Choice of filament in uk  

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I have to recommend Fiberlogy filament. The consistency and strength i get on parts has surpassed any other filaments i have tried. UK supplier is https://www.aes3d.co.uk go to the 3d shop.

I am lucky they are local to me so i can just go and choose it from the shelf but they do free postage also.

They have done me discount before so maybe if you ask nicely.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

If you are going to be printing in PETG then the UK premium filament supplier Rigid Ink works out cheaper than AES. Their PLAs work out more expensive if you buy it in 1kg spool however in 3kg spool they work out cheaper. They also do PLA in Masterspool but that works out even more expensive.

Regards,
Martin

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Yes i suppose it depends what you want.

I have bought from both and the rigid ink stuff i have bought has been good but the Fiberlogy is on paper a better spec and i have not done strength tests but sure it is stronger and less brittle with regards to the PLA.

Personally i like to have the best and if it means paying more i will. In this case though i don't have to pay more 😀

I don't want to say to much as it is not my place but Carl at AES has told me they can price match or sometimes beat prices. You just need to ask.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Thank you both for your feedback, well appreciated. I did look at Rigid but found some mixed feedback with concerns about bed adhesion, higher temperature requirements, flow and poor quality results. Of course these errors could be down to the printer or user hence my request here where most members will be using a Prusa printer. Anyone able to confirm or refute such problems?

Cost is not an issue, failed prints would soon remove any savings. I would like to think any failed prints was my error not poor raw materials. Fiberology does sound good and I will be using PLA for the time being. Both can use the masterspool which is good.

Any ideas or preferences from other members?

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I have a friend in England with a Mendel Duet printer that says he uses nothing but Rigid Ink PLA and he is quite fussy.

I read reviews online with a somewhat jaundiced eye.

In general people with hardware problems will outnumber those with no problems in any forum even though their proportion of the whole population is very small. even here you will see the odd poster proclaiming that "All Prusa printers are Junk" based on their own isolated lemmon component in their printer... the problems that a small percentage of users on 110 volt mains systems have had with their Prusa Power supplies is a good example if even 10% of the printers that Prusa has sent to north america have had a problem I would be surprised. If it was that high Prusa would respecify the Power supplies for printers going to a place that had 110 volt AC mains. Yet you will see folks telling new kit builder to replace the stock PS with a Meanwell because in their case it was the only fix that worked... If 25% of users on 110 Volt mains had problems that required replacement form Prusa it would make no sense not to update the PS for these markets but you can rest assured that they have done the due diligence on all of their warranty replacement parts costs and if that number was as high as that they would respecify the part.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Thanks everyone, looks like rigid or fiberology. Unless anyone else has a suggestion I think I will try one of each and find out for myself 🙂

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I mainly use:

https://shop.3dfilaprint.com/
https://ooznest.co.uk/
https://www.filamentive.com/

I use a lot of the brands from Amazon too. Most are quite good, but make sure to read the feedback first.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I really love the idea of recycled filament from filamentive but is it of good quality?

Re: Choice of filament in uk

https://3dprintz.co.uk/ Good filament, fair price

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_15?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=real+filament+1.75&sprefix=real+filament+1%2Caps%2C141&crid=1LQT96GBUHXRB

Been using various colours and materials of Real from Amazon. Consistently good and reliable.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Rigid.Ink PETG is good but expensive, but recently I have found Technology Outlet to be almost as good if not better in some respects, and less than half the price of R.I. but it is also slightly more flexible and a bit translucent compared to R.I. so it depends on what characteristics you are after, Oh both available from Amazon.co.uk. Sunlu PLA is not too bad either but I don't use PLA much, just PETG most of the time.
Colorfabb XT is very strong, but difficult to print with, it shrinks and does not do overhangs very well (Due to the shrinkage), it is supposed to be like PETG. All available through Amazon.co.uk.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Brilliant; currently working with PLA as personal knowledge expands but when I venture out, this will be of great value
Roy

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I can vouch for Rigid ink PLA and PETG. Used significant amounts of it (especially the PLA) and never had a problem with it.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Many thanks for everyone's contributions on this thread, it has been very helpful. I will try several of the products so I can reach my own conclusions for the long term and I will provide feedback here

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I've got various filament brands via ebay or amazon.co.uk and not had too much trouble with anything, and I usually go for the cheaper end of the cost scale. Mistakes are usually my own - eg I did fork out for a roll of prusament when I ordered a smooth PEI sheet, plus spares. I wanted plain white, but ordered vanilla white, which is too creamy for my needs. However I also ordered via amazon sunlu PLA+ white and it turned out far too translucent, so you gotta be careful and read reviews. Actual print-wise, I find filaments work as intended, except the problems I've had with the powered coated sheet, which isn't the filaments fault. The best advice I can give regarding filament is to keep it dry.......
Texy

Re: Choice of filament in uk

My short summary of filaments in the UK is based on my own experience guided by the kind contributions from contributors above. This may be an unfair comparison as I am new to 3d printing and I was comparing different colours which does affect PLA properties so take this at face value. All the filaments I tried were good, but some were better.
I was given an unmarked 1kg roll of silver PLA with my printer, presumably Prusa PLA which is now superseded by Prulament, a filament not yet available in UK, unless shipped from abroad at significant cost. This roll was not bad, did some nice builds with it but with occasional unexpected fails. When successful; the finish was brilliant, my Masterspool print looks immaculate.
Next, I bought recycled filament; Filamentive (red). I really wanted this to be successful and admire their initiative. PLA is degradable but not as eco-friendly as I would like. It is commonly made from genetically modified crops and still takes an awfully long time to degrade unless in optimal conditions. It generally finds itself onto landfills which are suboptimal conditions and take decades to break down. This filament was good but sadly I did have some significant fails and had to run the extruder up 5 degrees higher than they recommend reducing fails, but this did affect the finish. Not a bad filament and perhaps I had a bad batch, I did try drying it out as I suspected water content which improved it a bit. I was so keen for this to be my chosen filament.
Next up was fiberlogy (black). This filament certainly reduced fails but the finish was not always as smooth as I would like. It did have a lovely matt finish and the less smooth matt surface was likeable for certain objects. I am likely to buy again for specific objects where the finish suits.
Finally came rigid ink. I bought the blue filament. I am not sure of whether I like the colour, but I love the filament. No fails, except for my own design faults. Finish was smooth. I will make this my regular PLA filament although I may look for a cheaper filament for proof prints. It is expensive to purchase but if you cost in wasted filament and the brilliant support provided by the company, for the British market, this is the one I have settled on.
Interestingly, I did need to run my printer bed and extruder temperatures about 5 degrees higher than recommended on all my filaments and I question whether this may be a printer specific. Certainly the default settings on Slic3r PE are quite high.
I would like to thank all those who contributed to the thread without whom I would still be searching out for my regular filament. I would also like to highlight that all the filament used was of good quality and as a beginner in this field, this should not be taken as anything more than my experience.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Have used Rigid Ink - only in PLA or ABS. For the price, nothing special. There are some very good other UK suppliers - for example Mattforge from Steelmans or Philament who both sell on ebay. Rigid Ink ships very quickly and has good colour ranges but there are many more options, not least from Amazon UK who stock a wide range of filaments.

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Thanks Laura. Could not find samples of mattforge but just bought a sample of Philament which does indeed have some nice colours. Will feedback personal experience as always helpful. Do you have any preferred settings for Philament PLA you could possibly share with me to maximise my experience of the sample
Roy

Re: Choice of filament in uk

Is Philament strictly speaking, in the UK? Price is £22.90 including VAT and "shipment to UK"....

Texy

Re: Choice of filament in uk

I was confused at that, I suspect they make the stuff in Europe but they have free shipping so availability in uk is there which is okay with me. Prefer to buy British if possible ; sadly, having been directly in touch with Mattforge it has no samples and I don't want to buy 1kg and find I am unhappy with it. They responded very promptly which is always a good sign and I may well give them a go at a later stage when feeling rich