Posted: 2/22/2021 4:54:43 PM EDT
|
This is the package of filament I got from here. This filament retails on their own website for $22 here. It is a PLA+, recommended temps of 180c-220c. Spools came vacuum sealed, moisture absorber pack, in nice individual boxes. I haven't opened every individual box, but from what I see they are in good physical condition. Advertised specs from copier2go website (retailer):
It works out to be $12/kg for supposedly USA Made filament. I find that incredibly cheap for USA made filament, so we shall see. First were measurements. I took a couple feet off the spool to check a few places. I found a range of 1.74 to 1.77 on the "X" axis (this is just fine), and measured 1.68-1.70 on the "Y" axis (not so good). This filament is NOT round, at least not to premium quality standards. That may not be all that bad though, so long as the numbers are consistent over the entire spool (no, I won't be building Tom's rig for this). I'm going to load this up in the the MK3s and print out a Benchy with standard settings I use for Atomic filament. I'll check back when my Benchy is done, or tomorrow, whichever is later. |
  I honestly can't find anything to complain about. The stringing can be dialed in. Maybe, if I get really picky, I can see the slight inconsistent extrusion. But unless you are pushing the repeatability of fdm tech anyway, I'd say this stuff is good. I have not done any tests at all on the mechanical properties. No plans to at this point either. |
| I purchased 3 rolls from them on eBay. They sent me 6 rolls because they had to substitute a color (wanted gray, got silver). The extra rolls were color changes but I didn't care. So far I have printed a bunch of parts (including the presses for PY2A) and have been extremely pleased for the price. |
|
I've got a box of 10 rolls sitting by my printer, too. I haven't opened their bags up yet, but all them seem to be well sealed. That benchy looks pretty darn good, and for $12/kg, that dimensional variation doesn't surprise me that much. Like you said, probably pretty good for iteration work or stuff that doesn't need perfect extrusion. |
Thanks!
|
I broke out some black, and printing a Glock frame at the 45 degree downward angle orientation. I'm getting blobby extrusion on the support structure, almost like it is wet. The actual part seems OK though. I upped the temp to 230c and bumped the extrusion rate up 4%, see what that does. I am printing it on the Mini with a .25mm nozzle. I opened another spool of black, and I'll let it dry out in the oven overnight, see if that does anything. This new black color is stringing like normal PLA (little to none) so far, but it does have an odd odor while printing. You have to get your face right down there to smell it, but it is there. ETA: I just realized that nowhere on the spool does it say what kind of filament it is. Just brand, temp and color. |
|
Quoted: I broke out some black, and printing a Glock frame at the 45 degree downward angle orientation. I'm getting blobby extrusion on the support structure, almost like it is wet. The actual part seems OK though. I upped the temp to 230c and bumped the extrusion rate up 4%, see what that does. I am printing it on the Mini with a .25mm nozzle. I opened another spool of black, and I'll let it dry out in the oven overnight, see if that does anything. This new black color is stringing like normal PLA (little to none) so far, but it does have an odd odor while printing. You have to get your face right down there to smell it, but it is there. ETA: I just realized that nowhere on the spool does it say what kind of filament it is. Just brand, temp and color. Did you dry it before printing? Kharn |
|
Quoted: Did you dry it before printing? Kharn I did grab another spool of black (not this one) and left it in the oven to dry last night at 50c. Zero weight change on my postal scale. ETA: I swapped out the spool of "dried" black PLA with the one I was running fresh from the package, there was a small improvement. It is a little hard to tell though during the print as I've noticed this filament is not completely opaque, but actually translucent. I'll get a better idea once the print is finished tomorrow. The part itself is good enough, it is just an issue with the support structure. I'm also on a .25 nozzle with .15 layer heights on my Prusa Mini. This can and will give issues for less than premium filament. |
|
Quoted: @Rat_Patrol, what is your latest experience and thoughts about this filament? I'm considering buying 10 rolls just to get a variety of colors on hand, but want to be sure I don't end up with a pile of junk. I find myself using it for drafts and iteration work, or for models that don't have to be perfect. I've had several failures; support structure failures (noted below) and 2 clogged nozzles (increasing temp fixed this). This filament doesn't like to print fast unless you crank the heat to 230, but it still has a fit with thin walls of regular support structure for some reason. The filament is a bit translucent, and it's very shiny. It mostly prints ok, but I had to go to honeycomb support structure, as it doesn't like to print in thin lines for whatever reason. I'm printing a bunch of assembly jigs now for work. They take 1/3 spool each. They print just fine (designed for 3d printing), and I'm happy to not use my $35 atomic filament, because it isn't needed. This stuff "feels" brittle, but I have no evidence of that. Drying the filament has made no difference. It sticks to my prusa smooth bed like a mofo at 70c. I actually need a razor to get off the single layer support rafts. I will be keeping this stuff on hand for this price, but it won't be my go-to. Once you get settings dialed in a learn its quirks and limitations, it is pretty ok. |
|
Made this for a friend. Turned out pretty OK. Costs $2 in plastic. Support was a bit of a PITA to get off, but that is largely due to the honeycomb support that I have to use. Excellent layer adhesion. Small islands turned out surprisingly decent. Stringing was minimal (but I had to increase Z hop due to the extreme overhangs on small parts wanting to warp until the model was "built" enough), quickly taken care of with the heat gun. You can tell this particular model (from Thingiverse) is hastily made from the actual Glock 17 files out there, which is actually not desirable for a dummy gun. Weird hollow parts, the mag release is a separate part (but prints as one, sort of), thin walls due to the random cavities, etc. The grip is hollow to allow for a mag (he has "training" mags in the same thingiverse listing), but I have no idea how the mags would be retained as there is no functional mechanism for that. As such, the mag well should be solid. Still works as a dummy gun just fine though. |