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Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 2nd, 2017, 1:27 pm
by LePaul
https://ninjatek.com/products/filaments/cheetah/

I bought some sample packs (different colors) to try out, since it is supposed to be easier to print with (there's an Ultimaker in the display photo!)

I need to print some small tires for the drive system that keep's BB-8's dome on the body

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 2nd, 2017, 2:41 pm
by Izzy
I've printed with NinjaFlex and semiflex but not cheetah, yet ;-)

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 2nd, 2017, 2:48 pm
by LePaul
It's supposed to be a little stiffer than Semiflex to work better with Bowden setups like ours

The printing guidelines seem pretty basic, I just wasn't sure if any changes should be made for retractions (distance/speed)

Code: Select all

Extruder Temperature:  230°C – 240°C 
Platform Temperature: Room temperature – 40°C
Glue or blue painters tape is suggested if not using a heated bed.
Print Speed: 
Top and bottom layers: 30-45 mm/ sec (1800-2700 mm/ min)
Infill speeds: 60-80 mm/ sec (3600-4800 mm/ min)
Layer 2+ use cooling fan if available.

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 2:25 am
by Izzy
Looking at the spec it has a narrow temperature range but it is likely that it would print from 220,
Speed wise I would stick to 30mm/s for all and reduce retractions to about 1- 2mm enough to take the pressure off.

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 1:26 pm
by LePaul
I was advised to uncheck Retractions for it by a vendor whose printed something similar on his UM3

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 3rd, 2017, 2:02 pm
by Izzy
Yes but you may get some drips, another thing to do is add a little sewing machine oil to reduce filament friction in the Bowden tube, the nozzle heat is high enough to burn it off and I've not noticed any real degradation of the printed part.

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 11:02 pm
by LePaul
I saw a post on the UM forum that gave these suggestions...

CURA:
Layer Height - 0.1mm
Print Speed - 45mm/s
Travel Speed - 120mm/s
Combing - All
Print Cooling - 50%, layer 1
Retraction - Disabled
UM2:
Nozzle Temp - 222ºC
Buildplate Temp - 0ºC
Material Diameter - 2.9mm
Material Flow - 103%

I am finding that's too fast, so doing another attempt at 20 mm/sec

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 8th, 2017, 11:25 pm
by Anders Olsson
I think the ninjaflex cheetah is rather similar to the Ultimaker TPU95A, so it should work okay if you don't print too fast.

I have been printing the TPU95A on the UM3 in a dual print with retractions and it came out okay.
One should increase the retraction distance to avoid oozing though, which I didn't do.

The TPU95A is much less flexible than the "normal" ninjaflex, certainly makes it easier to use in a bowden printer, but also limit's its usefulness a bit.

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 12:49 pm
by LePaul
Well this stuff is fussy

My first try I got this "seam" (maybe bad overhang?) along the wheel...looks like some of my previous orange filament is seen in the bottom layer :)
cheetah.jpg
Try two was a lot slower but it came off the bed. Maybe bed to 50? 60? Like PLA? I had it at 40
cheetah2.jpg
It looks really good until it hits this point...
cheetah3.jpg

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: August 9th, 2017, 4:18 pm
by LePaul
Okay, so the key is two things (in addition to what I posted earlier)

Nozzle Temp: 235
Speed: 10 mm/s

Oh..and bed to 45C
cheetah-tire.JPG

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: October 3rd, 2018, 2:37 pm
by FerGazz
LePaul wrote: August 8th, 2017, 11:02 pm I saw a post on the UM forum that gave these suggestions...

CURA:
Layer Height - 0.1mm
Print Speed - 45mm/s
Travel Speed - 120mm/s
Combing - All
Print Cooling - 50%, layer 1
Retraction - Disabled
UM2:
Nozzle Temp - 222ºC
Buildplate Temp - 0ºC
Material Diameter - 2.9mm
Material Flow - 103%

I am finding that's too fast, so doing another attempt at 20 mm/sec
Agree, 45mm is too much for flexibles in UM2+... I'm working with 20-22mm/s max. And keep speed equal for all stuffs, including Z-speed, to keep it constaint. I made a profile in S3D that is working pretty good with Fillamentum 98A... if someone would give it a try just let me know.
Most of the time I don't turn on retractions but when the model is easy I live it with a longer minimum distance for retraction.

There is a cool option in advanced tab to enable when retraction is off... in moviment behavior enable "avoid crossing outline for travel moves" (set to around 2mm) it doesn't work for all models but it leaves much less stringing and cleaner apperance, make sure that it work for an specific model in the preview. If your flex is old you need to dry it first... it absorve much more moisture that I imagine.

Re: Has anyone used NinjaTek Cheetah?

Posted: October 9th, 2018, 12:38 pm
by LePaul
I wonder if that's a newer feature from when I tried?

I really wish Ultimaker did some tutorial videos or some expanded documentation on Cura (asides to PR releases when a new version is out)

There's a lot tucked away in there and unless you are a really avid user, in it every day, the average person tends to miss it.