PLA, at least in Houston, will warp and twist just being outside for 1 hour. I recommend PETG for just about everything. Works in the pool and in the heat of the outdoors.
What have you 3D printed for your TJ?
- Thread starter chimmike
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PLA, at least in Houston, will warp and twist just being outside for 1 hour. I recommend PETG for just about everything. Works in the pool and in the heat of the outdoors.
Since the H2C arrived a week ago, I've immersed myself in the technology of 3D printing. I had to learn a whole 'nuther language! Also, I'm finding that many of the designs available on the various sites don't meet my standards, so I am designing most things I print from scratch, which takes a lot more time. Following up on my previous post, I've figured out multi-material printing and TPU printing (not as simple as other materials). Here's my finished spare tire bumper with a plug for the end:
I used PTEG HF for the main portion, and the top and bottom are TPU 95A HF, and I really customized the slicing. The top was TPU for some give against the tire, and the bottom was TPU because it works with the plug to seal the bolt and sleeve inside from the elements. Both filaments were thoroughly dried prior to printing. The TPU got slightly stringy on my at the very end of the print.
I plan to post more about my design process on my build thread when I get a breather from 3D printing.
How stiff / pliable is that, Scott? More like rubber or hard plastic?
Closer to hard plastic than rubber. I printed it solid, though. Printing with some air space (infill percentage < 100%) makes it more flexible, but the OEM bumpers are pretty stiff, so I went with 100% infill.
WV Native
TJ Enthusiast
I wouldn't drink out of anything I 3D printed!I scrolled down your post and looked at the picture without reading anything. I thought you made some kind of heavy duty flask.
As a designer for many years now, I understand and suffer a similar problem.
In related news, my new hub and AMS HT arrived today. Just finished hooking everything up, minor hiccup as it seems I accidentally removed the 4-1 adapter from my order. I run non-AMS filaments from an inexpensive Sunlu dryer box, but that can't be ported through the BL hub. I used to use a 3d printed "Y" but found over time the PTFE tubes would tend to back themselves out of the ports, the couplers BL uses trap the tubes to keep that from happening. MIght as well order more filament while I'm at it...
Since I was well behind on printer firmware, figured it was a good time to address since I was adding new hardware to the chain. I can state the offline update feature in the X1C works without issue, all handled via a downloaded zip thrown on the SD card. The printer immediately recognized the file without any need for extraction.
As a designer for many years now, I understand and suffer a similar problem.
In related news, my new hub and AMS HT arrived today. Just finished hooking everything up, minor hiccup as it seems I accidentally removed the 4-1 adapter from my order. I run non-AMS filaments from an inexpensive Sunlu dryer box, but that can't be ported through the BL hub. I used to use a 3d printed "Y" but found over time the PTFE tubes would tend to back themselves out of the ports, the couplers BL uses trap the tubes to keep that from happening. MIght as well order more filament while I'm at it...
Since I was well behind on printer firmware, figured it was a good time to address since I was adding new hardware to the chain. I can state the offline update feature in the X1C works without issue, all handled via a downloaded zip thrown on the SD card. The printer immediately recognized the file without any need for extraction.
I didn't realize I needed the 4-1 adapter for the H2S until the HT came and I couldn't plug it in anywhere. It's coming today, but I won't be home for another five days. Hope nobody steals my $5 part off my doorstep.
Just an FYI on the 4-in-1. My H2C came with a yet another new design. It has a replaceable wiper on the outlet side that cleans the filament before going into the extruder to prevent clogs and other issues. I have two AMS 2 Pros and five AMS HTs, so I need two of these. Right now, I'm using the new style that came with the H2C and one of the old style ones. I plan to get a second of the new ones when they become available on December 9, 2025, according to the listing in the store:
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/bambu-4-in-1-ptfe-adapter?id=667312178471530496
It comes with five replacement pads, and the replacement pads are not available until the same day:
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/4-in-1-ptfe-adapter-filament-ii-cleaning-pad
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/bambu-4-in-1-ptfe-adapter?id=667312178471530496
It comes with five replacement pads, and the replacement pads are not available until the same day:
https://us.store.bambulab.com/products/4-in-1-ptfe-adapter-filament-ii-cleaning-pad
I didn't realize I needed the 4-1 adapter for the H2S until the HT came and I couldn't plug it in anywhere. It's coming today, but I won't be home for another five days. Hope nobody steals my $5 part off my doorstep.
Convenient, I need a 4-1 adapter myself. Now I just need to figure out how to get to Florida
No worries, you've got 5 days to figure it out...
In related news, my new hub and AMS HT arrived today. Just finished hooking everything up, minor hiccup as it seems I accidentally removed the 4-1 adapter from my order. I run non-AMS filaments from an inexpensive Sunlu dryer box, but that can't be ported through the BL hub. I used to use a 3d printed "Y" but found over time the PTFE tubes would tend to back themselves out of the ports, the couplers BL uses trap the tubes to keep that from happening. MIght as well order more filament while I'm at it...
Not sure I'll be needing my 4-1 adapter now that I purchased it as less than 24 hours after having one AMS HT in the house, I decided to buy another one as a replacement for the Sunlu (so now can run though the hub). While it consumes ~3x the power, the HT does a damn good job of controlled drying. Heats up about 4x as fast as the Sunlu and can reach higher temps, plus it can rotate the filament automatically while heating/drying.
Since just recently having to dick around with inserting and removing PTFE tubes from the buffer and AMS hub, I whipped up a quick tool design to help in pressing the release buttons to free the tubes. STL attached if anyone wants to print one.
Seems BL is getting even more of my loot this week. I had a notify on ASA-CF and got hit earlier in the week, by the time I got the site it was sold out again. Just got another notification this morning and managed 3 rolls of the stuff.
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I think it won't work but I also think it's cool for people to try stuff to see what happens.
I won't see the update I'm sure though so we'll never know
The spare tire bumper I recently printed was the exact same TPU material. I’m 99.999% confident that the layer bonds in the print aren’t even close to strong enough to withstand the tensile forces trying to pull them apart under articulation. As long as someone else wastes their time gambling on that .001% chance, I think it’s cool, too.
You can anneal 3D prints to improve this, but doing so has its own set of caveats.
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