appreciate people that can, so the manufacturing increases, the R&D is progressed and the prices come down for everyone in the future. It just sucks though that you have to spend so much just to fail though... having to spend all your time trying to figure it out rather than printing actually useable parts. I'd be pissed if I spent that much only to have even a single part fail. I'd also hate to have to print parts with a lot of supports. One part could end up wasting like $20 or more in supports alone (assuming you can even print with supports). If I ever bought this I'd probably have to buy a dual printer, so I could print supports in another material.

[@pirobot668beta]

@@deucedeuce1572 Turns out the material has very little layer-to-layer strength...I can print a metal-stiff bar outta the material, but a slight twist is all it takes to 'delaminate' the part. It's a know issue with the material, verified by manufacturer. Printing much hotter (325-340C nozzle, 180C print-bed, 120C chamber) is supposed to give stronger parts...all I have is my X1 Carbon... If printed in the right orientation, the stuff is amazing. Wait for Tullomer II...

[@kingmasterlord]

you should definitely drop a video on this, id watch and ive already subscribed

[@BeardedPrinter]

This is fantastic! People pushing bounds in the 3D printing industry need more exposure like this! Excellent content!

[@KJ-xt3yu]

half the weight of aluminum, rf passthrough, acts like kevlar 😮😮😮😮😮😮....welp there goes the whole market, this is going to get huuuuugee..... mass produce the matterial

[@KJ-xt3yu]

the older gent went into a deep deeeeep dive into material science for this and i love every min. of it 😮 "change the world matterial" is f-ing right

[@richkaiser9453]

this is the most advanced filament to come along in years, this could be the best filament made for years to come

[@justinchamberlin4195]

Although I'm a metallurgist by trade, I studied enough polymer science in high school and college to really appreciate how novel this material is...definitely a game-changer if it can be widely adopted enough to get the price down.

[@deucedeuce1572]

For real. $500 for 1kg seems like extortion. I don't care how good it is. It has its pros and cons and I have trouble believing that it costs anywhere even remotely near that to produce. The good news though is that there are good people with money that will buy it and fuel the manufacturing and research, so the rest of us can buy it (or maybe even something better) for a fair price in the future. It's just messed up that people in government want to ban 3d printing. They're so evil and don't realize the harm they would cause if they ever succeeded. I think that would be one of the cases in which nobody would obey though... but living in a nation of cowards, we just never know.

[@justinchamberlin4195]

⁠​⁠@@deucedeuce1572Complex, high-end polymers often are challenging to make, with difficult or low-yield intermediate steps that add time and energy and effort to the process. You are hopefully right that an economy of scale can get going before too long, to make this accessible to hobbyists as well as industrial applications. As for the government, they’re going to try to do what governments do: get in peoples’ way, make things unnecessarily expensive, and probably end up using someone’s dog for target practice. But trying to ban or restrict 3D printers will be as successful as a screen door on a submarine, even if we have to neck down 3 mm nylon string trimmer line to 1.75 mm.

[@justanothercomment416]

@@deucedeuce1572 New materials are always expensive. Plus they are targeting engineering materials which are always very expensive fro a DIY'ers perspective.

[@kykyryky5013]

I think there will be soon fight robot chasis by Maker's Muse made of this material.

[@KarrMcDebt]

Costing $275 for 500g, I bet there won't be.

[@Eric_Wolfe-Schulte]

at 5% elongation at break, I don't think this would be a good choice for a combat robot.

[@paulroberto2286]

​@@Eric_Wolfe-Schulte tbf, TPU has been used for ant-weight robots a lot. And with TPU, there's significant elongation as well

[@Brainstormer_Industires]

@@paulroberto2286 That's the point. 5% elongation at failure is very brittle for a combat robot. Materials like nylon could be 20% or more, and TPU even more. While strong, this would be way more prone to cracking. Rubbery things aren't stiff, but they are phenomenal at absorbing energy without breaking.

[@paulroberto2286]

@@Brainstormer_Industires my bad!

[@Yvounet2]

We started printing Tullomer last week for projects requiring ultra low degasing parts (for ultra high vacuum chambers). Thanks for the video, it is very clearly explained.

[@L0Sinc]

Can i get Tullomer with Glitter for my Voron build.

[@MirageDU]

Seems like a very interesting material. I look forward into someone test this out, like Stefan from CNC Kitchen or Igor from My Tech Fun. But as long as the price per kg is that high, it doesn't realy matter if it is printible on consumer mashines as barely any consumer will buy it. It is probably nice for the ones who actively work with 3d printed parts though.

[@MyTechFun]

@MirateDU thank you for the trust. I contacted them, but no reply so far.

[@UncleRayRayGarageEmporium]

Mr Z is just standing there, nonchalantly explaining what could be a manfacturing evolution. I hope he (we) is successful and makes a shit ton of money as he helps the world!

[@alandeutsch9987]

This is his fourth startup and I think he already made quite a lot from selling his previous ones

[@deucedeuce1572]

...and imagine if the government was successful in banning 3d printers. I can only imagine how that would just absolutely destroy the future of manufacturing technology and especially the Freedom for people to print their own parts/inventions. Every time government bans something, they cause some kind of damage, somewhere somehow. I truly don't ever recall the Founding Fathers ever giving government the power to ban inanimate objects... and very much recall the Bill of Rights banning government (at least the federal government) from giving themselves more powers like that.

[@paulcrabb7167]

It is without doubt the most interesting 3D printing material I have ever seen, effectively being able to print Kevlar structures is likely to be welcomed with open arms by aerospace and defence industries.

[@mathiaschaves7604]

@@paulcrabb7167 is this kevlar?

[@paulcrabb7167]

@@mathiaschaves7604 Sort of - they have taken the "backbone of kevlar" see video around 7:36

[@atommeyer2226]

"i tings like an organic crystal" this guy awesome :D 14:07

[@peachmunich]

@@atommeyer2226 I also had to laugh hard 😂

[@therick0996]

Im glad you coordinated and both wore High Five Blue shirts

[@ctphilippi]

The TDS on the website shows 250 MPA UTS, while in the video 500 MPA is mentioned. That is a huge difference, why is that?

[@alandeutsch9987]

I have the same question. I'll ask him

[@deucedeuce1572]

@@alandeutsch9987 Cool. Thanks. Let us know if you ever get an answer.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

The TDS shows the lower range that this material is capable of printing at. Users should be able to achieve that, if not more, easily. The data on the chart is measured results from printing on a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon that we have achieved consistently. Higher strengths are possible too. The material is very process dependent so on the TDS we only wanted to show the lower range of its strength.

[@Doogleraia]

One thing I would love to test it for, is belt-printers and effectivize a serial production for the material, while utilizing it's inherent properties to make some of the stronger "print in-mid-air" creations out there. Would be fantastic as a replacement material for PC-ABS constructions for automotive uses.

[@JinKee]

I want to use it on a belt printer to print an all-in-one functional cutting longsword

[@JinKee]

Do you remember the “arc overhangs” video from a couple of years ago? Tullomer with arc overhangs in the slicer could make some pretty wild shapes

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Love to see those tests too, it has not been tested on belt printers yet.

[@SeattleShelby]

I can’t wait for the patent to run out on this in 20 years so I can afford it.

[@polycrystallinecandy]

Bro looks and sounds like he just had a 26 hour work day 💀

[@haydenc2742]

Dude has a masters and PHD....the "humor" has been beaten out of him...he only seemed to "liven" up when he as talking nerd speak...

[@protogenius]

I would definately love to see an replica strativarius violin out of this stuff, because it behaves much more like wood than other filaments, which could give great resonance. It could possibly achieve the higher register sound that's usually missing with other 3d printed violins. I would love to see how close the sound would be to a real strat since it can be made in one piece without seams.

[@aleksj8963]

Hey Joel, a fellow engineer here. This is the first video I have seen on your channel and you reignited a spark inside me to pursue my ambition in material science. To say this material can change the world is an understatement. I hope to learn more on this and looking forward to working alongside people like Mike and perhaps live out a similar, but unique experience just like Mike has!

[@orphax1925]

what is the ratio between layer adhesion and XY ultimate strenght ?

[@mikepedersen2420]

1 point 5

[@Z-PolymersInc]

We are still working on layer adhesion but by nature the material is anisotropic.

[@jrhees123]

I imagine to truly exploit the stiffness and strength properties of this polymer, you would need to push more 'material science' awareness up to the slicer, since toolpaths and speed play a critical role. I suspect this will be a future trend. For example, allowing the user to give cues to the slicer about different structural elements and requirements of their part and allow the slicer to create suitable paths. This would be especially important if in the future we're talking about 3d paths (rather than strict layering). Perhaps a collaboration with slicer devs would pay dividends here.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Yes I do believe there are many updates and "material science awareness" that could be built into the slicer that would benefit our material as well as others. This includes smarter toolpaths, simulation of the dispersion of heat of the part and temperature of the previous layer (some industrial ones already do this), and better control of flow and maintaining a more consistent viscosity.

[@timcahoon4911]

Very interesting material and presentation. You’re a great interviewer Joel. You kept the discussion going and interesting.

[@jimbit22]

It seems like it is behaving like a thermoset material with a temperature based initiator and they are using the low layer height to help layer adhesion.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

It is a proprietary thermoplastic and a pure polymer. There are no initiators in the material.

[@anthonyanglim7147]

Great Unveiling! I've seen someone Testing Carabiners with different 3d print materials for strength in order to test the strength of the materials, Obviously not many were viable to be used. But Now that this Rivals Kevlar, I think it would be worth Investigating. R/C Car Parts Propellers (boat, plane, drone) Obviously, there are so many possibilities, without even getting into the Need for Chemical Resistance. Just Awesome Guys, Thank you!

[@HeyV63]

I guarantee someone is gonna print bulletproof plates for vests with Tullomer. Also that stuff seems a bit more finicky to print than they let on, but it's absolutely a struck of genius! Well done sir!

[@jjw5165]

Maby mesh of this filled with the plastic they use in milk jugs, with inbeaded ceramic scales.

[@14supersonic]

This is actually one of the first things that came to mind, but I have a unique twist to add. A technique that I learned more about a couple weeks ago that would make material like this much more efficient to this specific task. Making it able to stop even high caliber rounds and taking multiple hits at that.

[@saltysteel3996]

If it was under 100 bucks per roll then I'd be all over it. Fantastic material.

[@peterpizzurro]

@@saltysteel3996 Make your own super-filament and problem solved.

[@RuntOfTheLitter6]

This guy is an absolute genius. Materials are his superpower. Getting it to work is the hardest step. Refining and lowering cost is child's play after that.

[@JonS]

Very interesting material. Can it be injection molded? With the crystals aligned in to layer plane after printing, what’s the inter-layer adhesion like?

[@yftj4474]

Seems like the extrusion and acceleration of the print head causes the filament to make microstrings that increases interpolymer strength? It may be exclusive to fdm or similar processes. Would be interesting to know for sure.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

We are developing a version for Injection Molding - stay tuned

[@yftj4474]

@@Z-PolymersInc could you comment on the layer adhesion strength? Is this material isotropic after annealing?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

@@yftj4474 The material is not isotropic. We have not done extensive testing with annealing since the part is already crystaline after the print, so it is not necessary to achieve crystallinity through annealing like you have to do with PEEK. Layer adhesion is something we are still working on improving.

[@AndrewSink]

Fascinating! I really think materials and software are the two areas of improvement for the desktop 3D printer industry, and this is a step in the right direction!

[@JazAero]

I just hope they stay the course and not allow themselves to be purchased or bought out by a larger company because then this product will go away completely and we will never see it again.

[@murc111]

OR they get bought out by a large company that has deep enough pockets to massively scale up his operation, bringing the price down 10x.

[@alandeutsch9987]

what's the point of buying a company if you don't even end up using the product the company makes?

[@happninmojo]

​@@alandeutsch9987 because the big company who wants to buy the new company has a current product that makes them a lot of money, so they buy it to basically hold it on the shelf (or mothball it completely). It happens irl, just recently with the SLS printer company bought by Form Labs.

[@JazAero]

@@alandeutsch9987companies all too often purchase patents and products in order to suppress them. because it's easier and more profitable than bringing them to market to compete with their own higher profit margin products in the same genre. even if those products that they currently produce are of a lesser grade but sell at a higher margin. it's all about the profit margins. That's why I fear for this product.

[@michaels3003]

​@@alandeutsch9987, remove competition for the other products.

[@jcugnoni]

This is great to see this tech becoming available. I have seen several research work on Liquid Crystal Polymer 3D printing a few year back that showed the great potential of such materials (I guess Tullomer is a kind of LCP or similar). But I also remember that printed LCP could show very different properties 'in plane' and 'out of plane' depending on print speed, nozzle size and temperature (including cooling). I am looking forward seeing more on the subject and maybe trying this material in research project...

[@Br1ckInTh3W4LL]

i hope it can replace goretex, get rid of forever-chemicals in my outdoor gear.

[@Repkord]

I don't think I truly appreciated how strong Joel is until I appreciated how strong Tullomer is. 💪

[@samsongihoul3298]

I wonder if those polymer woven sheets could be used to replace fiberglass sheets in resin applications, like a kayak body or a car body

[@Devon7839]

This material might just be perfect for say the navy being able to quickly print off functional parts for ships while embarked. I know they already are in maintenance facilities on land, including metal 3d printing, but I think this could be perfect to keep a ship in the box longer before needing to return for maintenance and repairs.

[@siberia21]

This is unbelievable! Wow, it must be revolutionary for the industry!

[@stevendunn264]

Look at Aptera. Currently using carbon fiber. They are molded parts. Can we use Tullomer

[@3DprintRV]

An excellent video, thank you! This material is a game changer!

[@niccorichardson4695]

I love this !!! Working on my idea now thank you

[@TheLamingtonDrive]

Suggestion.. Air ship and flying car production.. especially airships as the inflatable cell can also be lined with the fabrics.. plus it’s so light. Totally nerded out and loving it!

[@Brandon_Makes_Stuff]

I'm excited for 3D Printing a decade from now. This material is incredible. I wonder how comparable to UHMWPE it is in terms of ballistic protection? 🤔

[@calilifestyle]

We haven't been able to correctly print this is seems it doesn't like to stick to itself

[@miestermind]

Bell Labs was NO JOKE.... and we have nothing else like it on the planet anymore. an RnD house of brilliance all in one location with at the time "unlimited budget" essentially. This is exciting.

[@michaelschecker2716]

at the moment i do not beleave this filament to buy it. How about layer adhesion and XY ultimate strenght. Up to what temperature parts can be mechanicaly stressed

[@jmo2321]

Missing a bit of info he didn’t talk about. XY vs Z strength and modulus, chemical/UV resistance, and most importantly the impact resistance. Could be an interesting material for certain applications.

[@3dprintedhardware]

I'm going to have to try this stuff on a few of our 3d printable wrenches and sockets after our torque test rig is set up. I'll make a video of it when I test it.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Thanks for the interest! We are excited to see the video, please tag us. Also feel free to reach out to use if you need any assistance with the material.

[@velvia7880]

Now combine it with brick layering extrusion.

[@3DPrintingNerd]

Was thinking the same thing!

[@electricalychalanged4911]

propably not. this is not thermoplastik but a duromer that you are making in the process. lines next to eachother need to be printed without a long delay I think otherwise they will not adhere propably to eachother

[@Z-PolymersInc]

@@electricalychalanged4911 Tullomer is a thermoplastic thus why you can melt it through a nozzle, remelt it, and recycle it.

[@electricalychalanged4911]

@@3DPrintingNerd I was wrong. There is no crosslinking involved. I did mishear when he was talking aboul molecule alignement. It actually is a thmoplastik. So Brick layering might be a thing

[@BryanKerr1]

I'm assuming you can print a bulletproof vest then

[@dtibor5903]

And the gun too

[@XwingFPV-b5v]

I would be very interested to test this material on stressed skin quadcopter frames. How is the layer adhesion strength and impact strength?

[@countk1]

Interesting.... My approach was always to print at a lower height but way faster for several reasons (mechanical properties, esthetics,...) Very interested in this material for the same reasons. 30GPa isn't bad at all for a plastic. 500MPa tensile strength impresses me even more. Curious what the other properties are. The material "not doing ting" has to do with damping, not frequency btw (Young's modulus is related to the material's own frequency or natural resonance).

[@SippoCoffee]

If toolchangers are the new thing in FDM printing (heard bambu is also working on one), than this might be an interesting material for that. Let's say a shuttle is like 20g'ish (ABS) but has complex geometry as those things tend to do and you want it to be as stiff as possible, your only options are going to be slm aluminium (as steel is too heavy) or smth like peek (which you can't print on a desktop printer). This would cost like 10$ out of Tullomer (20g/500g * 250$), while it would be more like 50$ out of aluminium (in my country at least). Only question: What would you do with the other 480g Tullomer? So I'm getting interessted after there are 100g or at least 250g spools

[@erickvond6825]

Because of it's similarity in strength I wonder how this would stack up to Kevlar for bullet proof vests. It's already being woven into textiles so I don't think that's too much of a stretch, no pun intended.

[@Theprofessor1212]

Statasys will get even more jealous now and double down on their lawsuits so normal printers cannot print high performance materials like these. Awesome work guys. I will definitely be picking this up.

[@JKSSubstandard]

I had actually done some research on this a few months ago for using with my combat robot project and ended up getting a sample print. While the materials failure modes arent necessarily condusive to the high energy impacts of the sport, I was actually looking into this for fighting flame thrower based robots. Those robots have far less kinetic energy, and the temperature resistance and self extinguishing characteristics seem like they wouild be a great combination with its natural strength. I know someone else had commented about its ability to take impact. Id love to test that too, just to see what the failure mode actually looks like

[@tylerteasley6781]

I have a couple or designs that I would like to test this material on, really need the strength.

[@StuartCullen]

"It tings like an organic crystal." 😎

[@Narinjas]

Why not name it UNICRON/FF1 (Filament Formula 1)

[@AlJay0032]

What about UV? What does it do in marine environments?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

It has pretty good UV resistance. Tullomer will hold up better than most 3D printing polymers like PLA, ABS, PETG, and Nylon. With its low out gassing, high chemical resistance, and low water absorption/high water barrier, it is a great polymer for marine environments.

[@aussieausbourne1]

Sounds like a good material to print replacement body parts for cars

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

A electric VLTO place would be interesting out of this material. You coukd really get the weight out of the air frame.

[@coronapack]

Wow. This matl' would be wonderful for wooden boat building. Imagine a 3d printer big enough to print out whole ribs to shape, or planks to shape! Wouldn't need lumber anymore for hull building.

[@aerospacengineer1]

I would be curious to know what the interlaminar properties are of the material? Basically what is layer adhesion strength compared to the in plane strength? I am guessing that it is more typical in the 4-8ksi range.

[@peta1001]

Thanks for another one of your great 3D printing videos. What is the inter-layer adhesion like (unless I missed it when watching)?

[@GhVost]

Impact strength? I did not find anything from manufacturer

[@Z-PolymersInc]

This has not been measured yet, but we believe it will not be as good as Polycarbonate or ABS. We have had some users print with it and get some very strong parts though that they have hit with a hammer, and it survived the hits.

[@Thor_Asgard_]

The real question is, how good is the layer adhesion.

[@lureup9973]

I had to dig to find this comment, I hope they answer

[@RoBoT24435]

It's not amazing, I do think if you have a more capable machine you could get it better. (printing it on a modified X1C)

[@lureup9973]

@@RoBoT24435 modified in what way?….please

[@RoBoT24435]

@@lureup9973 320c hotend, 140c bed, active chamber heater to get around 60c ambient temperature.

[@FrozenByFire3]

The layer adhesion gets much better on higher end machines. If you actually look at the datasheet, they recommend 350+C nozzle and 90+C heated chamber.

[@DanFrederiksen]

Very interesting. Maybe spool a pressure tank like they do with carbon fiber. If it's actually good you could make a pressurized aircraft with it. 500MPa at 1.4g/cm3 is significantly higher tensile strength per weight than titanium so that's semi crazy pants.

[@sarchlalaith8836]

Well... Can you have tullomer on frying pans?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Potentially

[@WindCatcherRC]

I am seriously interested in this and looking into buying a spool or two for testing. I plan to make parts for R&D and possibly manufacturing for RC planes and our kits we will soon be coming out with. We have an X1C which sounds like it would be perfect for this material. Thanks for another awesome video and informing us of new stuff.

[@TS_Mind_Swept]

11:52 "Underestimating the sneakiness" SuperVinlin

[@yftj4474]

Is strength isotropic?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

No by nature it is an anisotropic material.

[@LABEILLNOIR]

Hello, would it be possible to employ it in the medical field, such as prosthetics?

[@pekhotinyets]

I print custom parts in my lab, and having something chemically resistant like ptfe would be huge

[@nlkatz]

Very impressive material. Couple of points: 1. Notably missing is mention of layer adhesion/Z-axis strength. 2. As stiff as it is, are there issues with bending it around standard size spools, and making its way to the extruder?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

1. Still working on getting layer adhesion numbers and improving that strength 2. No issue with bending around spools or through PTFE tubing. The filament extrusion process is done in such a way that it can handle a decent bend radius.

[@rcmaniac25]

Glad to see more info on this. When this first came up, it sounded like a miracle material and all I kept wondering was "what's the catch?". The impressive thing is the big catch seems to be the price, but I don't think people realize that the goal wasn't to make a consumer material... it was to make a professional material that could be printed on consumer printers (or that's how I heard it). So that price is pretty on point. The curious thing for me is the discussion says "prints at 300C and very fast", the sales page says that's the minimum and it recommends 325C and 500mm/s or more. As I don't know any profession machines that print at those speeds, and nearly every consumer printer tops at 300C-ish. It makes me wonder if the "high speed to essentially create those fibers" is really more "the printer is trying to extrude but it's getting very wispy and stringy" and that the real thing is finding the balance between "hot enough to get proper layer adhesion" and "printing just past the point of proper flow rate to produce the strings". Essentially, bad printing artifacts becomes a feature. If I get a bonus, maybe I'll get a spool and try on my MK4S or XL. By the time I come up with an idea for the contest, the contest will probably be over.

[@joshuamaserow]

@@rcmaniac25 Creality K2 can print at 350C

[@awildridehome9469]

The Qidi Q1 is 399$, with a toolhead that can do 350C, and a 120C bed, with a 60C chamber heater. Yes, the printer is basically the same price as the filament.

[@scottmcelhiney323]

I'd love to see this used to print a velomobile body shell... maybe integrate suspension into it.

[@ShadowOfADaemon]

Question??? the TDS from Z-polymers states a 250 Mpa for tensile strength but at 14:45 in the video it shows 500 Mpa, why is there a difference?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

The TDS shows the lower range that this material is capable of printing at. Users should be able to achieve that, if not more, easily. The data on the chart is measured results from printing on a Bambu Lab X1 Carbon that we have achieved consistently. Higher strengths are possible too. The material is very process dependent so on the TDS we only wanted to show the lower range of its strength.

[@Syscrush]

Any word on operating temperatures? I'm also interested in resistance to gasoline and ethanol (which is hygroscopic and may contain water absorbed from the air).

[@Z-PolymersInc]

The material does not have a hard glass transition temperature. It start to soften at 180C-200C so up to 200C would be around it's max operating temperature. It has excellent resistance to gasoline and ethanol. It's water barrier is also very high and absorbs very little moisture.

[@Syscrush]

I'm in the planning/design stage of custom throttle bodies to convert a vintage motorcycle from carburetor to EFI. This filament looks like a great contender.

[@bobbyross3524]

0:16 I would tell you your wrong. I’ve beta tested this product prior to their active release and I promise you printing this on a Bambu printer is not enough. This product has trash layer adhesion at temps less than 340c. Printing at the speeds they are suggesting and the low temps your limited to within a Bambu is doing less than the bare minimum. I have had better experience with ppa-cf for strength. DO NOT BE FOOLED AND WASTE YOUR MONEY ON THIS OVER PRICES MIS ADVERTISED PRODUCT

[@TheSunChaserUS]

A Qidi might be able to print it at its limits, with the new 350c nozzle and heated chamber

[@bobbyross3524]

@ it’s just crazy, it’s not a bad filament, and it is capable of alot but they can’t get people at home with their bambus saving up to buy this stuff with the idea that it is going to compete. Also people think filled nylons and ppa are expensive wait till they see this stuff, the price point they’re asking for it is wild.

[@dadsrock4252]

Ultem plastic is very deadly when it burns we did a lot of testing for boaing back in the 80ies.

[@ctphilippi]

I am not a material specialist, but it sounds a bit like the LCP materials (Liquid Crystal Polymers) we know from injection molding. Is this similar to what Nematx is doing? They are doing filament printing with LCP, but I think that requires a special printer in their case (not sure)

[@BigInjun05]

If it wasn't for men who obsess over one thing. We wouldn't be where we are today. This man lives and breathes polymers and he loves it. I have to test for pfoa pfos in water systems and its nice to see something made that wont cause health issues. Genuinely an awesome guy and product.

[@gordon1201]

The guy worked for Bell Labs.. hes a badass

[@Liberty4Ever]

14:20 - Comparing the physical properties to Kevlar, I thought, "Now I can 3D print a bullet resistant vest!" Mike Zimmerman is to polymer who Hank Rearden is to metal.

[@videodude8137]

Basically it is a very cool new material.

[@MattSnader]

I would love to 3d print some halibut fishing tackle with this stuff...

[@3DPrintingNerd]

Send them a note on this!

[@andyvonbourske6405]

i tried .01% of homemade graphene in my epoxy to see if i could notice a difference in stiffness and was completely blown away . i was sure i measured something wrong because it was so strong i couldn't bend it at all . i tried a second one and got the same result . my next step is to rig a car jack and a scale together so i can get some measurements.

[@ghostshadow1]

I can't wait and hope there's a day where it's semi-affordable once it gets developed and manufactured more.. Super exciting stuff for sure! I definitely would love to use it to make fixtures and jigs in my workshop. I wonder if it can be pigmented or if the pigmentation would alter the crystalline structures bonding or possibly cause any weaknesses in the material by pigmentation it?

[@tenchuu007]

Unfortunately I don't have the skills to pull this off but I would love to see this used to make an RC plane. Maybe @RCtestflight

[@BrickEngines]

14:22 what about heat deflection temp? And tensile Z?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

We have not done any ISO or ASTM deflection tests but the material starts to soften around 180C-200C, it has no hard glass transition temperature. Still working on Z tensile strength.

[@kelicomfg]

Would love to try this for RC car parts.. My sons traxxas cars are taking a beating and I already print parts for him… with this product, maybe they’d last a little longer. Or the R&D I do for camera related parts in our local film industry… OR. At our special effects shop for miscellaneous parts we make for shows

[@ExtantFrodo2]

Is there any data on which kinds of filaments to best used for supports?

[@NiclasGudmundsson]

I can see this to be used in molds for different kind of polymer manufacturing, like carbonfiber and soo on. Today that industry is using either steel, aluminium or carbonfiber molds that is hard to work on and weight a ton and is extremely expensive to make. The time to mill and polish a mold is not heap. If this material is quite easy to sand and can get a good surface it can be a good substitute for some.

[@Z-PolymersInc]

That's an interesting application. It can be sanded to down to a decent finish, think of it like sanding wood.

[@NiclasGudmundsson]

@@Z-PolymersInc That is really interesting actually. if you can get a decent finish on it after sanding I think that can make moldmaking for composites alot faster, even if your material is expensive for a big mold, but so is man hours to make a glassfiber mold and dont even start to talk about milling aluminiun molds. If the ridgidity is fine in the material and you can withstand somewhat of 100-130 C in temp it can be used with prepreg materials too.

[@branor04]

14:20 worth noting that they didn't test the other materials, but went with their data sheets.

[@mrrooter601]

After seeing print in place scale-mail, and the variety of printed cosmetic armors .I have always been interested in the idea of printing functional custom fitting body armor, I never really looked at materials I could not even print but this is totally on my radar now. After seeing a video by Crash Makerspace using 3d lattices to stop a 22lr bullet with a 20mm cube, and that was just with standard clear resin. I really want to see how this would hold up to cutting tests especially. imagine being able to print form fitted anti stab armor at home even something like scale mail. If this is really as strong as it looks I think printed armor could totally be a thing at least for cutting. I think its still a little too much for myself personally to try yet, but I will be keeping an eye. This is the kind of advancement 3d printing needs, I hope this can be profitable and the price can come down in the future.

[@christianlainesse4281]

Looking at the models shown in this video, I'm not sure that print-in-place armor can be done. All the pieces were printed flat on the build plate such that they didn't require supports. Maybe separately printed armor pieces that can be snapped together?

[@mrrooter601]

@@christianlainesse4281 honestly I wouldnt even be dead set on something like PIP scale, thats just what gave me the idea. crash makerspace stopping bullets with PLA was far more interesting to me. even being able to print something like custom fitted plates would be amazing for ergonomics. body armor is pretty limited in terms of sizes and dimensions (though I guess bed size is also a limitation). if you were going to make real body armor you would probably want to add some sort of coating after anyways, either anti spalling or something to catch shrapnel on the back size, which could be used to connect multiple pieces. really considering the price, going for anti stab is probably a more viable route, assuming this is even fit for the purpose. If it was effective it would be a great way to give people the freedom to have armor in places that do not allow it. its just plastic :^)

[@davidham1338]

can it be painted, can it be fiberglassed around the part to make a mold?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Fibers are being worked on to potentially be used like fiberglass or carbon fiber wrap.

[@stevensy3435]

Does this mean that tullomer don’t have any microscopic shards like the ones from carbon fiber/glass fiber filled fillament?

[@3DPrintingNerd]

That is correct - there aren’t any additives such as carbon fiber or glass fiber.

[@notsure5676]

Great job Joel, I didn't get to meet you the day you were filming. I've been working with Mike at many startups, this is no joke!

[@JinKee]

Do you get stronger stiffness when embedding continuous strand Kevlar into Tullomer? Or is that just adding no additional stiffness?

[@Z-PolymersInc]

Considering we get around the same stiffness as a continuous fiber Kevlar inlay, it would not add any additional stiffness.