Hi Guys,
As there is no General section for questions I’ll just post them here.
Is there any noticeable difference between the different brands of PLA ?
Do some brands produce better or more consistent results compared to others ?
I didn’t test all brands but there is a difference. Avoid all Noname filaments. They’re usually bad manufactured and you’ll run into troubles using them.
You can use known brands like Esun, Polymakr, Colorfabb, Taulman etc.
I am using Velleman PLA which is ok,
I bought NUNUS, which causes trouble all the time.
I had to reduce temp for NUNUS almost 5-10°C compared to Velleman.
NUNUS needs the fan on all the time, Velleman not.
Actually I play around with PVA from UK, which is even more tricky.
Temp at the moment 180 to 185°C. Brand unknown
Greetz
Frank
I’m using Lay3rs at the moment which seems to work fine, but as this is the my first machine and first filament I don’t have any comparison yet.
http://www.lay3rs-retail.nl/nl/filament/
eSun PLA consistently needs higher temperature than Velleman. If I run Velleman PLA at 180-190, I run eSun at minimum 200, going as high as 215 for its “metallic” and other particle-based colors because the pigment is coarse enough to clog if too cool. Also, the filament is often wound badly onto the spool, crossing over itself which will cause tangling and knots which will snap the filament during print.
Dutch Filament is an OEM-only brand, meaning you can’t actually buy a package labeled “Dutch Filament” but many filament vendors resell it as their own in-house, economy, or even “homemade” brand. We’re not supposed to know this, but if you’re friendly with your filament seller they might admit it. Its PLA characteristics are very close to Velleman PLA with similar softness, diameter consistency, and printing temperature (it actually burns if K8400 is set over 200 for very long). In fact, at first I wondered if Velleman is actually reselling Dutch Filament, but then I noticed my Dutch has a tendency to clog more often than Velleman. In fairness, I had actually bought “Recycled PLA” (rPLA) instead of virgin PLA, but I was assured six ways from Sunday that nothing was inferior or less pure about rPLA. The cheaper price made it worth my while to risk extra tweaks or cleanings, but your patience and/or income levels may suggest otherwise.
In the end, I’m glad to have gotten the education but I’ve decided to standardize on ordering Velleman filament from Reichelt since I bought my Vertex there and already have an account and the price isn’t bad because I’m a fellow EU business and can avoid the VAT.
I’m using ESUN at the moment, I’m really happy with these filaments. But I do not need to print it at 200+ degrees, I print at 190-195 all the time.
I’m also happy with the velleman filament but it’s more expensive.
Besides that I haven’t tested any other branches out yet, since I do not own my print that long and I’m really happy with ESUN, I pay around 18$/KG (including VAT) and I do not need to pay the VAT so that’s a huge safe as well.
Formfutura works well for me, at a wide temperature range. I recently ordered a heated bed and some extra’s at reprap.me, and ordered some PLA along with it. Its called “devil design”, and Im not happy with it at all. Even at 200C its difficult to extrude manually and causes the extruder to slip at high speed. I went as high as 220 to get it to print (recommended range is 190-205) and it still underextrudes and slips. I was sure it was my nozzle being clogged or my temperature sensor being off, but when I swapped the filaments on my dual extruder, the issues staid with the filament, not the print head or extruder.
Ive been using esun as default brand on my K8200 (3mm) and love it, because it prints well and is really cheap at hobbyking. I’ll be ordering some 1.75mm for my vertex soon.
I’m using Esun too. It’s the best price quality ratio I could find. I’m printing mainly with ABS and the results are excellent. The prints in PLA were very good too but it’s too brittle. I tried Polymakr PLA and it’s excellent (never broke -have a spool loaded since months - and the prints are smooth end very sturdy) but pricey.