3D Printing with Nylon Fishing line - Cheap Nylon 3D Printing filament ?

When I saw people printing with nylon filament esp the Taulman one, first Idea that came into my mind is to try nylon fishing line as filament, searched online and found one guy who did it already, but nothing in detail except this video.

Went to fishing store, bought like 20 meters of 1.2 mm TRIPLE FISH line, I believe other sizes are available up to 2mm but this is the thickest line I found available, the cost is around $15 for spool of 1kg / 500m.

1.2 mm filament is very difficult to extrude and maybe impossible, so I used 3mm PEEK JHead Hot-end that was modified to print 1.75mm just by adding a 5mmOD/2mmID PTFE tube, and it worked with the default extrusion settings and it printed very normal like a 1,75mm nozzle. (for people wondering whether you can print with 1.75mm filament on a 3mm nozzle YES ! it's possible just add the right PTFE tube and you are done)

The problem with a direct extruder is that the filament will slip out same as flexible filaments, to fix that I put another tube to guide the filament and keep it on rail :)

The Experiment: 

I printed at 180-200 degrees C , heatbed at 50 degrees (it sticks too on cold bed) I didn't change the print settings, left em the same as PLA except for the filament size I changed to 1.2mm in Cura slicer settings. 

During print you hear a lot of clicks and clacks as the filament is very sensitive to humidity, I didn't not dry the filament and wanted to test the print in the worst conditions.

 

 

I was a bit worried about toxic fumes and esp HCN, indeed there are strong fumes, so it is very IMPORTANT if you want to test this to print in a fully open area, and stay away from the printer while it is working.

The first print quality was incredible, in the next image you see the Nylon print with 0.5mm nozzle vs ABS print on an E3D V6 0.3mm nozzle.

Nylon on left (0.5mm nozzle) - ABS on right (0.3mm nozzle)

Transparent Nylon becomes snow white after print

Dyeing nylon filament at home:

I also tried to dye the fishing line with vinegar and food colorant before print, the results were not that perfect, I used red color and the result was light pink, but I believe you can achieve good results if you use Nylon dye, similar to this tutorial from Richrap

Nylon Dye with food colorant and vinegar

Print Settings :

• Print temperature : 180 - 200 Degree

• Bed Adhesion : good on both cold & hot,

• Supports / raft : impossible to remove

• Print quality : acceptable - good - for me it's perfect

• Cooling : not required

• Brim: required for better adhesion on cold beds and for filaments less than 1,75mm

• Fumes: Very aggressive stuff 

 

Conclusion to printing with nylon fishing line :

If you are wondering whether you can print with nylon fishing line or any similar nylon filament like trimmer line the answer is yes ! if you want to print something really really solid, that doesn't require supports I believe fishing line is a good cheap option, of course in an open area, and don't put your nose in the nozzle.