Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

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Mikla
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Joined: Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:07 pm

Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by Mikla » Sat Jul 16, 2016 11:20 pm

Buying the M2 today and looking to get few (or more) different filaments. Hoping I can get some recommendations with a budget of ~$200.

My two existing projects:

1. 10 pc assembly with thinner walls. Some tunnels (ports) and o-ring grooves. Total dims 23mm Dia x 90mm long. Final material will be stainless steel.

2. Think of lightweight pliers. ~8" long

Others will replacement parts for cars and appliances including some that are a bit flexible.

Any insight on brand/type/color [if color matters other than appearance] would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

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insta
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Joined: Tue Sep 16, 2014 3:59 am

Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by insta » Wed Jul 20, 2016 11:37 pm

Get the MakerGear PLA. $200 goes a long way in plastic, and you'll be quite well learned at that point to branch out into others.
Custom 3D printing for you or your business -- quote [at] pingring.org

Slipshine
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Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by Slipshine » Thu Jul 21, 2016 2:43 am

If you are going to need something with latches or slightly bendable. I would suggest 1 roll of E sun pla+. It is easy to print with and the results are not as ridgid as the regular pla.

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Jules
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Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by Jules » Thu Jul 21, 2016 3:04 am

Yep. One roll of PLA PLUS. (It flexes quite a bit in comparison to regular PLA.)

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zemlin
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Location: Indianapolis, Indiana

Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by zemlin » Thu Jul 21, 2016 8:10 pm

PLA is a great material for getting started, but it doesn't do well at higher temperatures. Bits for your car are probably not a good idea in PLA as they will warp easily when hot. Appliance parts will depend on the details of the application. ABS is easy enough to print for smaller/taller parts, but it takes some learning to get good results on parts with large footprints or thin walls.

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Jules
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Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by Jules » Thu Jul 21, 2016 9:13 pm

zemlin wrote:PLA is a great material for getting started, but it doesn't do well at higher temperatures. Bits for your car are probably not a good idea in PLA as they will warp easily when hot. Appliance parts will depend on the details of the application. ABS is easy enough to print for smaller/taller parts, but it takes some learning to get good results on parts with large footprints or thin walls.
Damn - good catch! Missed the car part.

Scratch the PLA PLUS, it melts at sunshine temperatures, and definitely won't hold up to a hot dashboard. For that you will need ABS, PETG or PC.

Each one of these filaments is more difficult to print than PLA, so start with PLA for learning and after you get comfortable with that, graduate to a single roll of one of the other ones. Don't do what I did and spend all $200 up front on multiple spools of PLA right at the beginning either. PLA is sensitive to humidity*, and will get brittle over time if it's not stored properly. So just get a spool or two and get more when you need it.

*(Or buy a lot of buckets and desiccant to store the spools when they aren't in use.)

ajmadison
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Joined: Tue Aug 11, 2015 2:13 am

Re: Buying today - Which Filaments to Start

Post by ajmadison » Tue Aug 02, 2016 10:51 pm

I had a stunning experience with Hatchbox Silver PLA. Ridiculous amounts of warp for any print that had a linear dimension more than 50% of the print bed, e.g more than half the width of the glass. And my solution to printing with HB Silver PLA was to "stand up" my parts so they had a reasonable base on the build plate, but never more than 30% of any linear dimension of the build plate. The pieces in question started off bigger than my M2's build volume/dimensions, so there was lots of cutting pieces up with NetFabb anyway, and I planned on cuts to produce tall parts with solid bases, rather than wide & long parts that were short.

I have no serious complaints about the other colors of HB. I'm happily printing HB transparent red &transparent blue. Though somehow, any lateral stress to the unprinted filament causes it to sheer off, right at the filament guide leading into the guide tube. So those PLA's are brittle. I had very good luck with eSun PLA+ silver though.

I have two takeaways, which are not original to me, first off, different colors from the same brand may behave radically different. Secondly, lighter colors (like the silver) can be frustrating to work with, poor adhesion, weird warping affects, etc.

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