The transparent flexible TPU consumables with a hardness of 87A are strong and durable; the printed product is softer than TPU-95A, but harder than the elastic printed product; the printed product has a certain degree of transparency.
High Resilience & Mechanical Strength
87A TPU Filament is a transparent, flexible, and elastic material with high resilience and mechanical strength (bending, tension, and compression), abrasion, and aging resistance. It is also very resistant to chemicals, water, oil, and solvents.
High Impact Resistance
It is also waterproof, cold and UV resistant (resistant to yellowing, able to withstand sun exposure). It are good for printing footwear. Many sports shoes, such as softball shoes, golf shoes, etc. It can use 87A TPU material for sole production, or to print the entire shoe model.
Widely Application
Shoe material Machinery Automobile Electronic appliances Conveying pipeline Sporting products
Printing Tips
- Drying (55℃/>4H) before printing is recommended to achieve the best printing effect. It is recommended to use it with dry box cartridges when printing.
- It is recommended to use a direct extruder two-wheel reduction extruder designed for flexibility, and eFlex materials cannot be printed with a remote extruder.
- The nozzle may have impurities after printing for a long time. It is recommended to use it with the cleaning filament. If necessary, replace the nozzle and throat with a new one.
Parameter
- Density(g/cm3): 1.12
- Tensile Strength(MPa): 52
- Elongation at Break(%): 500
- Durability: 9/10
- Printability: 6/10
Recommended printing parameters
- Extruder Temperature: 220 – 250℃
- Recommended temperature: 240℃
- Bed temperature: 45 – 60°C
- Fan Speed: 100%
- Printing Speed: 20 – 50mm/s
- Heated Bed: Optional
- Recommended Build Surfaces: Masking paper, PVP solid glue, PEI
Package List:
1x SainSmart 87A TPU Flexible Filament 1.75mm, 1kg
- Reviews
- Questions
MK4 Extruder can handle the pushing, but the pulling was a challenge
This is just enough more flexible than the usual 92a durometer TPU to make a meaningful difference in the behavior of a part while still offering relatively trouble-free printability (given a direct drive extruder, as they clearly point out). On a Prusa Mk4, I was having a moderate issue with delamination so I increased the print temp to 245C and the perimeter overlap to 25%. Prusa's "Nextruder" had no trouble pushing this filament through the nozzle, but I had some trouble getting it to pull through the overhead port in my Ikea LACK table-based enclosure. I usually use some adjustable roller bases with bearings in them that let a vertical spool spin fairly freely. I had no trouble getting it to pull/rotate a full roll of 92 durometer TPU, but this stuff would just stretch and somehow bind up. After a few false starts trying to unspool and carefully arrange enough filament for even a small print, I finally came up with the idea of laying the spool flat around the port and feeding the filament down through the middle of it (see photo). As more of the spool got used, it seems to still be able to unwind easily enough to keep feeding. Wouldn't work with most filaments, but I think I've used about a third of this roll now and it still seems happy to feed. It also helps that as I got things dialed in, I switch to printing a greater quantity of the part, using more of the bed. The larger side-to-side motion along the X axis helps pull out filament more strongly than the extruder can alone.
They say it hasn’t changed but it has…
Initially with the plastic spools my prints were fantastic, I was melting through spools like crazy, print after print after print was perfect… until I got a the new stuff with a cardboard spool… same file same settings that I have been using for months all of a sudden started failing, I stuck it in a dry box for 24 hours at 55C for good measures. Still same results. My creality sprite direct drive extruder stopped printing it, I scrambled to buy a micro Swiss NG extruder and it finally prints again but the under extrusion issues I still chase today on my sprite extruder shouldn’t be happening, first photo with the blue ring is with the microswiss, the other 2 were me chasing the problem with the settings I’ve been using for months and with ninjaflex 85A… I wish I knew of a solution to get back to perfect prints or maybe I’m asking to much of the filament ? I just wished I knew the magic formula to get a continuous flow from my extruder. Im only allowed to print at 20mm/s with the microswiss NG Currently with 0.8mm retraction at 30mm/s my temps are also at 230C and no bed heat
Very nice flexible filament. VERY flexible. Requires a direct drive extruder.
Although I am still tweaking this filament in (and having to do a bit of cleaning on my primary printer prior to doing some extended prints) all of my tests so far have been excellent. In terms of flexibility, this filament is VERY flexible -- very close to the original Ninjaflex type. As a result, if you only have a Bowden tube setup (especially with the original Creality Ender/CR series style extruder), the odds of you being able to get this to print reliably are near zero. To print this reliably you are going to need a direct drive setup and an extruder with a constrained filament path like a Titan or BMG. My own setup uses a Titan in a direct drive configuration and I had no problem with it jamming. Although this filament does come nicely vacuum sealed, for best print results, I still recommend drying it for a while before printing (and preferably keeping it in a dry box during printing). The manufacturer also suggests this. TPU in general just tends to absorb moisture very easily and, based on personal experience, the softer the TPU, the worse this tends to be. When printed, this has about the consistency of a TPU gel cellphone case, or maybe even a tad softer. My results with printing yielded quite a bit of stringing on the inside of the part, but that is almost unavoidable with TPU, especially if you are wanting to optimize for good layer adhesion and part strength. In my case, I printed a replacement center axel for my vacuum cleaner wheel. When printed at 100% infill, this TPU is rigid enough for that application but flexible enough in the snap on tip (which has a hole in the center) to be able to compress enough to press into place. To print this, I ran it at 250C nozzle, 60C bed (glass with glue stick, and bed adhesion was great) at 25mm/s, no fan, 102% flow. The surface finish on the top and bottom came out looking frosted, but the sides came out surprisingly transparent (looking almost like clear bathroom caulk does when dry). From a strength standpoint, the resulting part was great and bonded together so tightly that I couldn't physically tear it apart with pliers (I had to cut off some of the supports using wire snips, as I couldn't pull hard enough to get them to tear off without slipping out of the tip of my needle nose pliers). Once I get my main printer cleaned and back up and running, I plan to try printing some flip flops with this and will update the review with the results, but for now, I am very pleased with this filament and would happily recommend it.