pic: 3D Print Limit Switch CFiber

[Cothron Theiss]

Originally Posted by rsegrest

So. Did you get the part printed and can you post a pic? May be purchasing a new printer and before I jump all off into PLA I'd like to see how your PLA bamboo came out.

Lonnie (lovelj) can speak more to the specifics of the bamboo print (Or would it be BAAMboo?), but I can say from an aesthetics and basic structural standpoint, it is wonderful. I can maybe get a picture of one of the bamboo/PLA pieces tomorrow.

As for your uses, I would really research what printer you would like to buy AND THE BRAND of bamboo/PLA filament you would like to buy. Some printers are better suited to handle fiber infused plastics than others, and most suppliers will let you know how their printer does with CF and/or bamboo infused plastics. Also, I wouldn't pigeon-hole yourself into using just PLA of any variation. One of the features I look for in a printer is the ability to use lots of different materials, and the ease of switching between these. This is one of the reasons I love using Lulzbots' Taz printers.

I have no empirical data (and really no practical experience) with using CF or bamboo infused plastics on desktop printers, but I have heard from people who do that bamboo provides a lot of the same benefits as CF, but since the bamboo fibers are softer, they are much less likely to scratch or cause extra wear on the printer hardware. Bamboo might not give as good a strength to weight ratio, or a lower tensile strength, but I think that bamboo-infused parts could be a great boon to users.

Also, echoing Lonnie's comment about the anisotropic properties. The CF and bamboo can actually make this difference in tensile strengths worse, not better, so be forewarned.