Filament For 3D Printers

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Filament For 3D Printers

Postby Liberty4Ever » Fri Jun 01, 2012 11:49 pm

DHL just delivered the four 1 kg spools of filament that I ordered from Repraper.com. That's not a typo. It's a Chinese company, and they actually selected the name RepRaper. I guess they meant to choose RepRapper, but something was lost in the translation. Maybe Bart should have called the ORD Bot the RepRaper. :D

The stickers on the bags say RepRapper, so I guess they've been told about their domain name. The same stickers also advertise a new domain name - RepRap-WalMart.com. They traded violent sexual assault for an intellectual property violation. I'd call that a major improvement.

They have good prices. (June 1st, 2012)

3.00 mm ABS is $14/kg
1.75 mm ABS is $15/kg
3.00 mm PLA is $15/kg
1.75 mm PLA is $16/kg

It's shipped from China by DHL, so shipping runs up the cost a bit, I bought three kg spools of ABS and one of PLA, all 1.75mm, and the total was $118.14. The filament cost was $61, so the shipping was $57.14. Even at that, the delivered cost was better than the other sources I had seen. As the order size increases, the cost per kg goes down and the deal gets better.

I have no 3D printer yet (soon!), but I had read that "some of the Chinese manufacturers" wrap the filament on the spool when it's still warm and that causes it to be oval or some other shape that isn't round, so I measured it. All of mine have a nominal 1.75 mm diameter.

Black ABS
1.68 - 1.78 = 1.730 avg

Black PLA
1.63 - 1.86 = 1.745 avg
1.65 - 1.88 = 1.765 avg

White PLA
1.67 - 1.76 = 1.715 avg

Natural (clear) PLA
1.65 - 1.69 = 1.670 avg

There was a length of tail from the start of the spool poking through the side of the reel on the black PLA, so I was able to measure both ends of that reel, and that one data point suggests that the cross sectional area is similar within a reel, although it is just one data point. As I get more experience, I'll focus on gathering more hard data to determine the overall quality of the filament.

There is a significant difference in diameter from one spool to another. I suspect that in order to optimize the print quality, I'll need to measure the filament and adjust the settings for each spool.

I wrote the average diameter on the outside of each reel to aid in setting up the printer parameters if needed. I also wrote ABS or PLA on the reel so I could determine which was which at a glance. TIP: Make a sharp bend in the filament and ABS will turn white at the bend, although good luck differentiating between white PLA and white ABS.

The filament arrived very quickly from the other side of the planet. I ordered it on Sunday evening, 27MAY12, and it arrived in Kentucky Friday afternoon, 1JUN12, less than five days later.

I thought I ordered 3 kg of ABS and 1 kg of PLA, but I received 1 kg of ABS and 3 kg of PLA. I'd like to check my online order, but the PayPal invoice only shows the total including shipping. I never got an itemized order summary via email, and I apparently didn't create an account and simply made a one-time online order, so I can't log in to check my order. As it works out, I got the black ABS and black PLA, so only the white and natural ABS were swapped for PLA. Not that big of a deal and it may be for the best, as I'll probably print the PLA getting my 3D printer set up rather than stinking up the house printing ABS. I may have ordered the PLA on purpose with this in mind, but I'd still like an itemized invoice sent by email when the order is placed so I can confirm my order prior to shipping.

I've also read that some of the Chinese PLA can be hard to the point of being brittle. That probably won't bother me as I'd use ABS for structural applications that require impact resistance or resistance to flexing or bending, but I'll be on the lookout for hard PLA once my printer is operational. For the 3D printed objets d'art that I'll probably print in the Getting To Know You phase of my new printer, harder PLA might make better prints.

I bent the various filaments to gauge how tough they were, and was surprised that PLA seemed tougher than ABS, at least in this non-scientific test.

I have an assortment of chemicals that I'll use to test PLA and ABS for chemical compatibility for my intended use. Both look like reasonable candidates based on the internet research I was able to do, but some of these solvents and lubricants are complex, and nothing beats a real world test. One of my sayings: "One good test is worth 9,678 expert opinions."
Apparently, I didn't build that! :-)
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby mxk » Sat Jun 02, 2012 6:04 am

I believe they actually started business as reprap-walmart, at least that was the name I recall first seeing them use on the reprap forum. I was very leery of the quality, but whosawhatsis (creator of the Wallace printer) whom I trust, has written good reports about both the print-ability and the consistency of their filament. He's mentioned that it tends to need warmer temperatures than his normal (UK, I think fabberdashery) source.

I've ordered their purple and white PLA, so I'll be able to compare it to Ultimachine filament.

In my experience PLA is always harder than ABS.
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby Liberty4Ever » Wed Jun 06, 2012 4:05 am

I expected PLA to be harder than ABS, and thus more brittle. From the fiber, it seemed that PLA was harder (stiffer) than ABS, but it was also tougher than ABS. It seemed less brittle in the filament form, although I've read that it's more brittle when the part is printed. PLA definitely seems structural, and if it's not too brittle when printed, it might work for the parts I want to print. I'm looking forward to having practical experience with such matters.
Apparently, I didn't build that! :-)
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby Liberty4Ever » Thu Jun 28, 2012 11:42 am

I placed a small order from Ultimachine and decided to add a pound of their black 1.75 mm PLA filament to test, and they were kind enough to throw in some small samples of green and orange as well. Apparently, this is not unusual for them, and it's a nice little bonus.

The PLA that Ultimachine sells is more expensive than the cheap Chinese PLA I purchased (see my initial post in this thread), but it looks a lot nicer. Let's see what Mr. Caliper has to say.

Black PLA
1.74 - 1.77 = 1.755 avg
1.76 - 1.78 = 1.770 avg

Orange PLA
1.71 - 1.73 = 1.720 avg
1.71 - 1.72 = 1.725 avg

Green PLA
1.75 - 1.76 = 1.755 avg
1.77 - 1.79 = 1.780 avg

It looks a lot more uniform than the filament I bought from RepRapers. I have yet to print with any of the filament, and that will be the real test.

The Ultimachine pricing (current at the time of this post but obviously subject to change):

1.75 mm PLA
$21 per pound
$46 per kg ( on a spool)
$100 per 5 pounds (on a spool)

3 mm PLA
$20 per pound
$44 per kg ( on a spool)
$101 per 5 pounds (on a spool)

1.75 mm ABS
$21 per pound
$46 per kg ( on a spool)
$100 per 5 pounds (on a spool)

3 mm ABS
$19 per pound
$43 per kg ( on a spool)
$96 per 5 pounds (on a spool)

They also stock PLA and PC (polycarbonate) filament.

http://ultimachine.com

The online ordering was completely hassle free. They shipped immediately. I'm fairly close, so the USPS Priority Mail shipment arrived in two days.
Apparently, I didn't build that! :-)
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby Enraged » Thu Jun 28, 2012 3:48 pm

I ordered from them as well, the service and product are top notch. It shipped right away with USPS. I ordered black and blue 1.75mm PLA, and they threw in some sample of yellow and orange as well. I'm almost done with the yellow, I'm using it to calibrate my Hadron.

It's very nice to be able to calibrate my machine without wasting a bunch of nice PLA that I had planned for other projects. I'll be ordering from them again in the future.
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby mxk » Sat Jun 30, 2012 8:01 pm

mxk wrote:I've ordered their purple and white PLA, so I'll be able to compare it to Ultimachine filament.


I've gone thru a pound of the purple, and it needs to be extruded at higher temperatures (195 base layer and 190 upper layers vs 185/180 indicated on my machine), but it's good stuff. It's more of a candy color than I had hoped, but extrudes evenly and cleanly. It smells a little sweeter than the Ultimachine PLA when being extruded.
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby Liberty4Ever » Tue Jul 10, 2012 8:49 pm

I just received a kg of 1.75 mm black ABS and a kg of 1.75 mm black PLA from Proto Paradigm. The filament is on nice high quality reels, and each reel is heat sealed in a clear thick plastic bag with a desiccant pouch.

http://www.protoparadigm.com

I also ordered some polyimide tape (trade name is Kapton). The filament was $45 per kg and the UPS ground shipping for two kg of filament and roll of polyimide tape was $16. They shipped my order very promptly.

There were only very small pigtails on the inside of the reel, so I wasn't able to measure the inside, but I de-reeled about 50 feet of filament and made a second measurement to try to get some idea of consistency through the reels.

Black ABS
1.77 - 1,78 = 1.775 mm average (1 foot into the reel)
1.77 - 1.78 = 1.775 mm average (50 feet into the reel)

Black PLA
1.74 - 1,76 = 1.750 mm average (1 foot into the reel)
1.76 - 1.77 = 1.765 mm average (50 feet into the reel)

The filament looks very consistent in its measurement, and the appearance of the packaged filament is very high quality. The delivered price is about three times the cost of Chinese filament, so I do expect better quality. I've read of the differences in print quality based on dimensional stability. I have no doubt that variations in average filament diameter will cause problems with print quality as it would directly impact the amount of plastic being dispensed. I'm anxious to see how much difference in print quality will occur from oval cross section filament if the cross sectional area is uniform throughout the reel. I imagine that will be determined by how uniformly the extruder can dispense the oval filament.

One nice thing about Proto Paradigm is the informational content on their website.

http://www.protoparadigm.com/blog/2012/06/3d-printer-filament-buyers-guide
Apparently, I didn't build that! :-)
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Location: Lexington KY

Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby MiguelKendrick » Tue Feb 18, 2014 3:41 am

I found different types of filament at 3d2print.net. They provide me different color and size of ABS, PLA and Flexible Rubber that I needed for the last 11 months. I can say that the shipment process was pretty fast and their discounts are great deals from purchasing their savers packs.
3D2PRINT - Creating 3D Dimension
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Re: Filament For 3D Printers

Postby blah_59 » Sat Feb 22, 2014 3:03 am

MiguelKendrick wrote:I found different types of filament at 3d2print.net. They provide me different color and size of ABS, PLA and Flexible Rubber that I needed for the last 11 months. I can say that the shipment process was pretty fast and their discounts are great deals from purchasing their savers packs.



It's only pretty fast? I mean really, how long does it take to drive it home from work?
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