The print core type CC is specially designed to print with composite materials on S series printers. The CC print core is available with nozzle sizes 0.4 and 0.6 mm. These cores are abrasion-resistant and can be used with a wide variety of composite materials, such as glass fiber, carbon fiber, or metal-filled filaments.
Printer compatibility
The CC print cores are compatible with S series printers, including the UltiMaker S3, S5, and S7. These printers are prepared for printing abrasive materials; the knurled wheels in the S series feeders are made of a hard material with a special coating to minimize wear due to composite materials.
The CC cores can also be used on an UltiMaker S5 or UltiMaker S7 in combination with a Material Station. The prefeeders in the Material Station also contain abrasion-resistant knurled wheels. However, please note that not all composite materials can be printed reliably with the Material Station. The extrusion path in the Pro Bundle contains more bends which can cause problems for stiffer materials.
The Ultimaker 3 and Ultimaker 3 Extended are not compatible with the CC cores. These feeders are not abrasion-resistant and the knurled wheels will quickly wear down when printing composite materials. Learn more here.
Material compatibility
The CC print cores are specifically designed for use with composite or otherwise abrasive materials, such as UltiMaker PET CF, which supports both CC 0.4 and CC 0.6. UltiMaker PET CF is the first composite material that has been specifically made to work perfectly with UltiMaker S series printers. As a result, the users can look forward to a seamless experience that makes use of NFC material recognition, a dedicated CC print core, support material compatibility, and professionally tuned intent profiles. All of this, combined with the low moisture sensitivity of PET CF, makes for an easy and reliable printing process for high-performance composite applications.
The CC print core is part of the Metal Expansion Kit, to be used in combination with the UltiMaker Certified material BASF Forward AM Ultrafuse® 17-4 PH.
Additionally, the UltiMaker Marketplace offers profiles for a wide variety of composite materials. Use the filters on the left side to check which materials are compatible with the CC cores. Several materials are already compatible with the CC 0.4 print core, with many more to follow. Material Alliance partners are working on making their materials compatible with the CC 0.4 print core. Check the box only for the CC 0.4 print core to see available material profiles.
Note that the CC 0.6 and the CC Red 0.6 can be used interchangeably. Despite the hardware differences, the material and printing profiles for these types of print cores are the same.
Print core CC 0.4
As mentioned above, there are not many readily available profiles for the 0.4 CC core yet. So is it still possible to print non-listed materials with the CC 0.4 core? Often, the answer is yes! When a material only supports the CC 0.6 print core, you can print this material experimentally with the CC 0.4 print core. To do so, some settings in UltiMaker Cura must be changed manually.
Tip: Open Cura's Custom mode to access these settings. Set the visibility to Advanced or higher to ensure you can see all the required settings, or use the search bar.
Per material, the changes required can be different. As a starting point (from a 0.6 profile), we recommend changing the following settings:
- Line width. This setting is found under Quality. Change this setting to 0.4 mm. Note that there are multiple settings for individual line widths. Usually, it is sufficient to only change the main value and the underlying settings will be changed automatically.
- Retraction distance. This setting is found under Travel. Set this to 6.5 mm.
- Print speed. This setting is found under Speed. If issues occur, try lowering the print speed. Typically, the print speed is slightly lower for the CC 0.4 than for the CC 0.6 print core. You can change individual speed settings, but changing the main setting will automatically recalculate the values for all underlying settings.
- Cooling. This applies to all settings in the Cooling section. You can lower the cooling settings such as fan speed or minimum layer time as needed. Less material is being extruded per time unit, so less cooling is required.
With the updated settings, slice the file. Send the print job to the printer via the UltiMaker Digital Factory or save the file to USB for offline printing. The printer will give a warning message, but this can be dismissed by selecting Ignore so the print will start.
It is recommended to first try a small test print to avoid wasting time and material. Some settings may still have to be optimized for the best results.
Note: The print core CC 0.4 works best with layer heights of 0.15 or 0.2 mm. You can try 0.1mm as well, but clogging may occur more easily.
Note: When a print profile does not exist, extra caution should be paid when experimenting with the settings and print core. Clogging may occur, especially with materials that have a high fiber content and/or long fibers. Apply frequent maintenance such as cleaning the print core.
