Finally got the Box Turtle AFC mostly dialed in, yay multicolor!

Our multimedia dept lends out this card game, and I guess the thin cardboard box fell apart? So they asked for a sturdier one. Made from 100% ASTM6691-certified biodegradable PHA of course.

#3dprinting #PHA #makerspace #library #TacoCatGoatCheesePizza @3dprinting@lemmy.world

PHA seems to work pretty well in the AFC. It's not super prone to shattering into a million pieces, the way some materials can be (especially when old and/or moist). The only notable issue is that, due to the very slow hardening, sometimes the "kick" procedure breaks the purge in half instead of knocking it into the purge bucket. I think I just need to add a "dwell" command to the macro between purge and kick, to give it a little more time.

The yellow and black filaments are both from the "Terraform" line of PHA by HartSmart, who I'm pretty sure is sourcing their base materials from EcoGenesis. The pink filament is from the "LooPHA" line by PHA Eco Goods, and is blended with real sakura blossoms.

Also, the Box Turtle is the only AFC I've ever built, so I don't have anything for comparison, but... it was awful!! What terrible tolerances on those printed parts! Honestly quite surprised I ever got it working at all, let alone this well.

That's a weird combo of pizza toppings

It's not all pizza toppings. Lol. It's a case of a silly card game.

Agreed lol, "Taco Cat Goat" sounds like something a bougie gourmet SoHo cheesemaker would make. I bet it'd be good on a pizza though

Yooooo nice! Congrats!

Pizza is indeed a wild pizza topping.

Never heard of PHA, do you like using it?

I love it, yeah. There are some hiccups, don't get me wrong... it warps as bad as ABS, and not many people sell the pure stuff. But:

• It's non-toxic.
• It's biodegradable.
• It smells really nice! kinda like... play-doh?
• It's realllyyy strong!
• It's got this weird-but-nice texture, almost more leather than plastic.
• It never jams my hotend.

Are jams really that common anymore? I've got around 2500-3000h of print time on my two printers and I've never had a jam or clog on any of them.

That game hurts when you play it on a hard surface XD

It depends I guess. How many different types of material are you switching between, and how often? We commonly use PLA, PHA, ABS, ASA, HIPS, PETG, TPU, PP-GF, PA-CF, BVOH, and occasionally a few others/composites/etc. Some of them really don't play nice with each other either.

PLA, PETG, ASA, ASA-CF, PET, PETG-CF and on rare occasions TPU85A, with the first 3 being the "regulars"

You must have your stuff pretty well dialed in then, congrats! We don't get like a lot of jams, but since we print for so many patrons, the machines are just kinda always running. So it's relatively rare, but it still happens

is it uv resistant? As in, can I print something for my garden with it?

ColorFabb claims that it is, but I've never looked into it! It'd be nice to know

EDIT: found a comment from the person who makes the Ecogenesis stuff, about testing the UV resistance of another brand (Beyond Plastic, now defunct).