Question re: filament

[ajoeiam]

Greetings

Having quite an odyssey getting a Creality 3D Ender-3 printer.

Creality is offering a 10 pack of black/white 1kg rolls for some circa $15usd each.

For those that have experience with filament - - - would this be a good purchase or run away from it?

TIA

 

[ddmckee54]

Cheap filament has been kind of a toss-up with me, I've had good luck and bad luck with it. Most rolls have printed just fine, but some I've wound up pitching because the roll just didn't want to print well. Since Creality is offering it, and not somebody you've never heard of before, I'd be tempted to go for it. If you have issues with it you can always call their customer service and complain. I think I've heard that Creality has decent customer service. (Don't have a Creality machine, so I can't say for sure one way or the other.)

You didn't say what flavor of filament it was, I'm assuming PLA?

Don

 

[ajoeiam]

Ja - - - it is called PLA.

Any good sources?
(decent quality for a fair price)
(cheap junk - - - not interested in!)

Likely interested in at least ABS and urethane equivalents for starters.
What filament types are you using and for ????

TIA

 

[lohring]

Most of my printing is in PLA these days. It's quite strong but brittle. PLA+ is a little more flexible and the eSun PLA Pro is what I use. I've also printed Ninjaflex, Talman 910 nylon, PETG, and Varishore flexible filament. The Nylons need to be dried before use and tend to warp. The flexible filaments can't use supports and tend to string. PETG is also a great material and that's what the parts of my Preusa printer use. Flexible filaments need a printer designed to handle them. I have no experience with other printers.

Lohring Miller

 

[stanstocker]

Greetings

Having quite an odyssey getting a Creality 3D Ender-3 printer.

Creality is offering a 10 pack of black/white 1kg rolls for some circa $15usd each.

For those that have experience with filament - - - would this be a good purchase or run away from it?

TIA

Just took a look at the creality site. It appears this is for plain PLA. A good deal at that price, probably decent filament as it's from creality. Only thing is that I've been getting far better results using PLA+ on my creality 3V2 than using plain PLA.

Also noticed that the only review says that this filament doesn't stick well with glass beds, while other PLA filaments give the reviewer no issues. Make me wonder what's different with the creality filament.

10 rolls is a fair bit of filament, if you print that much it's great. For that amount you could also get some PETG, PLA+, ASA, and some silk rainbow should you decide to print some glittery stuff. Or really drive yourself nuts and get into the filament drier, heated enclosure world of printing nylon. A hobby for masochists but to each their own!

Stan

 

[awake]

I am with Stan - a good deal if you actually need that much, but if you use the printer the ways many hobbyists do, it will take you quite a long time to use up that many rolls ... and meanwhile, they are taking up space and used up investment that could be used for other types of filament.

I like plain old PLA for many uses, but in addition would recommend quickly trying out some PETG. ABS - I can print it ... but I haven't bothered to do so in a long time. I haven't found that it has any advantages over PLA / PETG, and it is harder to print - it will tend to warp unless you have a heated enclosure (not just a heated bed - but that needs to be 100°C) or use some "ABS slurry" to really get a strong hold on the bed. Nylon is even worse in terms of warping, though supposedly there are some formulations that work better.

Bottom line is that I tend to use PLA, PLA+, PETG, and TPU (flexible). Hatchbox has been a good brand for me for most of these - generally performs well, and very affordable, around $20-25 per kg. eSun has been equivalent in price/performance.

 

[ajoeiam]

Hmmmmmm - - - - very interesting ideas proffered!!!!

Thank you very much people.

Now - - - were are you sourcing your filament from?

Shipping is such a pita!!!! (too!)

 

[awake]

Typically I buy filament from Amazon, but I have bought direct from Hatchbox when they have had a sale.

 

[David Shealey]

I have a Prusa MK3 printer, and print about equal amounts of PLA+ and PETG. Also print some Wood filled, ABS rarely, and glow in the dark. Almost all my filament is eSun from Amazon. Their PLA Pro (PLA+) prints extremely well, and is almost as strong as PETG.

 

[stanstocker]

Like others, I tend to get filament from Amazon these days. When I lived within an hour and a half of a micro center I used to get it there on sale, as I would make the trip to Guitar Center and Micro Center several times a year to poke around and see what interesting things had appeared. Gave me a chance to see the big city, gawk, and get my fix of sniffing shrink wrap Love living away from all the congestion, but my escape from the cubicle farms of Northern Virginia also meant less access to big tech and music suppliers. Sure online is great, but some things like guitars and keyboards you just want to touch and fool with, as each one feels just a little different.

Cheers,
Stan

 

[ddmckee54]

I mostly use PLA or PLA+, and the brands I use the most are Esun and Hatchbox - usually from Ebay or Amazon. In some cases when I'm looking for a specific color I'll go directly to the manufacturer to get a color sample first, then order directly from them.

Don