Avoiding 3D Printing filament tangles & MasterSpool V4 update

Let's discuss the fear of 3D Printing filament tangles.

And how best to avoid them.

Before I bore you all to death with more MasterSpool related content, this is probable going to be my last post about the subject for quite a while. The project is in a good place, with users and manufacturers deciding to get involved. I want to see how it evolves, but more importantly I want to get back onto all my other projects, that got put on hold for the last few months.

This post is also an overview of the MasterSpool Version 4 update - see below and in the video.

Future projects - 
I'll have some new developments, machines, materials, projects and ideas to share with you in the coming months, I hope you continue to read, view and generally enjoy what I'm doing here with 3D Printing.

I'm trying hard to branch out and get involved with even more aspects of 3D printing this year.

Above is a sneak peek at one of the projects we did as a family for Valentines day 2018

Next time I'll have a number of Valentines projects I did with the whole family. It was really great fun exploring with 'mixed media' and getting everyone involved. 3D printing plays a big part, but it's just one of many processes we used for making valentine related useful objects. - more on that soon.

MasterSpool V4 - 

The one thing that the MasterSpool project has taught me it that quite a lot of people (that post comments on YouTube) have a lot of fears of things not working, failures and generally expect new things to probably be bad (and no use to them unless it saves them money!).

In the video I want to talk about MasterSpool V4 and also one of the last remaining fears people seem to have about using 3D printing filament from a refill system. - The almost irrational FEAR of tangles.

I seem to have spent just as much time talking about why it's okay to try out new things, and that it's going to be fine, as I have actually designing, using and talking about MasterSpool.

But in many ways, I guess that's to be expected - this is starting to disrupt things a little...

You can watch the video above - or over on YouTube in Full HD 
Please also subscribe to my channel if you would like more 3D printing content in the future, thanks.

V4 was driven from and for the community - thanks to everyone that has supported the open standard and provided feedback, advice and tested out the system.

First V4 test print using the BCN3D Sigma (0.4mm nozzle) and the LulzBot TAZ 6 (0.5mm nozzle)

One of the first modifications was to make V4 easier to print with bigger nozzles and chunky layer heights - the text on the spool has been modified to allow nozzles from 0.4mm to 1.2mm to be used.

First the three positions for the tie-wraps were opened up and cut into the side of the spool - this makes it much easier to fit and remove the refill coils.

Double sided 'velcro' straps can also be used.

You can use normal tie-wraps (zip-ties) or reusable tie-wraps as shown in the images above.

More 1.75mm filament end storage was added - now three locations around the spool. And the 2.85mm / 3mm clip was also modified to provide a spring hold of the end - allowing stacking without interference.

The sides of the spool were also flattened to allow bearing mount spool holders to work well.

Generally other rounded edges were also removes to speed up print time.

The label position is still in Version 4 - this seems to be quite a useful aspect to the refill spool system.

Many other smaller changes have also made the spool stronger and faster to print.

Print settings I use - 

18% infill using PLA or PETG

Two perimeters (with a 0.4mm or 0.5mm nozzle)

Hex infill patters (Slic3r)

0.2mm or 0.25mm layer height.

Small brim of 1.5mm

Magigoo on a PEI sheet

The second most asked question - 

Where Can I buy refill coils for MasterSpool - 

You can buy Refill filament coils from Das Filament in Germany (they do worldwide shipping) -

https://www.dasfilament.de/filament-refill/

I have no affiliation with Das Filament, the link is provided as people are constantly asking me where to buy MasterSpool coil refills from ! And be quick - they seem to sell out really fast after a new batch is added.

The third most asked question I get is about the filament refill coil dimensions, I have now added an overview and dimension PDF document to the V4 downloads - 

V4 Masterspool files are on Youmagine - https://www.youmagine.com/designs/masterspool-for-3d-printing-filament-v4

And Version 4 on Thingiverse - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2769823

Not bored of MasterSpool content? 
Then check out these other opinions from more makers here -

Tom has a great vlog on the Masterspool (V3, but it's still good fun to watch) -

3DMakerNoob has also been printing out MasterSpools with all his loos-ends - watch it here -

C.R.T also posted his video on the V3 MasterSpool - the same day I updated to V4 -

If you have any feedback at all, do leave a message, comment or discuss it with me over on Twitter. Feel free to use the hashtag #MasterSpool - I'll try to catch them for an update post in the future.

Thanks for reading, see you next time.

Rich.

Please join me on Twitter @RichRap3D

My profile and posts over on Google+

Files and designs shared on YouMagine

Files and designs shared on Thingiverse

Files and designs shared on GitHub

Files and designs shared on Repables 

My Youtube channel is here, all 3D Printing and Hi-Def video content.

3D Printing Adventures Summer 2017 update

Summer is coming up fast, so here is an update on my current and future 3D Printing adventures.

Firstly the 3D Printing for Dummies book has now been issued as a revised and updated Second Edition, I was surprised to receive the author copies as I was not expecting it to be published until mid-late summer.

But here it is, and thank you to everyone who contributed to it's updates and revisions. Also a big thank you to my co-author Kirk and the great team at Wiley for making this update happen.

Some really great projects, printers and material updates have been added to the book, along with a lot of updated topic's and sectors where 3D printing is growing.

I can only find a USA link for the new version, but worldwide stocks should be available soon if you wish to buy a copy. And if you do, thank you.

I go over a lot of updates in the video below, and here is also a quick-jump index if there is something specific you want to hear about -

Quick jump index -
00:50 - 3D Printing for Dummies (2nd Edition)
02:10 - The Olsson RUBY Nozzle
02:26 - The Sorceress - printed with the Ruby
02:40 - Pongo PLA - interesting translucent white
03:20 - PEI Print bet 3M sheet from AndOrNot
03:50 - Fuel3D Scanner is no longer for sale :(
05:15 - Polymaker Polysher & Polysmooth Kickstarter
06:08 - Glitter machine...
08:27 - Sigma R17 Noodle catcher upgrade
09:25 - Learning SharkCAD3D V10
10:00 - 100% Recycled Filament by ReFlow

You can also find this and more on my YouTube channel in HD over here

Olsson Ruby nozzle - 

I was very excited to receive an Olsson Ruby nozzle for testing, this is an upgrade I have been fascinated about for some time. I'll be doing a lot more testing, but the initial results are very smooth and it's printing really well on the Prusa i3 MK2.

The construction is quite simple, but exceptionally engineered. This has a real ruby embedded inside the tip of the hot-end with a 0.4mm nozzle hole.

The back is plugged and then drilled out to allow a 1.75mm or 2.85mm filament path.

They are E3D and Ultimaker Olsson block compatible.

It's easy to fit - as always, be careful with fitting, and I would certainly advise to lock the heater block and thermal break down on to the nozzle, rather than trying to screw the nozzle tight into the heater block directly. 

When fitting any E3D nozzle I always leave a small gap with the nozzle because for the E3D V6 the stainless steel thermal break is designed to lock flat to the nozzle, not for the nozzle to seal against the heater block.

This image does not do justice to the great model by Louise Driggers (The Sorceress) you can get it from Pinshape here  but I wanted to show a print from the Olsson nozzle - this is printed at 0.2mm layers in Fillamentum  PLA Rapunzel Silver

The finished print quality looks like you would expect from a 0.15mm layer height. But I will do a lot more testing with the Ruby nozzle - especially with filled and composite filaments.

Many thanks to Pongo for the 'water clear PLA' filament sample. We had a discussion over on Twitter about this material - I'm looking for translucent white (not clear, but also not opaque) filaments to use as Optical LED light guides. This looks very promising, I'll update you on the results.

Andrew from AndOrNot sent me over a new sample (Test) bed material (3M sticky-backed PEI Sheer) - It's going to be fitted to the Sigma R17 glass bed so I can print PETG without damaging the glass build surface.


Polymaker Polysher (Kickstarter)

I'll have a dedicated post all about the Polysher and Polysmooth materials, I have done a lot with the machine and am impressed with the results, here is a quick overview example below -

The Polysher and Polysmooth materials are now becoming available around the world. For an overview and feedback from early users, do take a look at the Kickstarter here.

Don't print at these high (210 - 230) temperatures! - Really it's way too high - I'm printing around 190 for 55mm/sec print speeds and that produces great results without micro-bubbles or angel-hair.

I'll talk more about temperature and print settings for Polysmooth in the next blog post and video, but do take a look at the simple temperature test above - and as it's a constant speed spirial vase, no retractions or pauses were experienced, so it's a good test for material temperature stability.

Before (Top) and After smoothing (Bottom) - This was a 'draft mode ' print made quickly at 0.2mm layers - it's quite small and detailed, but the Polysmooth helped make it a really great finish.

Voronoi D Tower 

Math Art by Dizingof

www.3dizingof.com/3D-Printing/

Testing out the transparent Polysmooth - Above shows both Clear and white - they both become flat smooth, but the internal layer lines remain for the clear material, the surface feels smooth for both.

Another example above - white, natural and clear, smoothed in IPA for around 35 minutes. Make sure you watch out for fluff and dust because it'll stick and bond into the surface finish (see lower left above).

Above model - https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:11687

Designed by  Mark Durbin (MakeALot)

For Sigma R17 and TAZ6 updates, do check out the video above. I'll have a lot more on these machines, projects and developments over the summer.

SharkCAD3D V10 - 

I have also been learning a new 3D CAD package (SharkCAD 3D V10) From Punchcad )

So far I'm really impressed with this package, It's amazingly powerful and has a lot of great 3D printing features for both design and model processing. I'll be posting a lot more about this package as I learn how to use it over the following months (and years) - This is going to be my new CAD software for all existing and future developments from this point on.

If anyone is interested in me posting some training video's or anything specific about this software, and it's capabilities, do let me know. It'll help me learn, and after doing a lot of screen-casting last summer I would like to do more.

Punchcad also have ViaCAD 2D/3D and many other SharkCAD packages at very low to high price points, so something for every maker or 3D design professional. I would encourage you to check them out, if for no other reason than the fact I accidentally stumbled over them, and was amazed I didn't already know they existed.

It's still early days for me learning the tools and user interface, but I'm quite sure you will be pleasantly surprised if you decide to try out the trial software or buy a version (Mac and PC available).


Quad Extruder printing? - 

I also hope to receive my Quad extruder upgrade for the Prusa i3 MK2 at some point in the next month. The Prusa team have quite a big backlog of orders and I didn't place my order until October, so the September shipments are going out first. I'll keep you updated on the progress with that, but I'm excited to get hold of it and experiment with multi-materials and colours.

ReForm Recycled filaments - 

And just as I was editing this video and blog post, I received some really nice 100% fully recycled 3D Printing filaments - You can find out more here - > ReForm by Formfutura

Cardboard spools, 100% recycled rPET, rPLA and rTitan materials. It's exactly what I have been asking suppliers to make for many years now.

I'm really impressed that Formfutura have managed to manufacture these materials, I hope they print well and I also hope more manufacturers will also think about sustainable materials and packaging for 3D printing filament consumables.

I'll let you know very soon how I get on with these materials, spools and how they perform in various 3D printers.

I hope that was a useful update, lots more to come from me this summer -  do comment and please subscribe to my YouTube channel for more 3D printing adventures soon.

Thanks for reading and watching.

Rich.

Please join me on Twitter @RichRap3D   -  https://twitter.com/RichRap3D

Google+ - https://plus.google.com/u/0/+RichardHorne_RichRap3D/posts

Files and designs shared on YouMagine - https://www.youmagine.com/users/richrap

Files and designs shared on GitHub – https://github.com/RichRap

Files and designs shared on Repables - http://repables.com/u/richrap/

My Youtube channel is here, all 3D Printing and Hi-Def video content.

Trying a different type of 3D Printing video update - need feedback

Hi everyone,

I'm trying to get some feedback on the way I do things - please help - thanks.

I thought I would try a slightly different type of 3D Printing update - I'm still trying to work out how I should continue with project updates / review's and advice about 3D Printers / materials and stuff.

Feel free to give me any feedback - good points / bad points and any ideas of what you would like to see from a 3D Printing YouTube Channel and/or blog etc.

I keep on going with the Blog because sometimes a video can be a great end result and a blog can be easier to follow and read. Blog posts do require many times more work than a quick update video, so I'm trying to find the balance - Do you read my Blog posts? of just watch my videos?

In the past many of my blog posts were considered too long (big developments / review's ) or TLDR.

I don't want to fall into the trap of doing great long video's (unless that's something people want) - under 15 minutes seems like a good level.

Maybe I should do more 5 minute ones? (Even this one below turned out longer than I expected, but is short 'news' actually useful?)

I'm currently updating YouTube, Blogger, Twitter and G+ and often that seems like too much.

I have no interest in posting to Facebook - is that wrong?

Anyway back to the point of this post - A roundup of things that are going on in the community, and projects / products, components and materials I'm looking at right now -

Or watch on YouTube in HD here - and please consider subscribing to my channel, thanks.

In this video I talk a little about the following and more - 

The E3D Titan extruder and EDGE filaments - http://e3d-online.com/Titan-Extruder

Also supporting Support Gina Häußge with Octoprint https://patreon.com/foosel

 

Tom's 3DP. http://toms3d.org/ 
Tom's Youtube channel - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCb8R...

 

And congratulations Nils on the new baby Zelda :)

WIO Link - Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

The OLO 3DPrinter - Kickstarter https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...

Discussing Core XY / XZ / YE - that needs much more discussion...




Please let me know what you think. I really appreciate it.

And remember to check out Gina's Patreon funding for ongoing Octoprint development -

Cheers,

Rich.

Development update & meeting people at Madrid+Berlin 3D Printshows

It's been longer than I wanted for an update, I will try to get more frequently posting.

Roger Eueda - BCN3D Technologies at the Madrid 3D Printshow

2015 has been a busy start to the 3D Printing year. More shows, machines and materials releases dominate almost every single week of the calendar.

I recently visited the Madrid and Berlin 3D Printshows. These shows are now attracting a lot of different exhibitors and also a very wide variety of user interested in learning more about 3D printing and it's uses.

The questions from people or all ages and backgrounds are fascinating, we are definitely moving forwards with understanding of 3D print technology and it's current capabilities. The biggest observation I can make is that the low-end desktop market is being left behind and the gap between professional machines and services is getting ever wider.

When you look at the ever increasing applications of 3D printing that are being exploited many are beyond the capabilities of desktop machines. 3D Selfi's and mini-me prints are being produced in full colour sandstone or with Mcor based Iris paper printers. People expect this, not a single colour plastic model with low detail.

Mass customisation is quickly being taken seriously by big businesses, and the use of 3D printing is a channel to unique gifts and value added services beyond the mass market one-size fits all.

I do think we are reaching a saturation point with desktop 3D printers. And while new technologies like Carbon3D offer slightly different directions and speed enhancements, the lack of full colour and materials other than thermoplastic's is going to continue to hold us back.

Extremely low cost machines keep on appearing, and disappearing... time will tell if these constant attempts to 'break the mass market' do more harm than good. I'm not so sure, the eco-system is still not quite ready I fear.

Development Update - 

(Sorry for the total lack of images below - I'm just trying to get this long overdue update published before April 1st so you don't think it's a Joke!) - It's not!

My own 3D printing developments over the last 3 months have been interesting, I have plenty to share with you. I'll post more about these projects as soon as I can - 

Paste Extruder V4 - Large capacity and both heated and cold paste material printing. Exciting stuff.

The resurrection of a filament manufacturing machine (filament extruder) - An unhappy (almost dead) and under-powered Extruderbot was very kindly donated by the Fantastic 3D Filaprint team, it was fun to re-engineer and re-build and allows me now to experiment with composite materials, blends and some more unusual ideas.

An exploration in Resin 3D printing - I have made a number of experiments and designs for a RepRap Resin printer called 3DRip - lots more on this, it's still in development so I plan to post all the success and failures too of getting it running. Lots of new directions to take this too, faster and higher quality printing.

Experiments with Wax printing - Just started this one. I'm looking for anyone that's interested in wax as a 3D printing material. It's amazing stuff and I think we can do a lot more with it - let me know if you want to collaborate.

Lots of materials - New materials continue to pour onto the market. I'm testing as many as I can.

Part 2 of 3D Printing bed materials - I have some new materials to try out and I finally bought a sheet of BuildTak material at the Berlin show. I have heard good things to looking forward to testing it out.

I also finally met with other members of the 3D printing community who I have wanted to meet for such a long time. (Lots more people I didn't get a picture with, I will be more organised next time).

Florian Horsch (HypeCask) and Kay Parthy (of Lay filaments ) 

Nils Hitze (All3DP) and  Sabastian Karpp (Yeggi 3D)

Richard Curtis - Adobe - Presenting the 3D Printing capabilities of Photoshop CC - It's mighty impressive too.

Finally met with the BQ Team in Madrid - Juan Gonzalez and Alberto Valero

The shows were very good, and definitely the best way to meet people and discuss ideas.

I will post more about the shows, machines and people I met, but for now this gives you a taste of what's to come this year. Hopefully I'll meet more of the community and get to discuss 3D printing development over a beer or two. 

I'm also planning to be back in Barcelona real soon to meet many more of you :) - More on that shortly.

Berlin - And all ready to go Rachel Park, Kerry Hogarth & me - Photo by Claire Russell-Jones

It's not all just fun :) Lots of background work goes into making these events packed with high quality installations, talks and products on show.

Thomas Sanladerer caught up with me at the Berlin 3D Printshow for a discussion on current technology and what's new. That question actually totally stumped me, and I was surprised how hard it was to point out actual new innovation or development going on in the desktop market.

So much that it made me really ponder where we would be in the next 5 years. More on that in a future post.

Here is Tom's video - and before you ask - I was thinking 'Ultimaker' & 'Printrbot' and it came out as Makerbot ! I'm sorry... Catch Tom's Youtube channel here for lots more 3DPrinting videos.

Meanwhile in the USA - 

The Midwest RepRap Festival (MRRF 2015) was going on over in the US (Goshen, IN) organised by SeeMeCNC, and sponsored by many great other companies and communities. I'm really disappointed to have missed out on going over, but the timing and time off work just was not on my side this year.

This video from E3D is a great intro to the amazing and complex task of making a production extruder hot-end (that actually work well). The guys at E3D are world leaders in this area and actually do research, testing and devote both their awake time and dreams to making the worlds best hot-ends.

John Olafson has shared a lot more of the great video's over on his Youtube channel here

Disruptive Magazine - 

I'm also writing articles for the newly launched Disruptive magazine, you can download and read the very first issue here. - Let me me know what you think, good and bad. The main aim is to cut out the hype and talk about both 3D printing and it's uses in a calm and sensible way.

Read Issue 1 PDF here

So you won't find any "Worlds first/smallest/fastest 3D Printed (insert anything)" headlines in the magazine or on the disruptive website - we all have enough of that already. 

And a quick shout out to one rather fantastic new 3D printing company was at the Berlin 3D Printshow. Showing what can only be described as a 1960's 'Hotrod Fridge' with a 3D Printer inside.

This was Aye Aye labs - From Poland. A new startup with design flair and inspiration from classic Hotrods and American diners of the 50's and 60's.

I'm sure Aye Aye labs are going to find their market and do very well in the coming months.

I'll be at the London 3D Printshow if you want to say hello or discuss 3D Printing, look out for the Disruptive Knowledge bar and Makerspaces.

Another update soon.

Rich.

Yearly review of my Rep-Rapping adventures Sep2010 -> Sep2011

Wow! that went quickly. Review Sep 2010 - > Sep2011

I have some really interesting things planned for the next 12 months rep-rapping, but here is a round-up of my adventures in the last 12 months -

Starting out -
When I first started I made a few incorrect assumptions about the available DIY 3D printers out there, this initially led me to design and build my Screwball-Bot, very strong, highly accurate, but quite slow and VERY heavy.

My advice to anyone thinking about making 'the ultimate', 'strong' 3D printer out of T-slot and ballscrews, don't do it. It's just way overkill, I really enjoyed making Screwball-Bot and I have a really cool plan for it's ongoing use but a Prusa Mendel is almost as accurate, much faster and much easier to build.

If you want a 3D printer make a Prusa Mendel. but if you really want (and need) to be able to Mill/CNC then maybe T-slot and ballscrews are still a good option for you, but think if you will ever really do that when you have a 3D printer? I have never bothered with Subtractive / CNC machining even though I have a machine that could do it really well.
And if you don't fancy sourcing all the parts for making a Prusa, check out the eMaker Huxley, it's a lovely machine (I have one) and is a great way to start on your journey into DIY 3D printing.

Screwball-Bot Links - Concept, Design, Build-up, Wiring, Bowden_Extruder, Test, Printed Results with Reprap Host,  printed results with Skeinforge, Multicolour Printing

Most popular Blog posts -
According to the stats my most popular Blog post is on Skeinforge V41, it now needs an update and maybe a few more details about how to refine settings and what some of the other functions do so maybe I should do an updated one, and as many people now use SFACT maybe that's also worth a write-up.
* We have Skeinforge V42 just landed officially, that's going to be fun - check out the SKIN function* -

Polycarbonate Printing has rocketed up to the number 2 spot.

The other most popular posts are my DIY hot-end and the high-power hot-end
The Filament joiner
Colour 3D printing
Pimp my Mendel - Mendel *Bling*
Masterclass event Organised by eMaker
Bowden Extruder and 1.75mm Push-fit Hot-end

Not many people showed much interest in the Microscopy I did on extruded filament, which is a shame as I thought that was quite neat and I need to do some more to help with understanding the Polycarbonate printing process.

Multicolour printing (Layer selective colour printing) -

 

One of my most interesting adventure was into colour printing, this was always planned from the very start and now we are seeing all sorts of new ways to do this, so it's going to be really fun watching future progress in this area.

My particular way was to join sections of coloured filament together (with my filament joiner)
And as far as I know at least one other person has managed to do the same, with cool results.

Printed by Lenbok

And as Rep-G now has a Dual extruder option, things like these below are starting to pop-up.

Take a look at this 2 colour 3D Globe 

Prusa Mendel's -
Building them is addictive, they are just so neat, and it's great helping people build them up.
My collection is growing.
My original Bath Mendel that's currently being upgraded.
And the pimped-up Mendel *BLING* is working well.
My eMaker Huxley Machine (Number 8) - Blog post on this planned.
Shortly the British Mendel will be posted, I'm planning on that machine to accommodate a dual extruder
And then after that who knows, but I'm really enjoying watching progress with the Vertical X carriage challenge by bryanandaimee and I have some other ideas for a 'Hybrid Prusa'
All of my machines have built-in Filament holders, it's quickly the first problem anyone faces after getting the printer working.

Firmware -
I'm only really using Sprinter because of the SDCARD support and the fact it works really, really well and is very easy to understand.
Many others are worth watching, but for me until they have SDCARD support I don't have time to test them.

Electronics -
This would have been an obvious area for me to develop, but so many people are working on hardware enhancements at the moment I'm more than happy to use what's already available.

I have not tried Gen 6 or Gen 7 and don't really see a personal need to use them, the SDCARD support of RAMPS and Sanguinololu electronics are really important to me, so I'm looking forward to any new hardware with local memory or SD support the connection to the PC is becoming much less important.
LCD displays and menu / navigation keys are also increasing in use.

Extruder's -
Again, at the start I believed that I could make the 'ultimate' Extruder, and I believe 'this design' is good and works extremely well as a Bowden set-up. But for Prusa Mendel I would recommend you start with Greg's excellent accessable WADE style and as I have done, then refine aspects for what you need.

Hot-Ends (and cool/cold zones) -
It sometimes looks like Everyone tries to make their own Hot-ends when starting out, (It's the most searched term on my blog stats) it is a critical area of the machine and can have such a massive effect on reliability and quality.
I have made quite a few now and I'm still not completely happy with all aspects but for what it's worth my current angle on this is to use 2 x 10Ohm 3W resistor's in parallel for heating element, a triangle shaped heating block and a PTFE liner (tube) for filament transport that goes right from the hot-end to just short of the Hobbed bolt inside the extruder body.
I Still use PEEK (and PTFE) as the cool transition zone but any new investigations will start to use Stainless steel (and other materials) as the 'cool' zone.
And use these Thermistors, they are so much easier than the tiny ones normally used.

I also have a little fan duct for assisting the cool-end that's designed to fit onto Greg's X-Carriage, this really helps quality and is essential for extreme long-running print runs or build-plates.

Plastic (Filament) -
I have found out a lot about plastic and still have so many more things to learn and experiment with in this area, but for a status so-far I can say the following -

PLA - (Start with PLA), it's easy to extrude and gives good results. My favourite PLA supply is from Faberdashery, it's simply the best filament I have used to date, dimensionally excellent between different colours and batches, colour intensity and choice is amazing and it extrudes so smoothly, no blobs, less ooze and no bubbles and best of all it's not brittle - (I have now used and tested many colours from 8 different PLA suppliers all over the world - a future Blog post planned on this).

ABS - I use it for Extruder's, X-carriages and Y bearing holders and I don't like using it. yes you can get some funky colours but it's annoyingly softer than PLA so I personally tend to get more filament drive issues (clogged hobbed bolts usually) I need to find a nicer way to use it more, but it's not my preferable material.
Again tried 5 different suppliers so far and usable quality seems more of an issue with ABS than with PLA.

Polycarbonate - I'm still testing and not very many (any?) people seem to have used it in DIY 3D printing, but WOW! it's strong and could be the very best material to use for machine-part Rep-rapping, very interesting. - And thanks to everyone that has contacted me about the Blog post and testing, I have had a tremendous response and it's great to see so many enthusiastic and supportive people involved in this wonderful project. Thank you.

PC-ABS - Still to test this mix, the intention is to lower the required extruding temperature.

Other materials - stay tuned, some more are planned (I'm also open to ideas?)

Meeting people (other rep-rappers) 'in real life' -
It was a good year for sharing, we had a really great Masterclass weekend organised by Jean-Marc of eMaker and for me the West of England RepRap user group is starting to get organised and planning to meet regularly.

I can't wait to see what we all do in the next year, it's going to be great!

Resources and contact-
My Youtube channel is here, all HI-Def video content.
Thingiverse Here
You can find me on the Reprap Forum (PM me if you want to make contact)
eMaker forum
Reprap Wiki
And at some point soon I'll find time to try IRC
Should I bother with twitter?

I love reading other people's Blogs, far too many to list, but thanks to all the re-rappers that have helped, problem-solved, discussed or generally inspired me to be part of this great project.

So if you have managed to read this far down I would really like to hear from you on what you would like me to investigate, design, experiment with over the next year? I don't have infinite time or resources, but I'm interested and up for any challenge connected to 3D printing.

Also this would be a great time to tell me what you like and dislike about my Blog posts or content?

Any feedback greatly appreciated.

I wonder what 2012 will bring to our industry? Predictions anyone?

Rich.