Hey gang, Tim here at CORE Electronics and I've been 3D printing onto fabric like crazy, so come learn what I've learned doing it.

One of the swell things about 3D printers is being able to lay fabric onto a build platform and then create 3D printed components directly embedded with fabric material through them. This lets you easily sew designs onto clothes, create interesting scale surfaces, and lets you get a lot of fluid movement into designs.

By printing in this manner, it will let you create designs capable of wrapping around uneven surfaces, like the human body. Also, if you're printing many little, little tiny components, like these LED light diffusers that sit directly on top of LEDs, by embedding the fabric into them, it will still allow the LED strips to have freedom of movement, but will still be quick and easy to install as all the components are attached together and not as easy to be lost.

You can also create neat little moving models, like this skull right here, which will have a jaw which is free to open and close. Also, if you're taking a more engineering focus, you could improve material properties of 3D printed components by embedding certain fabrics, like Kevlar or Carbon Fibre, into your components with multiple layers that would improve the strength of the piece and the direction of the fabric fibres.

Crucially, you're going to need a temperature resistant, stiff and thin fabric, and you're going to want enough of it so it can fit across the whole of your print platform. Tully is the fabric that I've been using, which is often used to make wedding veils. Polycotton also gives swell results. You're also going to want bulldog clips, so that way you can clip the fabric to the print platform. IfThese bulldog clips don't fit. In that case, you can use masking tape. You're also going to need a 3D printer, like that Ultimaker 3 in the background, which is the one I've been using to make a number of these fabric 3D prints.

Start your print like normal, with the models you want to have the fabric embedded into, making sure that the initial layers stick very well to the bed surface. Then, once the layers are built up approximately 2mm high, pause the print.

Then you're going to lay the fabric across the entire print bed, making sure that it's completely taut across the surface of the build platform. Have it so it's pressing into the components. You're doing this because if the nozzle or any dribble out of the nozzle catches onto the fabric, it's either going to rip up the fabric or pull the components off the surface.

Once you're happy with this setup, resume your 3D print. Then, once the nozzles are reheated, the printer will continue to print as normal. The Tully fabric that I've used has a lot of holes, so many of the printed material ends up joining just like normal, and any of the extrusion that hits the fabric will embed itself into that material. The connection is remarkably strong and sturdy. It's much better than super gluing the components onto fabric.

Now, if you were to take a look closely at these transparent LED diffusers, you can see very clearly the fabric embedded inside the transparent material. Personally, I quite like the aesthetic effect that the fabric produces when it is embedded in transparent material like this.

So once you do have your 3D printed parts, they're going to look like this, attached to Tully, real nice and secure. But when you're actually wanting to use them, it's nice toCut them out, like I have here, and actually sew them on to whatever thing you desire. So here, inside here, is my little string, my little thread, and my little needle. And with this thread and needle, you're able to sew these kind of 3D printed components really easy, onto all kinds of surfaces.

Now, there are a couple of important steps to avoid issues when 3D printing in this way. Start by keeping a watchful eye on your nozzles, particularly when you initially lay down the fabric and resume the print. The nozzle is going to be travelling very close to the fabric mesh, and this is when it's most likely to snag.

Now, make sure your retraction and coasting settings are optimal. The last thing you want is the fabric material lifting up because of dribbled filament from the nozzle, which has snagged and pulled off the fabric. If this happens, the best scenario is it's going to snag and cause a layer shift and justify the end of your print.

Also, the bulldog clips used to hold down the fabric can also be in the way of the print nozzle during travel moves, particularly if you have a dual extruder. For this reason, it's a good idea to keep the models being printed in the middle of the build plate to avoid the nozzles hitting or clipping the bulldog clips.

When the bulldog clip is where it's meant to be, and it's doing the job of holding down the mesh correctly, pull the handles or fold them over to lower their profile. Double and triple check that the fabric mesh is completely locked down on the build plate and is not going to spring up at all.

You're better off utilising bull clips, but some build plates in some orientations, this is not an option, and in those scenarios, using masking tape to hold down the fabric is.A possible solution. Make sure to check on the tape multiple times throughout the print. Masking tape is liable to fall off, particularly when the surface it's trying to stick to is warm, which the underneath of a build platform definitely is.

Also, do not overlay too many layers of tape. 3D printers are hot and a fire hazard, particularly when you're introducing foreign substances into the setup.

One idea that I'd really like to pursue is using Kevlar or carbon fibre to improve the overall strength of 3D printed components. It's definitely an avenue worth pursuing. More on this soon.

I've also learned that you can alter the initial layer amount, lay down thin fabric directly onto the plate and melt filament onto the surface of that material, saving you the need to stop and start the print. Doing this will cause fabric that's less embedded, and it could severely affect the build platform adhesion, however.

Link below to a video by Cloak Fiend, who's overcome both of these issues with both Tully Fabric and Polycotton and getting swell results. Also, another rad video to check out is by AmyDD, who's been 3D printing onto fabric with little LEGO connections so she could connect LEGO bricks to her clothes. Very swell idea indeed.

And that's that. So if you like our content, come like and subscribe, and until next time, stay cozy.