Polymaker PolyFlex TPU95-HF 1.75mm Flexible TPU Filament - High Flow, Shore 95A, 1kg Spool (Clear) for 3D Printing Wearables, Phone Cases & Durable Prototypes

The trick to gaining clean, crisp prints from Polymaker Polyflex TPU is to print single parts at a time versus batches of multiple components. This makes a “night and day” difference in print quality and precision.Though this TPU Shore 95A filament is very “soft” and flexible to the touch, I am having zero problems feeding and printing it with a 15.5” (long) Bowden tube between my extruder and hot-end. I’m using a stock Ender 3v2 Neo with Capricorn XS tubing and Diamondback nozzle.Here’s the amazing thing: on the non-direct-drive printer set-up described above, I get fantastic prints at low nozzle temp (200 deg C), modest speed (30 mm/s), and with quite a bit of retraction (5 mm distance @ 25 mm/s speed). This is completely contrary to the usual requirements for printing TPU, which is to “print hot, print slow, and turn off retraction.”I’ve experienced ZERO nozzle clogs, extruder gear slips, or filament breaks with this Polymaker Polyflex TPU. But, then again, Polymaker filaments have proven to me to be consistently top-performing and problem-free.The print quality is so high that I’m able to cleanly and clearly print small text (3.5 mm heigh and 1 mm deep) embossed into horizontal surfaces, which get deformed and obscured when I print with PLA. I had so much fun with the accuracy and precision of this Polymaker Polyflex TPU, that I ended up printing 60 hours of parts that I had not intended to produce in TPU. I am discovering that this TPU prints more crisply and accurately on my set-up than with PLA.Polymaker Polyflex TPU Shore 95A is incredibly resilient and abrasion resistant. I created some press-fit components with it that have to be hammered to disassemble. The parts printed in this TPU can absorb huge impact forces from metal punches under forceful hammer blows without deforming, tearing or denting.The clear TPU is remarkably translucent. If you print really hot and slow, on a smooth build plate, with high fan speed, you can get “see through” clarity. This Polymaker Polyflex TPU flows really well with very low viscosity when the nozzle temps go up. Heating it up high and then cooling it quickly keeps it amorphous with window glass-like clarity. Printing at lower temps and letting this TPU cool more slowly allows a crystalline structure to form in the material which is more opaque but exceptionally strong.Usage tip: if you’re used to disengaging the extruder gears to manually push your filament through a Bowden tube … don’t. Select “disable stepper” and use the knob on the extruder to “wind” this TPU filament from the extruder to the hot-end.The Polymaker Polyflex TPU is on the expensive side, but it definitely performs to its higher price point and gives me the impression that it is a premium product. The much heavier gauge “foil” bag it comes vacuum sealed in adds to that impression. As such, I have have been careful to take elevated care of this spool, and put it into the filament dryer for 8 hours before putting it away in a vacuum sealed container with dessicant.I have a whole bunch of other materials on my production schedule, but I am really looking forward to when I can find an excuse to break out the Polymaker Polyflex TPU and do more prints with it.I’ve had such great success with this Shore 95A TPU that I’m tempted to try the 90A rated TPU from Polymaker on my Bowden-tube set-up.