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What are the best filaments for 3D printing elastic objects?

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Jan 19, 2019

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Best filaments for 3D printing elastic objects	Price	Additional features	Additional printed bed adhesion
-- NinjaFlex Flexible Filament	$36.99+	Flexible nature of material (to up to 660% elongation); adhesion to standard build platforms without glue or tape; abrasion resistance 20% better than ABS and 68% better than PLA; chemical resistance to many materials, including naphtha, ASTM Oils #1-3, petroleum and freon	Glue and/or blue painters tape is suggested, if not using a heated bed

NinjaFlex Flexible Filament

Top Pro

Recovers original shape after deformation

This is truly elastic material, which means that the material will deform under stress (stretched or compressed), but the moment stress is removed, the material original shape is restored. The exception is if tensile/compressive yield point is reached: in this case permanent deformation occurs. This filaments tensile yield point takes place at 660% elongation, which means it's very hard to break this material only by applying tensile stress. See More

Top Con

Complicated to print without a direct-drive extruder

The filament itself is very flexible, which means that non-direct-drive extruders will have the issue of their bowden tubes clogging up. This is normally fixed by experimenting with the material feed rate and the extruder temperature (this tweaking process takes some time and effort). Double check if you have a direct-drive extruder before purchasing this filament, which avoids this bothersome process. See More

Specs

Additional features:Flexible nature of material (to up to 660% elongation); adhesion to standard build platforms without glue or tape; abrasion resistance 20% better than ABS and 68% better than PLA; chemical resistance to many materials, including naphtha, ASTM Oils #1-3, petroleum and freon

Additional printed bed adhesion:Glue and/or blue painters tape is suggested, if not using a heated bed

Colors available:10 standard colors

Density:1.19 g / cm^3

Top Pro

NinjaTek has published several case studies of filament applications

Several examples of how NinjaFlex was used in real-world applications are available. This is a great move from NinjaTek, since, even though it is useful to see how good a product is “on paper”, it’s even better to see examples of how it was actually used. All case studies are well documented and provide visual evidence of successful use. See More

Top Con

Unprotective filament packaging

The filament packaging doesn't provide adequate protection for the material, which is quite surprising, considering its high price. The spool is shipped simply sealed with a vacuum film (without a silica pack) contained in a simple box. There's no proper external packing to protect the filament from mechanical damage. If the film breaks, the filament becomes vulnerable to air humidity, absorbing water and, consequently, compromising the printing process. See More

Top Pro

Good chemical resistance to a variety of substances

This filament has limited resistance to a variety of alcohols, alkali and organic substances (fuels, oils, etc.). This contrasts with what happens with many other 3D printable material, that can't even withstand contact with water. See More

Top Pro

Available in 10 different colors

This filament is available in 10 different colors, all of which are of very high quality and look rich. See More

Top Pro

No heated printed bed required

This filament can be used with a printer without a heated bed, which is very convenient, since many 3D printers don't come with a heated bed by default or don't even have the option of adding one. Nevertheless, if your machine does have a heated bed, you can set it to 40ºC (recommended) and improve surface adhesion. See More

Top Pro

Can be used with virtually any standard 3D printer

You can use this filament with pretty much any standard 3D printer, since it's available in the two most commonly used diameters: 1.75 mm and 3.0 mm. The 3.0 mm spools are cheaper than the 1.75 mm ones. This is because it’s generally cheaper to produce 1 kg of 3.0 mm filament than 1 kg of 1.75 mm filament. See More

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