The Application
PTFE tubing is often associated with fluid handling, chemical processing and electrical applications, but its properties also make it useful within 3D printing equipment.
In filament-based 3D printers, the material being printed must travel reliably from the filament supply towards the heated print head. A smooth, controlled feed path is important, particularly where the filament needs to be routed through the internal structure of the printer.
For this application, our customer required a formed tube that would sit hidden inside the 3D printer and guide the filament towards the heated head.
PTFE tubing was selected because of its naturally low-friction, lubricious surface. This allows filament to slide through the tube with minimal resistance, making PTFE particularly well suited to filament guide applications.
The Challenge
The customer needed more than a straight length of tubing.
The internal layout of the printer required the filament guide to follow a defined circular route, so the PTFE tube needed to be permanently formed into a coil with one complete turn and a finished internal coil diameter of 46 mm.
The specified tube was:
3 mm ID × 5 mm OD × 1 mm wall PTFE tubing
The application therefore presented several practical requirements:
- The internal bore needed to provide a smooth path for the filament.
- The tube needed to retain the required 46 mm coil profile.
- Material availability needed to remain reliable for repeat production.
- Costs needed to be controlled for an annual requirement of approximately 2,000 components.
- The customer wanted to avoid unnecessary bespoke tooling costs.
Rather than developing a completely new component and manufacturing process, the opportunity was to use existing materials and manufacturing capability wherever possible.
What Adtech did
The first advantage came from the tube specification itself.
The required 3 mm ID × 5 mm OD PTFE tube was already an Adtech stock size, removing the need for a bespoke extrusion run and helping reduce the cost of the finished component.
Our team then used its experience in thermoforming fluoropolymer tubing to form the straight PTFE tube into the customer’s required profile.
The finished component consisted of:
- 3 mm internal diameter
- 5 mm outside diameter
- 1 mm wall thickness
- One complete coil turn
- 46 mm wound coil ID
Adtech already manufactures formed fluoropolymer coils in PTFE, FEP and PFA using in-house thermoforming techniques. Existing coil tooling could therefore be used for this project rather than manufacturing a dedicated tool from scratch.
That provided another direct cost saving for the customer at the development stage.
Building supply flexibility into the specification
Material supply was also considered as part of the project.
Rather than approving only one PTFE raw polymer, the customer selected two PTFE grades, Daikin F208 and DuPont 62, to provide greater contingency around raw material pricing and availability.
Both options could therefore be incorporated into the supply strategy, reducing reliance on a single raw polymer source.
For a repeat-production component, this was an important part of the specification. Material selection was being considered alongside manufacturing practicality, cost and continuity of supply rather than in isolation.
Why was PTFE chosen for the filament guide?
The defining requirement was the way the filament needed to move through the component.
PTFE has an inherently low coefficient of friction and a smooth, lubricious surface. These characteristics make it particularly useful where another material needs to slide through or against the polymer without additional lubrication.
Inside the printer, the PTFE coil effectively creates a controlled pathway between stages of the filament feed system. As filament moves towards the heated head, the smooth internal surface helps it travel through the curved section of tube with low resistance.
The ability to combine that surface characteristic with a custom pre-formed profile is particularly useful for manufacturers designing increasingly compact equipment. Adtech has previously supplied both PTFE tubing and pre-formed coils for 3D printer applications, allowing filament routes to be incorporated into the available space within the machine.
The Result
The finished component provided the customer with a production-ready PTFE filament guide manufactured to the required coil geometry.
By starting with an existing stock tube size and using existing Adtech coil tooling, the project avoided two potential areas of additional development cost.
The customer also established two approved PTFE polymer options, providing additional flexibility when managing future material pricing and supply.
Following development, the component moved into repeat production with an annual requirement of approximately 2,000 coils, supplied against a scheduled call-off order.
The project demonstrates how relatively simple changes to standard fluoropolymer tubing can create a component specifically suited to the final equipment.
In this case, the solution combined:
- A low-friction PTFE filament path
- A precise 46 mm formed coil
- Existing stock tubing
- Existing manufacturing tooling
- Alternative approved raw polymer grades
- Scheduled repeat production
For the customer, the result was a bespoke component without the cost implications normally associated with developing every element from scratch.
From standard tube to application-ready component
This project is also a good example of the difference between simply supplying PTFE tubing and engineering it for a specific application.
Adtech holds a wide range of PTFE tubing which can then be cut, formed, coiled, flared, tipped or incorporated into bespoke tubing assemblies.
Where suitable stock sizes and existing tooling can be used, this can also provide a practical route to reducing development costs before moving into repeat production.
Have a similar requirement? Get in touch
