Indestructible, lightweight 3D prints with TPU - What you need to know!

[@thingswelike]

It adds such a great dimension to your reviews when you actually make mission-critical functional parts like this. So many channels just print other people's designs and trinkets. Love it!

[@robertojofre15]

exactly or they only download stuff right from thingiverse. the knowledge from designing and 3d modeling gives this channel a whole another level.

[@GumusZee]

There absolutely is a setting to disable the "purple line" - it's called `Minimum shell thickness`. You see, this settings is to ensure a shell thickness in places like overhangs, where it's not printing top or bottom layers. You've got it set to .5mm on bottom, so that means the vertical cross-section thickness has to be .5mm *anywhere in the object*. And since you're printing with a .2mm layer height, an overhang that's just two overlapping layers is not thick enough for the vertical cross-section to pass the limit, so it adds a layer of infill (seen in purple) on top of those to make the shell thick enough. TL;DR: Set the minimum shell thickness to 0 to get rid of the purple infill

[@MakersMuse]

It doesn't get rid of it, it's unticked and I've changed that number to 0 in the past with the same result. EDIT: Seems tied to bottom solid layers somehow. Changing from 4 to 2 bottom solid layers removes it entirely, very odd.

[@GumusZee]

​@@MakersMuse The vertical thickness has to be greater than a maximum of (layer height * solid layer count) and the shell thickness number. If you have 4 solid layers at .2mm, the shell will have to be at last .8mm thick everywhere, regardless of the number below it. If you increase the number, you can "bypass" the implicit thickness, but only to make it even larger, not smaller.

[@MakersMuse]

@@GumusZee hmm interesting cheers, I'll have a play. Modifiers can get rid of it, but that's annoying.

[@hd-be7di]

@@MakersMuse The slicer doesn't really know where the "bottom" of any object is. I print stuff at 45 degree angles with supports like resin printing and it puts extra purple lines everywhere on the walls.

[@dr_fish]

Thanks for this, I was going to post something similar after doubled checking what I had done before, but it DOES seem to behave differently than it did a release or two back. Still, this is the setting to accomplish it with, even if it takes a little extra fiddling now for some reason.

[@miraclo3]

You have no idea how perfectly timed this video is. I’m literally in the middle of development of my own 1lb combat robot and I am having struggles with TPU. I was just looking at videos only a couple hours ago and then I just saw this. Thank you so much!!

[@MyMGBJourney]

Would you consider doing a comparison between TPU and new Flexible PLA (FPLA) options from companies like Ataraxia and Flashforge? I'm super curious!

[@ratchetdnb9554]

just started printing TPU on my Aquila 2 with direct extruder and it works like a charm, even with more faster settings i get really great results and im just amazed with the material, so much possibilities

[@colbylippincott7173]

If you have a multi-material printer, you can even print the infill and inner walls with something like carbon fiber PET, and the outside walls with TPU. That way you get both stiffness and protection on the outside. And if the inner part breaks, the tpu still holds it together. I did this with some snap fit parts for a wooden board game box. It was flexible enough in the detailed areas so it could snap onto the wood tabs, and then stiff enough to hold its shape.

[@mukeim]

What printer can multi material print

[@colbylippincott7173]

@@mukeim I use the Tenlog TL-D3 which has 2 tool heads. Works well, but there are probably better printers now.

[@zviratko]

15:05 you absolutely *can* use 0.3mm lines with a 0.4mm nozzle. It won't always work 100%, but especially for things like bottom or top layers where you want every gap filled or a nice concentric pattern it absolutely does work and I'm using it. I think it will work for many many geometries if you forgive an inexact start and stop of a line (though it wasn't much of a problem when I was looking at it, depending on the condition of your nozzle and the material you are using).

[@bzqp2]

Yep. I regularly print 0,3mm lines with a 0,5mm nozzle. Works very well and gives me a ton of extra precision.

[@nunovicente34]

For sure, i have 0.6 nozzles on all my printers and print perimeters/top layers with 0.55 width and the rest with 0.6

[@marcobassini3576]

I regularly print the infill with 0.32 mm line thickness (80% of 0.4mm nozzle). This will keep the infill spacing to a minimum (for any given infill density), so that the external walls and top layers are better supported and more resilient to punching.

[@dchurch911]

Thank you Angus! This video was a great help for a current project of mine that required supported TPU. I followed your support concept by creating a 5 layer raft along with a dense support interface. The result was easy to grip and peeled off "like Velcro". The support was for a 1:16 scale TPU automobile tire(s) that needed realistic surfaces on all faces. As you can imagine supporting the surface of a slightly rounded tire sidewall is a bit challenging. PS, I've been following your channel since 2014. It's always a pleasure. You are an excellent presenter/educator.

[@ngdeez]

Honestly shocked TPU supports actually work now. Great video. Thank you for this info

[@MatthewsFabrication]

I've used TPU supports for 4 plus years now. I am using 98a TPU though. Just the right distance needed.

[@MattRhone]

A big thing that helps is reducing friction. I have printed non high flow TPU with 30 to 50 mm/s without issues. I had found a video where someone had done it as well and also said it can help with speeding up PETG prints too. I have a skateboard bearing spool holder that I custom made for my printed solid enclosure that works well. At some point I’ll probably release it.

[@LimestoneCoastCustoms]

Yep! when I print the 85 TPU I slow the 1st layer down 50% then increase from there. Of course the 95 isn't as bad & it certainly doesn't suffer from a much stringing as the 85 does. I've loved experimenting with TPU's making things from custom O'rings for car parts that I can't buy, seals, reusable zip ties for extension leads & even some soft cones with PLA threaded inserts for the gas line when purging tubes when TIG welding. I'm finding so many things to print these days! Thanks for another great video!

[@licensetodrive9930]

TPU has to be my favourite material to design parts with because of its flexibility, there's thousands of racing / freestyle drones out there with TPU prints of my designs on now because I came up with inventive ways of using TPU prints to hold radio receivers & antennas on them. Also last year I created the Hoopin TPU Cable Tie, a simple but very strong cable tie design now used by thousands.

[@Voyajer.]

I like your cable tie design! I also made a cable tie as my first tpu design

[@licensetodrive9930]

@@Voyajer. Thanks! I was quite surprised how strong they turned out to be, I use them everywhere now, even as carry handles for drinks bottles because they're soft & grippy unlike traditional nylon ties.

[@MrTimmyGT]

As an avid fpv flyer I am constantly printing tpu parts for my drones/planes. I upgraded my extruder on my ender 3 pro, still bowden but it prints tpu perfectly for me for years now!

[@hakunamatata324]

16:06: That purple line is called "Ensure vertical shell thickness". You covered this ages ago where you said you disable it, I thought you would know 😅 OrcaSlicer allows you to disable that, I hate it, it just adds material and time.

[@MakersMuse]

That setting is removed from 2.7.0 and didn't really change it in the past. It seems it's a bug related to the number of bottom solid layers, reducing down to 2 from 4 seems to remove it entirely.

[@andreyka64]

More of these types of videos!!! Love the context of how and why you print the way you do.

[@remotecontrolaholic]

Very helpful video! I've tweaked my FLEX profile a fair bit thanks to you. One suggestion I have is if you want more evenly distributed infill structure without increasing weight, what I do is reduce the infill extrusion width to equal or even slightly below the nozzle diameter. I currently have it set at .38 on a .4 nozzle, and this leads to more infill lines at the same density setting. With clear TPU the sloping surfaces of cubic infill are noticeably less clear so I'm sure there's some reduction in tensile strength of the infill, but I've not seen problems with layer adhesion in compression.

[@robertzarfas9556]

Every School I've ever worked at for the past 8 years that already had 3D printers when I got there had been conned by that "professional grade" BS. They overpaid and over purchased for crappy, second rate machines and filament. It's really sad and frustrating how much education get's taken advantage of by these con artist.

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

Where do you work at? I work in the Philippines and I witnessed the same overpricing. The school bought an Ender 3 V3 SE for more than triple the price 😭 granted, it's a great quality printer and it came with some great filament. But for the price they paid, I could've bought a lot more filament and three of the same printer because a lot of shops were selling them at a discount

[@robertzarfas9556]

@ I live in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest of the United States 😊. If you buy a Christmas tree this year there is a good chance it is from here in Oregon. I’ve taught at many schools all over the state.

[@wunderwaffeyt4077]

@@robertzarfas9556 that's very cool. Keep up the good work, teacher 💪

[@cavemandanwilder5597]

I’ve been printing my own TPU phone cases for years now. It’s much more effective as a protective barrier if you print a few layers of PLA then finish the print in TPU. You may have to slow the TPU print speed down quite a bit to get decent adhesion, but it does work.

[@alattice]

I'm hoping to do this too, can you give some tips on how you managed to print it + PLA combo?

[@LoveLightReverie]

My best friends product was featured in this video, Thank you for mentioning him in your video. ❤❤

[@MrGerhardGrobler]

Nice. I print model Rockets with TPU fin cans. Call them my bounce Rockets. And yes, I print them on PLA settings on my Ender 3 s1. With the fan on full. Discovered this when I printed an articulated fish and forgot the TPU in the machine. It is basically indestructible. Years ago I started by printing a TPU bottom for models that go on tables to avoid scratch marks. And that was on an original Ender 3.

[@EgorKaskader]

The purple line is the infil added to maintain shell thickness when just the perimeters alone don't make a thick enough wall. You can disable it, if you go to "Layers and Perimeters" tab, under "Horizontal shells" set "Minimum shell thickness" to 0.

[@jessegroves5876]

Hi Angus, really informative video! It was super cool to meet you and others in person at the event and kind of crazy that I got to help film for a channel that I've followed for ages (I have no idea if the footage I got was decent lol) thanks to all of you for being super supportive and kind. After seeing this, I reckon I'll be using TPU for my bot too. I was really surprised to see just how well it stood up to Subdivide's shots at your underside. Definitely interested in more of this (:

[@MakersMuse]

Was great to meet you too! I really appreciate the filming help :) Keen to see your build!

[@TrentSheather]

Subdivide is mean! In its debut match it cut through 2mm of solid TPU in the bottom of my robot and killed a gearmotor. I've since added some airgap armour for that motor and I think I may take things further and tweak my profile to be closer to Angus's. My full TPU chassis has 0.5mm nozzle with 4 walls (for 2mm at least) on all sides with around 15% gyroid infill.

[@MakersMuse]

2mm thick walls! No wonder it was pretty much indestructible 😂

[@Liberty4Ever]

I have a small business that prints TPU parts so this topic is very important to me. PrusaSlicer has greatly improved the quality of our products, but TPU is still the bastard stepchild of the 3D printing family. There are usually no TPU default settings in a slicer so I need to create my own profiles. I've found that I can print TPU faster than most of the internet experts recommend but I returned to slower (typically 20 mm/s) printing to get a good surface finish in overhangs. I wish I could have PrusaSlicer slow down when printing just the overhangs. That would triple our manufacturing throughput.

[@RocktCityTim]

Thanks! You resolved two issues that I was having - Retraction and support offsets.

[@NeoIsrafil]

There are some cases where you can print smaller than your nozzle size in line width. Cura has some settings that allow it to work. It allows cure to fake smoother layer lines.

[@janvejtasa]

Awesome video. One thing though, 15:05 you most definitely can extrude lower than the nozzle size. I have successfully printed detailed text that is 0.3 mm width with 0,4 mm nozzle by changing extrusion width the same way you did, just in the other direction.

[@hellothere6627]

TPU 95A is by far my favorite material. It is incredible how much control you can have localized and directionally ranging from stiff to to soft as a pillow. And the material is incredibly resilient. I do think it is a bold move to have one perimeter, smart making it thick, but that is a lot of trust in the layer adhesion when it’s facing sharp blades Any printer can absolutely print TPU at high speeds. I even print Ninjaflex 85A TPU with great success on a stock Bowden ender 3, at slightly slower speeds.

[@Rippthrough]

Yep, even my old replicator manages to do 30mm^3/s with some mods to help constraint around the extruder, that's really the only thing that needs watching with tpu

[@knostar8935]

I got a tip to set Pressure Advance (Linear advance in Marlin) to 0.2 (I use 0,034 normally), that reduced stringing by a lot and made my TPU prints more or less flawless.

[@daliasprints9798]

Yep, having PA set correctly for it is key. With PA set right I don't even adjust retraction settings for TPU. Exact same ones I use for PLA, etc.

[@somerandomdude3651]

A pretty insane value for linear advance coupled with automatic printing speed targeting a constant flow rate is the key, that got me good results with 85A TPU on the Prusa Mini with its bowden extruder. By 'insane' I mean it's retracting like 2 or 3mm when advancing a sharp corner. All the extruder back and forth gives printing TPU a very distinct sound.

[@FiveSixEP]

I had to set mine to 0.6s when i did a pa test

All I can say, use "hard" TPU! So easy to print. So useful. Its more or less become my default material.

[@RegularOldDan]

Believe it or not, I've been using 95A TPU since late 2016, when I still had a bowden printer. It was amazing to me just how tough and versatile the material was and it is, to this day, one of my favorites to print with for applications that require durability. So awesome to see it being used in robotic combat!

[@JuicyJ_FPV]

I would love more tpu tips I fly FPV drones and making durable arm gaurs and antenna mounts is curtial

[@Hotwire_RCTrix]

Thanks this was really helpful. I also recommend also disabling Z hop. I don't dry my TPU and I print with it all the time.

[@elpresidente8730]

Thanks for this video, Im just about to print my first ever TPU part (an O ring) and was not sure as I'd read lots of horror stories. I feel much more confident now.

[@praneetguharoy3359]

Such a coincidence! Just was planning to shift to TPU for some drone parts.

[@aaronhendrickson7524]

I got on KZbin to look for tips on printing TPU and saw this in my subscription feed before I could! Haha. Great tips!

[@Cereal_Killr]

Printing my first TPU print ever. Overture 95A grey... whipped up a quick profile in Orca and so far... going VERY good! I was so nervous... 4mm retraction at 20mm/s, 65c texture PEI bed and 245c .04 nozzle. DD extruder on Ender 3 S1 pro so far is doing very well. Oh yeah running 50mm/s for speed and kept at a VERY safe 500mms2 acceleration. Thanks for all the info and time you have put into your videos! Because people like you I have a decent knowledge and was able to get as far as I am in the awesome hobby of 3D printing!

[@ducttapeengineer]

I actually managed to print some reasonably hard ninjatek TPU on an Ender 3 Pro after upgrading the bowden tube to capricorn ptfe tubing and a microswiss all metal hotend. There was quite a bit of stringing, as expected, but I didn't have any clogs.

[@timkarsten8610]

Thanks!

[@MakersMuse]

Cheers!

[@Dannos3d]

great vid. Just started to print TPU on the ender 3s1. Not as scary as I originally thought it would be. first filament I have tried to print other than pla lol. the moisture management is tricky for sure. especially at this time of year in Queensland. Thanks for the tips

[@a_bar8579]

I love watching smart people make something that's not routine ❤️

[@colinfielder6695]

Love your ideas on slicer settings, I still use an Ender3 with your settings in Cura from years ago with fantastic results. Thanks Angus

[@MrBlackmidi1234567890987654321]

2:36 just noticed that you labelled it as a prusa mk3 but its actually a mk2

[@MakersMuse]

correct! whoops.

[@TrentSheather]

I've been printing with non-high-flow, wet TPU for a while with something like 4mms of retraction on my direct drive. Retraction is definitely not an issue anymore, however, this weekends project is to remove it in favour of adding klippers pressure advance and see if i can eliminate the need for retractions altogether. Thanks for sharing your profile settings so I can see what Pancake is using.

[@TheAndyroo770]

Have you tried the smart option in prusaslicer paint on supports? Check smart option, check "overhangs only, then adjust the angle slider until the area you want supported is blue, then use the smart selection tool to click the blue areas (they turn a darker blue) you want and only they are then supported.

[@mendelian8768]

TPU is also very interesting for vase mode prints, since it does not break and the layer aversion is very good. I have only problems with good adhesion to the first layer at the edge of a vase, probably due to low print and bad temperature. I have to tweak it a bit, but the vases are way tougher then PLA.

[@neatmachine]

Excellent Angus!!! Wish you were here in USA!

[@3DJapan]

I just ordered a few spools so I'm excited to try it.

[@MakerBees333]

Yet to watch but so VERY excited 🎉 I love good TPU videos!!!

[@therandomvids99]

Your advice for using G10 has changed the way I 3-d print. I always had some difficulty here and there for getting proper bed adhesion, but with G10 it’s no longer a concern. I am curious, though, you said in another video that you had difficulty getting TPU to stick well to G10; I have the complete opposite happening to me. When I print something like a phone case, I have to spend 10 minutes forcibly pulling my print off of the G10. Do you have advice for preventing over-adhesion?

[@hackcasual]

Textured PEI can be a good choice for TPU, leaving a nice texture on the bottom. For removing some TPUs I have a little squirt bottle of IPA 99.9. a little spray on the edge releases it. You can also try setting the bed temp to over 100c to help release some TPUs

[@MakersMuse]

I don't recall saying it doesn't stick to g10, I've definitely had it stick too much! A thin layer of glue stick can help it release, but also don't heat the bed too much. 40degC is usually enough as long as it's clean.

[@therandomvids99]

I will try that... thank you!@@hackcasual

[@therandomvids99]

I must be mistaken. I will try these tips out too. You're the man, thanks for all your videos.@@MakersMuse

[@NeoIsrafil]

I would actually be very interested in hearing about print settings that make for more durable prints. Even though I don't do combat robot stuff it could theoretically be used for other use cases, I do tend to do structural prints and print things like brackets or components for various things and having stronger prints is always beneficial to me even at the expense of print surface quality.

[@dtibor5903]

Set nozzle size to 0.45 instead of 0.4 and leave widths on auto. The prints will be 100% watertight and layer adhesion will be perfect.

[@wochenendedestodes9015]

Thanks for this nice update. I started with innoflex (45D) and ninjaflex (85A). I'm glad that I bought a flashforge creator pro those days. This machine works with nearly each flexible material, even chinchilla (75A). But I have to admit it was pure luck that I've chosen this 3D printer. But it's good to know that filaments have changed. With mine, supports and retraction are NoGos ;-). But I will need years to use it up (need it mostly for dampers and toy spare parts).

[@laszloszell8753]

I never had problem printing tpu since I placed v shape cutted tube front and after the extruder gear. Usually I print tyres for RC cars at 40mm/s. I use Eryone black tpu.

[@DynamicAlex]

Nice and instructive video... and Dude... That's a JX-8P !!!! Wow, I loved that instrument back in the days... I yet have a JX-10 SuperJX here... those sounds are astounding...

[@TsiolkovskySportingLocks]

Intersting was chatting to a guy here in the UK who is well into Ant class bots and he was saying TPU is amazing. I am fighting hard not be subsumed into battle bots as right now I don’t need another hobby but oh so attractive !

[@hannah.computer]

thanks really interesting! i’m experimenting with printing moulds directly from TPU (instead of PLA and casting in silicone), but it’s been a bit of a struggle to find flexible enough settings that allow easy removal of the moulded part, but rigid enough to avoid buckling while filled

[@johnford7847]

Very informative, Angus. Thank you.

[@geekdomo]

I have to print omni wheels for my R2D2. Been 3D Printing since 2014 and never printed TPU because of horror stories. Thanks again for the lesson Angus!

[@Cheeky_Chelsea]

Yes please on antweight settings

[@zviratko]

16:20 I bet that purple is "Ensure vertical thickness". Could you share this STL so I can try?

[@MakersMuse]

It is not, unfortunately. Unticked in my example.

[@vincent3673]

Thought exactly the same, might solve this exact problem!

[@zviratko]

Took a look at your public robot model. You can get a single wall by setting walls to 1, no top and bottom layers(!), desired thickness 0 and Ensure vertical shell thickness disabled (in OrcaSlicer enabled, I think that setting is flipped and made an issue about it). So with a few modifiers you could get rid of those extra perimeters in most of the print. No idea if the print itself would be very solid of course :)

[@MakersMuse]

@@zviratko Nice, yeah I just played with PS and modifiers is the only way to remove it entirely, it's strange and seems tied to the top and bottom solid layer count but extends well past them. Changed it them from 4 to 2 and it went away, but I don't want a 0.5mm thick surface lol. Can use a height modifier to get around it but that's pretty tedious. Guess it's time to try orcaslicer finally!

[@zviratko]

@@MakersMuseOrcaSlicer has this setting bugged (possibly also PrusaSlicer,/SuperSlicer not sure), where disabling Ensure vertical thickness just adds random layers so keeping it enabled makes it do what you want (the opposite :-D). So no idea what exactly you're seeing. Some stuff also changes with Classic/Arachne, but this seem to work with both. Also looks like using lower layer height makes it add less of that purple infill, so I think it will be related to overhang angle. In any case, you can workaround it in most areas with modifiers. I would just put a modifier object over those large wall area and possibly even keep it reinforced in the middle and keep it doing its thing everywhere else because this wall will still be pretty flimsy due to the steep overhangs.

[@rcmaniac25]

Others have already discussed the purple lines. But I will note that Arachnie (default for PrusaSlicer, Cura, Bambu (IIRC), and Orca) allows for making smaller lines then the nozzle size. Tom S/Made with Layers did a video on this a while ago where it stated that we could get away with a 0.6mm nozzle for everything because it will reduce widths down to below 0.4mm sizes if needed. Can't say I agree with that, but technically, yes. As for TPU: it's a great material. I tend to use it on textured build plates because it also likes to weld itself to smooth PEI, but I've done everything from simple rubber feet on models, to a vacuum sealer adapter (vacuum sealer had a proprietary attachment, I made a TPU adapter that fit inside it so it could be used on standard vacuum bags), some hinges, etc. I use the OG NinjaFlex that was infamous for being almost impossible to print back in the day because of how soft it was (85A) but now we have high flow, 60A, etc. A big thing I love is that now there's colors... once upon a time, your TPU color options were black, black, black, and if you were lucky, red. Now you can get TPU in nearly 20+ colors AND there are more then just the shore A groups... there's now D and others. I have found a liking for printing some kids toys in fun colors with 75D or similar. The result is a toy that feels like hard plastic, but then you throw it at some asphalt and the thing bounces... and has next to no damage... because it's actually a TPU. Also worth noting that TPU and TPE are different (as I always went "what is the difference?") and appears to be TPE is more flexible and cheaper but lower abrasion resistance and strength, while TPU is more expensive and less flexible, but stronger and more resistant to abrasion. Also fun fact: it's not just some material a filament maker produces, in the face of NinjaTek (makers of NinjaFlex and others), they're actually a subsidiary of the Michelin group. You know, Michelin Tires. So some know their rubber...

[@6yjjk]

I'd like to see what the Gcode for those extra perimeters looks like, whether there are comment blocks before/after such that you could post-process the Gcode and remove them. Shouldn't be necessary, but sometimes you have to get filthy.

[@ShadowDrakken]

Despite being a bowden printer, the Prusa MINI+ handles TPU like an absolute champ. I had very little issues with TPU (can't even recall a failure), and after I upgraded to a Bondtech extruder I've seen nothing but success with TPU.

[@Jaybux87]

I stumbled on the impact resistance of TPU when making FPV drone canopies. I started like most with PLA, then PETG and both just failed miserably in crashes. Then one day I left a spool of TPU on when I started a print for a new canopy and to my surprise, this new canopy would just "bounce" of crashes. Everything else shattered and usually damaged the carbon frame on the inside. The TPU canopy effectively created a bumper it was great.

[@dtibor5903]

I print with TPU with constant volumetric flow and retraction at about 30mm/s. It works fine on ender 3v2 and ender 2 pro with bowden setup. Needs a bit of lubing, wd40 is perfect for that. Also I print wider but with all filaments. It gives the best layer adhesion.

[@OZtwo]

I LOVE TPU!! And of course your videos even more!

[@KJW648]

Been using TPU for years on my old Ender 3, no problems with my 3d printed extruder mod. Mainly used for non-slip and protecting PLA on my prints.

[@bgauweiler]

Good morning Angus. Would you consider doing a series of resin printer videos focused on those of us who do primarily functional prints with our FDM printers currently? The series could investigate the Pros and Cons of resin printing for functional parts, the differences between FDM and resin printing for functional parts, and best practices for printing functional parts with a resin printer. Most of the resin printer content currently available is focused on miniatures and does not address the specific requirements for functional prints such as part tolerances, part-to-printbed alignment for functional parts, and post-processing considerations for functional components.

[@sordidduck]

I was literally searching for TPU settings, nice !

[@ChrisHarmon1]

I use varioshore quite often for super lightweight drone flight controller mounting. I set my dryer to 99 hours/TPU setting, crack it open a tiny amount to let moisture out and run 50-60% flow @ 220C. It will print at most speeds on my H2 extruder or K1 Max with 0.4 - 0.6mm retraction. The finish looks a lot like carbon fiber filaments with hardly any layer lines visible.

[@802Garage]

I've had great fun printing 95A TPU on my Ender 3 Pro. Haven't had the chance to try softer stuff, but I've had no issues with the bowden setup. I will say I just tried Orca slicer for the first time and the extra lines it adds that I can't control definitely annoy me. 😂

[@PointingToNull]

I just got some TPU 95A overture filament for my Ender 3 Pro just a few days ago and it prints perfectly. i do need to lower the speed a little bit since its a bowden setup but it otherwise prints great!. Sadly its not quite the filament i was hoping for. My exact use case i need right now is a very grippy flexible material that i can use as a friction wheel to turn a bigger ring made of PLA. the 95A filaments surface finish even with fuzzy skin options and varying infill densities its still just not a grippy enough surface to really grab onto the pla and it ends up slipping slightly. Would love to try a different shore type like an 80A or 85A TPU but those get nearly double the price almost which makes it a hard gamble if it would even work for my specific need.

[@802Garage]

Same experience with my Ender 3 Pro! No issues. I really want to try lower Shore hardness TPU, but it's all so dang expensive.

[@paulradford4100]

I can confirm that bowden is quite usable with tpu95. I have done it with the ender 3 pro, just lowering the speed to help flow and printing towers to find the best retraction settings for that machine. Obviously though if tou intended to print a lot of this, you may consider investing in direct drive. Also, I would consider all metal hotend over the cheaper hotends that take a bowden to the nozzle - but that's an upgrade I would consider with just about everything but bog standard pla. I was Interested in you perimeter (line count) though..

[@kdt85]

I finally tried to print TPU with my stock ender 3 v2, it printed fine! I read so many conflicting articles

[@802Garage]

Same experience here. People make it sound so scary. Out of date info.

[@technicallyreal]

Had no idea the slicer would add bridges or internal supports for features where there wasn't enough infill. Super cool!

[@anthonystownsend]

Ive never had any issues with TPU even with an Anycubic Vyper which has a Bowden setup. I was even able to print with 80A at 60mm/s print speed.

[@sinitarium]

Superb video! Very cool insights. Thank you Angus, keep doing what you do :)

[@HelenWork-j2z]

Hey great work! I was wondering, what do you use to secure the screws in TPU? Heat inserts? do you ever worry about the flexibility of the material causing the inserts to come loose with time?

[@Frostfly]

Always love to hear more about your combat dudes

[@dwilliam16]

Thanks for the great video. I'm thinking some of this can be applied to PLA/TPU blends used in silk PLA. Something to explore.

[@javs2406]

This video is just simply awsome in every way, thank you so much for doing what you do

What about the filament settings? What value do you use for "Extrusion multiplier" and "Max volumetric speed"?

[@conorstewart2214]

A lot of people thinking TPU is too hard or should be avoided is due to its reputation in the early days with very flexible filaments like ninjaflex, it is just one of those things that has persisted far too long and has become a part of the collective 3D printing “knowledge” despite not being true, especially now. It is very much possible to print 95A or 98A TPU or probably even lower (varioshore is apparently only 92A before foaming and it prints fine) too with even a stock ender 3 and it has been that way for probably at least 5 years at this point, which is a long time in terms of 3D printing. People probably started with trying very flexible TPU and found it very difficult but then generalised that to all TPU and never thought to try harder TPUs, they probably just thought, “oh it’s TPU, that’s too difficult to print” and them sharing that “knowledge”has led to a lot of people, especially beginners, avoiding TPU and not even considering using it. Hard TPUs can be printed on pretty much any FDM 3D printer, Bowden tube or not. Yes for very flexible TPU you will need an extruder that can handle it. There are also other ways to get softer and more flexible TPU now with the invention of varioshore, it foams to give you lower density, more flexibility, softer and a grippier surface finish and varioshore can be printed even on an ender 3.

[@Art_911]

I only have an old Creality CR6 SE, and it prints TPU really well. Well, most. There are a LOT of TPUs that claim to be "95A" but really are not I've sent a few back as they were far too "stretchy". It is a machine with a Bowden tube so I do have to slow things down. But with the right TPU manufacturer, I get some amazing prints. Sadly, my Goto Amazon Basics TPU stopped providing colors and only has White, maybe black too, but it was/is the best (for me) flex vs hardness ratio.

[@13rett7300]

That prusa slicer bug has been the primary reason for me moving to orca slicer. I check every release to see if it is fixed to no success.

[@gfixler]

Great info, but I didn't see the one thing I really wanted to know about - the first/rest layer bed and nozzle temps. What do you use? Apologies if I missed them. I've been having a real problem with TPU sticking like barnacles to my Prusa bed, I always have to heat the bed to 80C before things will slowly peel free, and certain geometries are really hard to get a hold of to do that.

[@powersv2]

We use TPU a lot with fpv drones due to all the abuse when pushing your drone in freestyle. It also reduces vibrations.

[@robrs210]

The width of the wall thickness is or can be limited. A 0.8mm line is possible but the line quality will be down to the nozzle’s flat area. Some nozzles have very little flat face outside of the extrusion hole area. As I found some cheap v6 nozzles are really good for a wide line thickness due to the very wide are of the flat face.

[@pixel_vengeur391]

I chose to start my TPU journey with 60A Shore. Let's just say I didn't get very far. My best shot at it was a 2h Benchy, printed on a KP3S, as it seemed like the only extruder I had that could print it. Neither the Microswiss NG, nor the Voron Stealthburner wer eable to. And yet, the cheap Titan clone did. Go figure, user error I guess

[@przemekkobel4874]

I upgraded my old cheap printer with some cheap parts from Ali (metal extruder with minimal gaps between gears and holes, bimetal heat break, brass heat block, etc), did some other mods here and there - nothing special. Don't have any kind of dry box. Turns out for me the most important part was to use some decent part cooling (eventually I will switch to herome) and lower hotend temp. Maybe my thermal probe is off, maybe it is about moisture, but when I see bad finish, next time I try 10-20 degrees lower temp. To my surprise in case of TPU I suddenly started to get perfect surfaces. I also avoid retractions, since on my printer this briefly pauses X-Y movement, which causes melted spots.

[@ianmacinerney6288]

Very similar to the settings I have found for combat robots. Good video.

[@bridget_clinch]

I'm digging 75A spiderflex tpe for bumpers and feet

[@3DThird]

In our factory we have Kobra 2 Max printers and we are able to print TPU at 25mm3/s flow without any problem using 1mm nozzle. New printers make TPU printing similar to PLA printing.

[@101rotarypower]

Is there a Portland Oregon following for these small Ant/Feather Weight bots? Or a forum/user group to find the popular hardware components to utilize?

[@vanderfleet-martin]

Great video Angus, would it be possible for you to share an export of the profile?

[@cpace123]

My ender mini for some reason is my best TPU printer, My kobra neo also does it very well. I have not had it long enough for a true test. But my ender mini has been reliable for years, and I print tpu every day. I live in dry area and rarely need to dry my filiment

[@SuperBoppy]

Maybe you can help with a problem I have printing TPU. I built a Voron 2.4 a few years ago with a Dragon all-metal hotend. Had no issues with it until I tried to print TPU. BTW, the filament is Sainsmart TPU 95A. The first few layers would print just fine, but then, the printer would extrude less and less filament until it was hardly printing at all. And no, the TPU was not bunching up on the extruder gears. Also, I am printing very slow speed - 20 to 25 mm/sec max. I also built a TEVO Tarantula several years before I built the Voron. The original hotend had a PTFE core - the Bowden tube went all the way to the nozzle. I never had any problems printing TPU on the TEVO - that is until I swapped the OEM hot end for a V6 all-metal one. The identical problem arose on the TEVO that I had on the Voron. Again there was no problem with bunching at the extruder gear. Frustrated, I ordered a PTFE-lined heatbreak and installed it on the V6 in place of the all-metal one, and this solved the problem - I was back in business printing TPU on the TEVO. Why am I having this problem? The only thing I can think of is the TPU begins sticking to the metal lining of the heat-break as it approaches the transition between the cold and hot side, where the TPU is not hot enough to melt, but soft enough to stick to the metal. The PTFE liner to the nozzle eliminates the problem. I scoured the web, and especially the Voron Discord site, and very little is mentioned. I found one post on the Voron site that referred to the TPU hating all-metal hot ends and that a PTFE hot end was the proper solution to the problem. If you can shed any light on this, I would greatly appreciate it.

[@seekertosecrets]

14:34 What about printing with volcanic extruders?

[@Tiger-vt3cs]

14:58 But that's exactly what Arachne does. See Thomas Sanladerer's video "Arachne in PrusaSlicer: 0.4mm Nozzles just became obsolete"

[@mechanical_bob6591]

Cool Does Prusa have expand horizontal width of supports like cura? It would give extra material to grab for pulling off supports. I use 0.36 Outer and 0.44 Inner walls to improve my statue quality (0.08 or 0.10 layers). Does the slicer not adjust speed and flow to undersize widths? (Multiple width settings for this in Cura - Print thin walls - Minimum wall thickness - etc).

[@MarkDotExe]

Cool video Angus! Thanks!