One doesn’t normally associate magnets with plastic…unless of course that magnet is embedded somewhere behind the housing. But what if the plastic material itself was magnetic?
As they begin unveiling a collection of new 3D printing materials they have been developing over the past few years, Oregon-based ProtoParadigm is launching a series of Kickstarter campaigns starting with the ProtoFlux Magnetic Filament from their ProtoTek line of 3D printing materials.
After working with a rotating cast of chemical companies and compounders, the ProtoParadigm team designed and built their own custom 3D printer filament production equipment with the goal of “pursuing our dream of developing and producing 3D Printing Materials that allow you to make and do more.”
While the rest of the lineup of the ProtoTek materials are still yet to be announced, ProtoParadigm has stated that all of the new materials bring something new to 3D Printing with reactive or interactive properties.
“A change to functional 3D Printed objects with properties that let them truly interact with their world.”
As for the ProtoFlux PLA Magnetic Filament—the first to be announced of their collection—it is an iron nanoparticle-infused PLA that is attracted to magnets and has data storage capabilities. It can also be used just like any other existing PLA filament with standard settings for your 3D printer. The strength of the magnet and part attraction is dependent on the strength of the magnet itself and the amount of ProtoFlux used in the part…in the case that you only want to use it for a portion of your part.
The team has stated that they already have their supply chain locked and ready to go…so if fixing your Apple MagSafe charging ports or magnetically-aligned assemblies is something you’ve wanted to do, go get a spool starting at $19.
