Filamet Pure Iron pellets View larger

Filamet Pure Iron pellets

The Virtual Foundry

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277,80 €
277,80 €

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Ferromagnetic PLA that yields fully metal parts after debinding and sintering.

The Virtual Foundry are known to be pioneers in metal FDM 3D printing. Their innovative metal filaments and pellets from the Filamet series make it possible to obtain fully metal parts at an affordable price, with uncomplicated post processing. The Pure Iron Filamet contains 81.7% of iron with a density of 2.81 g/cc, with PLA as the binding polymer. It exhibits high strength and it is less hygroscopic than regular PLA. Once fired in a sintering furnace at about 1300 ºc, the Pure Iron Filamet yields a 100% metal part. It is also available in the form of filament.

As opposed to the High Carbon Iron Filamet (resembling cast iron), the Pure Iron Filamet contains no alloys, which makes parts 3D printed with it stronger, less brittle, and overall more durable. An interesting property of the Pure Iron Filamet is that, just like iron itself, it is ferromagnetic.

The Pure Iron Filamet pellets require a pellet extruder. A great option would be the Mahor pellet extruder, mountable on any FDM 3D printer. It allows for the direct extrusion from pellets onto the build plate of the 3D printer. In order to create complex parts with the Pure Iron Filament pellets, support structures can be used. In this video, the manufacturer explains what support materials can be used with the Filamet metal materials.

The Pure Iron Filamet prints like regular PLA and exhibits no signs of warping. The only workflow adjustment required is installing a 0.6 mm hardened steel noozle, as due to containing over 80 % of iron the Pure Iron filament will cause abrasion in regular nozzles. Apart from that, the flow rate may need to be adjusted up to 135%.

The metal 3D printing workflow developed by The Virtual Foundry significantly lowers the barrier to entry for users who need to produce small runs, prototypes or one-off metal parts for specialized applications. The Filament metal 3D printing materials eliminate substantial tooling and machining costs and a simple debinding and sintering process will yield 100 % iron parts the same day.

Metallic content Metallic content
Magnetic Magnetic

The recommended printing parameters for the Pure Iron Filamet are an extrusion temperature of 205 - 235°C, a printing speed 60 mm/s, and a build plate heated to 40-50°C. The best build surface for this material is a PEI surface, a G10 printing surface or a powder coated spring steel surface. Furthermore, Blue Tape can be used on PEI/G10 to further aid adhesion of the part to the printing surface. It is also crucial that a hardened steel nozzle with a diameter of at least 0.6 mm be used with the Pure Iron Filamet. Printing with a regular brass nozzle with a smaller diameter will result in excessive wear of the nozzle, an increase in its diameter, inaccurate prints and a decrease in print quality. 

As far as infill, the average recommended amount is 30-70 % but it largely depends on what kind of part the user wants to obtain and whether the part will be sintered or not. For more indepth information please watch this video:

Video 1: The recommended infill for the TVF materials. Source: TVF.

Parts printed with the Pure Iron Filamet should be sintered at a temperature of 1300°C (1250-1350 ºC). The same general debinding and sintering steps can be applied as with Filamet 316L Stainless Steel pellets. More information can be found on the manufacturer’s YouTube channel and on the Virtual Foundry website.

In order to ensure the longevity of the materials and quality prints, the Pure Iron Filamet pellets should be stored properly, at temperatures not exceeding 50°C, tightly closed in a cool, dry and well-ventilated environment.

Safety precautions should be taken to protect the user’s health when printing with the Pure Iron Filamet. The room should be properly ventilated. An air purifier can be used if the 3D printer is not equipped with one. Protective gloves should be used (insulated gloves for hot surfaces), as well as goggles or face protection to avoid mechanical injuries to the eyes/skin.

It should be remembered that the Pure Iron Filamet is not intended to be used for medical applications or applications where the 3D printed part would be in contact with food and/or drinking water.

General information
Manufacturer The Virtual Foundry (USA)
Material Iron (81.7 %) + PLA 
Format 1 kg bag
Density 2.81 g/cm3
Amount of metal (volume) -
Amount of metal (mass) 81.7 %
Color Grey
RAL/Pantone  -
Sintering properties
Container Refractory crucible
Refractory powder Al2O3
Maximum temperature 1350 ºC
Mechanical properties
Izod impact strength -
Charpy impact strength -
Elongation at break -
Tensile strength -
Tensile Modulus -
Flexural strength -
Flexural modulus -
Surface hardness -
Specific properties
Transparency  Opaque
Radiation protection (without sintering) No
Additional Information
HS Code 7205.29


* The typical values detailed in this table should be considered as a reference. For more information you should consult the technical data sheet of the product.

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