Formfutura Launches MetalFil Filaments: Ancient Bronze and Classic Copper

Dutch 3D printing material developer and manufacturer, Formfutura, has just released two new filaments: MetalFil Ancient Bronze and MetalFil Classic Copper.

The PLA-based filaments are filled with 80% metal powders, which makes objects printed on your FDM device almost indistinguishable from genuine bronze and copper objects, Formfutura claims. Additionally, printed designs are extremely suitable for post processing.

Here are some instructions on how to post process objects printed with MetalFil Ancient Bronze filament:

Brushing and/or sand grinding
Once printed MetalFil™ objects can very easily be brushed with a brass brush or sanded with a fine grid sandpaper. By brushing and/or sand grinding your printed object you will brush/shine up the high concentration of bronze powders.

Build-in white polish feature
After being brushed and/or sanded MetalFil™ will reveal its white polish feature. A very thin white layer/haze on your object will now allow you to easily polish your 3D print into a beautiful bronze object.

Professional polishing with a rotary tumbler
Post processing a MetalFil™ 3D printed object with a rotary tumbler will make your FDM 3D printed object indistinguishable from genuine bronze casted objects.

Patina post processing
You can create several patina effects on MetalFil™ – 3D printed objects in just one day time. With an ammonia and soda treatment (for bronze) and a soldering fluid (for copper) you can for instance easily create a beautiful ancient blue or green weathering effect on your respective MetalFil™ printed object.

Waxing and coating
After every above mentioned post-processing measure you can always wax or coat your printed object to get an incredible shine effect. Waxing can be done with products such as beeswax and for coating one can think of products such as XTC-3D.

The new filaments are available on Formfutura’s website  as of June 20th.