Best filament you have tired?  

RE: Best filament you have tired?

What are you printing? Do you need good finish? Part strength? Temperature resistance?

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @bobstro

What are you printing? Do you need good finish? Part strength? Temperature resistance?

Bob as usual you ask a lot of good questions.  I would also ask what colors are needed.  Some colors are only available from some vendors.  It's a smaller playing field if you need a specific color.  Also, Are you comparing only PETGs?  Or are you looking for PLAs, ASA, ABS, PLU, etc.

There are way more answers to the original question than just one vendor over another.

Robin

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Mop,

It might be easier to agree on the vendors, filament types, and colors to avoid.  I have a few that I would NEVER use again for anything.  That might be a shorter list.  😉

Personally I like the Prusament filaments but US distribution needs to be beefed up a heck of a lot.  I cannot afford to keep buying them and paying for shipping one spool at a time from Europe.

Amazon Basics (I believe they dropped them) were nice.

Some eSun filaments work well but the colors leave much to be desired.

I mostly use PLA and PETG and I get a lot of them from Amazon because of the convenience.

I have purchased Proto-Pasta, Matter Hackers, eSun, Amazon Basics, and a few others.

The specialty filaments, (ABS, ASA, TPU, Nylon, Metal, Wood, HIPS, and others) are a TOTALLY different world.

Robin

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Avoid Glow-in-the-Dark unless you invest in a Tungsten Carbide nozzle ... the particles in it are harder than most hardened steels. 

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @big-bird

Mop,

[...]

Personally I like the Prusament filaments but US distribution needs to be beefed up a heck of a lot.  I cannot afford to keep buying them and paying for shipping one spool at a time from Europe.

[...]

When I order filament from Prusa to here in Delaware, I've found that the shipping cost is the same for 2 as it is for 1, but if you order 3 then the shipping cost just about triples. So, I always order filament from Prusa in pairs.

But then, I can always drive over to PrintedSolid (10-15 minute drive) and pick up filament an not have to pay any shipping at all... 😉 I guess I'm just spoiled that way.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @bobstro

What are you printing? Do you need good finish? Part strength? Temperature resistance?

temp resistance and strength for now

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @big-bird

I cannot afford to keep buying them and paying for shipping one spool at a time from Europe.

Amazon Basics (I believe they dropped them) were nice.

Posted by: @sembazuru

Posted by: @big-bird

Mop,

[...]

Personally I like the Prusament filaments but US distribution needs to be beefed up a heck of a lot.  I cannot afford to keep buying them and paying for shipping one spool at a time from Europe.

[...]

When I order filament from Prusa to here in Delaware, I've found that the shipping cost is the same for 2 as it is for 1, but if you order 3 then the shipping cost just about triples. So, I always order filament from Prusa in pairs.

But then, I can always drive over to PrintedSolid (10-15 minute drive) and pick up filament an not have to pay any shipping at all... 😉 I guess I'm just spoiled that way.

I was able to get my prusamint petg from amazon actually in the US, they have a descent selection of filament may be limited or out of stock but for my needs they had ample options, no need to pay the 50$ shipping fee to US.

https://www.amazon.com/stores/node/19332657011?_encoding=UTF8&field-lbr_brands_browse-bin=Prusament&ref_=bl_dp_s_web_19332657011

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @tim-m30

Avoid Glow-in-the-Dark unless you invest in a Tungsten Carbide nozzle ... the particles in it are harder than most hardened steels. 

i have harden steal nozzle i got https://trianglelab.aliexpress.com/store/group/HOTEND-Nozzle/1654223_512341540.html

i am assuming even though its glow in  the dark PLA it would still make it hard for the harden steal nozzle to work with.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @mop

Temp resistance and strength for now

I'm in the "no ABS" camp (fumes are a problem) so PETG is probably a good way to go. Middle of the road temp tolerance puts it between PLA and ABS. Probably good enough for most summer temps, although a hot car in Phoenix might be a challenge. So far as brands, I've used PETG from AtomicFilament, Gizmo Dorks, eSun, Inland and a few other big names. Most print just fine, none were horrible. Price and availability are probably more practical considerations, and that will vary depending on where you are.

I don't have any experience with polycarbonate (yet) but I'm sure some folks can make some recommendations. 

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I print primarily PETG and Polycarbonate.

I'll save a bit of typing by repeating what I sent someone. These are from Amazon US....

PETG filaments....

AmazonBasics was my favorite, cheap, reliably well behaved, but is no longer available. Minimal stringing and practically zero warping.

Overture - behaves identically to AmazonBasics. 

Paramount - Deep RICH colors that you cannot otherwise obtain. Very well behaved. I would rank this as my top PETG for visual quality.

StrongHero - Great for translucent PETG's and their dark gray is basically gun metal. A bit stringier than the above three if you use out of factory bag. Dry it before printing and you can run E3D & brass nozzle at 260C with minimal stringing. This is a low cost filament, but works well. Just remember it is hugely different wet vs dry.

Strength wise, I get more variation due to nozzle temperature 245 vs 260C than I do filament vs filament. Higher temperature for superior layer fusion requires the filament freshly dried (NOT OUT OF BAG, but heated for drying). 

----- PETG's I do NOT recommend

ColorMe3D - Considerably more stringy than above

Priline - Bed adhesion to PEI is excessive. Practically rips PEI off textured plate. All the others listed above easily release when cool, not Priline PETG. 

=========

Polycarbonate

Polymaker Polymax is my top choice for polycarbonate. It has higher thermal deflection and strength than Priline. Print at 290C with appropriate speed settings. It can even tolerate a little bit of fan for improved geometry without losing good layer fusion. Prints are so well fused that they sound "glassy" when you strike them with a fingernail.

Priline Polycarbonate is a low cost alternative to Polymax. It isn't as strong or stiff. It's thermal deflection point is about 10-15C lower than Polymax. So although better than PETG for heat resistance, it isn't what I would recommend for hot fins. On the other hand, it is cheaper and prints at 265-270C. Printing at 280 - 290C yields too much stringing even when dried. Like all PC's, its stringiness worsens with moisture Basically, I reach for this when producing parts I need stiffer than PETG, but don't need the temperature resistance of Polymax.

Priline Polycarbonate Carbon Fiber - Produces beautiful matte surface finish using same settings as its non-carbon fiber Priline sibline. It works perfectly with Tungsten carbide nozzle. Delamination is a risk unless you print at the upper end of the Priline PC temp range (270C). 

--

Polycarbonates I do NOT recommend

Gizmo Dorks - I could NEVER get it to adhere to a print bed be it PEI or Phenolic with or without PVA glue.

This no name chinese PC https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075SXS6NP Stay away from this! It fractionated into different plastic components. Its lower melt, clear stuff penetrates and ruins phenolic surfaces.

Advice re PC.

Polycarbonates are not cheap. Going cheap means worse print results, no print results, or damaged print bed. All the polycarbonates need thorough drying immediately before use. They are exquisitely sensitive to moisture. Factory sealed bags are NOT dry enough. The high print temp + hygroscopic character --> lots of pops in extrusion, failed bridges,  and horrible stringing. Dry them or waste some pricey filament.

A phenolic print bed is great for polycarbonate. You can use commercial Garolyte or DIY phenolic. I strongly advise using PVA glue and brim on every polycarbonate print. Otherwise, 1st layer adhesion is just enough to appear OK for first few layers, but fails a couple hours later. You don't want a polycarbonate blob of death.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @guy-k2

StrongHero - Great for translucent PETG's and their dark gray is basically gun metal. A bit stringier than the above three if you use out of factory bag. Dry it before printing and you can run E3D & brass nozzle at 260C with minimal stringing. This is a low cost filament, but works well. Just remember it is hugely different wet vs dry.

Interesting i have StrongHero3d PETG, i had initially though i needed to dry it but had no way to do so until i make a dryer, so in order to make this filament work i had to set my extrude rate to like .9  due to stringing and oozing, and i was told that my extrude rate was to drastic, so i put the filament away for a while, but this confirms my suspicions now. i was even about to just call it a bad batch and low quality filament but now this changes things, thanks for the info!

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I like the Amphora AM1800. Not an abs, not really a petg (no stringing but more warping sensible). good interlayer adhesion. I heard luzbot sell some in the US but not checked.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Oh no! Newly arrived 5 rolls of Stronghero dark gray is not gun metal. It's a smokey translucent instead of the color I loved.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I have to say, it's maybe testament to Prusa that the quality distance between high quality and low quality pla filament is pretty narrow.

 On the cheap end I've bulk bought Sunlu, Amazonbasics and more recently Geeetech and all perform very well. Geeetech is slightly more stringy, but nothing that interferes with prints.

High end I've tried Prusament and various others, but to be honest there's nothing I can perceive that justifies the higher price.

For specialist or exotic filaments, this is where I'd remain in better quality bracket.

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I stand corrected, got the shipments mixed up. All five new rolls of Stronghero gray are their super lovely gun metal gray.

It was one "black" spool of another shipping box that is oddly not black, but translucent smoked. Weird.

Well. At least I have more of my favorite gun metal gray filament again. 😀 

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I've been rather impressed with this stuff: PLA2 from FilaCube.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F21M533

Really happy with: Tianse Wood Types

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y5M352Z

Happy enough with: Dikale

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079BYK2DT

And used bunches of Paramount Pantone Colored PLA; 3D Solutech PLA (was cheap); and Amolen PLA.

I used a spool of this for printer add-ons - was close enough to Prusa Orange: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D6HTSFZ   (no stock)

If I were buying filament soon, I'd be trying out this brand ($15 a kg, delivered):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VB7HFHW

RE: Best filament you have tired?

I love atomic filament PLA and PETG.  

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Posted by: @tim-m30

I've been rather impressed with this stuff: PLA2 from FilaCube.  

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07F21M533

Really happy with: Tianse Wood Types

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B06Y5M352Z

Happy enough with: Dikale

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B079BYK2DT

And used bunches of Paramount Pantone Colored PLA; 3D Solutech PLA (was cheap); and Amolen PLA.

I used a spool of this for printer add-ons - was close enough to Prusa Orange: 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07D6HTSFZ   (no stock)

If I were buying filament soon, I'd be trying out this brand ($15 a kg, delivered):

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07VB7HFHW

 

nice i think i wana try some of those, just wondering though even if the results are good with the filaments what about long term results for example, what is your experience long term with this filament will they clog, will they ware out nozzle faster vs the normal ware and tare with filament of same material if the manufacturer put hard particles in it, etc.........?

RE: Best filament you have tired?

Joan - someone - can you please correct the title of this thread. Bugs me every time I see it..

But not enough to want to appear a grammar geek. This is to mods only - rest of you ignore it.