Hey folks! Today I got my first spool of TPU. I was quite excited to replace the cap of a controller’s joystick. But now I am looking for ideas what to print next.
…I was expecting more of a “rubber-ish” feel, when I ordered TPU. It’s a lot more sleek? than I expected. Or is that, because I ordered transparent “High Speed TPU”?
edit: Forgot to mention it’s 95A
What’s the shore hardness on that TPU? Not every TPU is the same.
Most generic printer TPU’s are around 90 to 95A shore hardness, which ensures extruder compatibility. It’s “flexible” but very stiff. It’s best for stuff like compliant structural parts that need to be shock absorbent but still strong.
Stuff like ninjaflex gets down around 40A iirc, which is considerably more rubber-like. However, Compatibility depends on your printer. Ninjaflex is OK in direct drive extruders with the right feed teeth, but pretty tough to get good results out of if you have a Bowden extruder because it will want to bunch up and compress inside the feed tube.
You also have to minimize infill and wall thickness when slicing to get the most flexibility.
I’m so sorry to have forgotten the most important information… I edited my post to add the 95A :'D
Thanks for your reply. I’m printing on an Neptune 3 Pro, so I guess more flexible filaments should be printable for me.
Yep. 95A can be printed fast which is why it’s probably called a “high speed TPU”.
Neptune 3 is direct drive so you should be fine for ninjaflex. It’ll take some tuning though because every printer reacts differently to it. Good luck!
Some ideas that work good in tpu: