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Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?  

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3DALHEMIJA
(@3dalhemija)
Estimable Member
Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

I am about to start printing phone cases, not quite sure which one gives best shock, thermal resistance results, print quality, ease of use, etc.

Since phone cases are tiny, is flex filament necessary at all?

PETG sounds interesting, Ninjatek Cheetah caught my eye, but i would like to hear your experience.

Posted : 23/09/2018 7:06 pm
Mojo
 Mojo
(@mojo)
Eminent Member
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

Flexfil 98A works pretty well.
Prints very easy and is not too flexy.
https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/28-flex

Posted : 24/09/2018 8:36 am
surfgeorge
(@surfgeorge)
Estimable Member
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

I printed my iPhone SE case in PETG and it's held up pretty well over several months, cracked and chipped in some places but I'm still using it.
I also printed in a semi-Flex material, but preferred the more rigid PETG. Easier to print and is holding the phone pretty firmly.
But if I remember correctly I had to play a little to get the fit "just" right.

Posted : 24/09/2018 9:48 am
3DALHEMIJA
(@3dalhemija)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?


Flexfil 98A works pretty well.
Prints very easy and is not too flexy.
https://shop.prusa3d.com/en/28-flex

Thanks for suggestion, yeah it seems like close property filament to Ninjatek Cheetah !
Have you tried it, and do you have high success rate printing it?

Posted : 24/09/2018 8:47 pm
3DALHEMIJA
(@3dalhemija)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?


I printed my iPhone SE case in PETG and it's held up pretty well over several months, cracked and chipped in some places but I'm still using it.
I also printed in a semi-Flex material, but preferred the more rigid PETG. Easier to print and is holding the phone pretty firmly.
But if I remember correctly I had to play a little to get the fit "just" right.

Thought so, its also more affordable than other flex materials. Thanks for info.

Posted : 24/09/2018 9:00 pm
Mojo
 Mojo
(@mojo)
Eminent Member
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

Was so surprised about the filament performance. Loving it. Its pretty expensive but prints as easy as PLA. When im home (not before Thursday) i'll check the variables I used in slicer and post pictures of the prints.

edit: I remember i posted a make on thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/make:531960

I printed this very fast on a 0,2mm layer height without any issues:
Perimeters 60mm/s
External Perimeters 45mm/s
Infill 200mm/s

Posted : 25/09/2018 12:40 pm
3DALHEMIJA
(@3dalhemija)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?


Was so surprised about the filament performance. Loving it. Its pretty expensive but prints as easy as PLA. When im home (not before Thursday) i'll check the variables I used in slicer and post pictures of the prints.

edit: I remember i posted a make on thingiverse:
https://www.thingiverse.com/make:531960

I printed this very fast on a 0,2mm layer height without any issues:
Perimeters 60mm/s
External Perimeters 45mm/s
Infill 200mm/s

Awesome result, thanks for sharing your experience, i will keep this in mind !

Posted : 25/09/2018 6:36 pm
Peter L
(@peter-l)
Honorable Member
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?


I am about to start printing phone cases, not quite sure which one gives best shock, thermal resistance results, print quality, ease of use, etc.

Since phone cases are tiny, is flex filament necessary at all?

PETG sounds interesting, Ninjatek Cheetah caught my eye, but i would like to hear your experience.

I've printed a lot of phone cases using this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/PRILINE-TPU-1KG-Filament-Dimensional-Accuracy/dp/B076CNGBTD/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537900769&sr=8-3&keywords=priline+tpu . It's basically generic semi-flex TPU with a hardness of 98. It prints a lot like PLA.

I've also found that the semi-flexible TPU is very versatile. If you print a thin sheet of it, it's very floppy. But a larger object will come out rigid and hard-ish. That lets you design things that are flexible in some places, rigid in others, and have nice shock absorbing properties.

Posted : 25/09/2018 8:45 pm
3DALHEMIJA
(@3dalhemija)
Estimable Member
Topic starter answered:
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?



I am about to start printing phone cases, not quite sure which one gives best shock, thermal resistance results, print quality, ease of use, etc.

Since phone cases are tiny, is flex filament necessary at all?

PETG sounds interesting, Ninjatek Cheetah caught my eye, but i would like to hear your experience.

I've printed a lot of phone cases using this stuff: https://www.amazon.com/PRILINE-TPU-1KG-Filament-Dimensional-Accuracy/dp/B076CNGBTD/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1537900769&sr=8-3&keywords=priline+tpu . It's basically generic semi-flex TPU with a hardness of 98. It prints a lot like PLA.

I've also found that the semi-flexible TPU is very versatile. If you print a thin sheet of it, it's very floppy. But a larger object will come out rigid and hard-ish. That lets you design things that are flexible in some places, rigid in others, and have nice shock absorbing properties.

Thanks for sharing experience, that is exactly what phone case needs. btw is that generic TPU having a lot of stringing issues?

Posted : 25/09/2018 9:41 pm
Peter L
(@peter-l)
Honorable Member
Re: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?


Thanks for sharing experience, that is exactly what phone case needs. btw is that generic TPU having a lot of stringing issues?

It's stringy for sure, but not outrageously stringy.

Posted : 25/09/2018 10:24 pm
mj470446
(@mj470446)
New Member
RE: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

I've printed many phone cases. I used mostly Soft PLA and i found it best among others because Soft PLA is a composite PLA filament with a Shore A hardness of around 91-92A. This makes the material softer than standard-grade TPU, but only fractionally so. Unlike TPU however, soft PLA is engineered to be printable on almost the same set-up as standard PLA. Print over this stick for long time and print quality remains good. I also print phone cases like blackbear phone cases and I love Soft PLA technique because of its unique properties 

This post was modified 4 years ago by mj470446
Posted : 24/09/2020 6:30 pm
cwbullet
(@cwbullet)
Member
RE: Best (flex) filament for Phone cases?

I have had good success with both Overture and eSun TPU.  

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3D Printer Review Blog

Posted : 02/10/2020 11:56 pm
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