26 Apr We extruded some carbon filament: here is the result

Carbon has been the subject of various experiments in the world of 3D printing for some time; currently, various types of filaments made with a percentage of carbon fiber are available, although they are very expensive (even over 400 euros per kg).

For this reason, carbon spools are not commonly found in domestic 3D printing: the most frequent uses are mainly for industrial solutions, such as circulation pumps, components that must be in contact with aggressive fluids or for the automotive sector.

The filament of polypropylene and carbon, in fact, has several useful properties: among these, we can mention the high fracture load, the ductility, the excellent thermal and abrasion resistance, the impermeability and the sturdiness.

In the last days we tried to extrude a filament containing carbon with Felfil Evo, and the result was more than satisfactory. We started with a carbon and polypropylene pellet, and we put a part of it in the Felfil Evo tank.

Later, after some tests we set the best extrusion parameters: 230 degrees and 7 rpm. Finally, we extruded the filament and wounded it around a spool using Felfil Spooler, the spooler that we are currently developing as a partner for Felfil Evo, that will soon be available on our Shop. Finally, we tried to use this filament to make some 3D prints.

Carbon is not an easy material to print; some tests are necessary before reaching a good result. We recommend preparing a polypropylene first layer (we used scotch tape), and setting the nozzle temperature to around 240 degrees.

We used the extruded filament to make a bottle opener, although our print is still far from being perfect: the properties of carbon, in fact, are useful not only in the industrial sector, but also for more common objects that require a certain robustness to function.