LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Does anyone know of a (source for) reasonably priced LIGHT grey PLA in the US? (Much lighter than Prusa silver shipped w/ MK3 kits). I did some extensive shopping exercises, and thought I had found one, only to find when it arrived that it was even darker than Prusa silver!
TIA
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Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Mad Maker has a light stone gray for $30/1.5Kg. I bought their dark stone gray and it's about the same shade as Prusa silver.
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He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Do you guys know if this Hatchbox PANTONE COOL GREY 6 C fits the bill? I just found it on the river--don't recall seeing it there (as in "currently unavailable") when I searched previously.
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Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Have not seen this color in person but used Paramount filament before and love it. check this color out PANTONE Gray 421C:
or
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
I find it amazing how close these colors are to each other, yet almost consistently darker than represented in their respective photos. I acknowledge that colors can appear different on monitors than in real life, so as a relative comparison, I'm filling in large blocks of cells in Excel (rectangles in any drawing program would do as well) with the RGB values of the suggested filaments' Pantone values. This should (at least) give me an idea of their shades relative to each other. From there I'll pick the one that appears lightest of the bunch.
Yes, the colors must have Pantone values to make such a comparison; fortuantely most of them do--I'm emailing the mfrs. of those that don't post them--just have to see what happens... Best I can do.
Thank you all again for the input. Whod'a thunk it'd be so hard to find a LIGHT gray in this Wonnerful Whirl-o-Color? 😀
That's "MISTER Old Fart" to you!
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
The problem is that, once you have a RAL or Pantone color, you need to match it with a calibrated reference. Anything on your screen will be pointless unless you've carefully calibrated your screen. I was surprised to find that a reference deck of Pantone samples goes from $25 up to $1500. Hopefully you're after a really common color. I suppose you could visit Home Depot and take some notes in their paint section to find values that match what you're after.
[...] Yes, the colors must have Pantone values to make such a comparison; fortuantely most of them do--I'm emailing the mfrs. of those that don't post them--just have to see what happens... Best I can do.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
The problem is that, once you have a RAL or Pantone color, you need to match it with a calibrated reference. Anything on your screen will be pointless unless you've carefully calibrated your screen. I was surprised to find that a reference deck of Pantone samples goes from $25 up to $1500. Hopefully you're after a really common color. I suppose you could visit Home Depot and take some notes in their paint section to find values that match what you're after.
I thought I was clear; I'm after light grey. 😀
Visiting Home Despot wouldn't help unless they have chips of the exact Pantone values of filaments. IME, there's no rhyme or reason to Pantone's numbering system. I've been through a similar exercise with other projects (yarn colors for a Dr. Who scarf).
Comparing the RGB values of the Pantone #s relative to each other will be close enough; we're not talking about hues here--grays are, for the most part, more luminosity dependent.
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Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Come to think of it, I'm subjected to a similar exercise quite often by the resident quilter. Quilters view their fabrics through a red filter to establish color "value" (same as luminosity). I'm looking for a high value (i.e.light) gray.
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Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Mad Maker has a light stone gray
Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to respond to email. 🙁
IME, that can say a lot about a business. (e.g. MakerGeeks).
That's "MISTER Old Fart" to you!
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
I think it's a one-man shop, so they may be slow in responding. I did order a roll from them and received it without surprises. They don't offer the stellar service of MatterHackers, but I'd order from them again. They seem to have some interesting color options that I don't find elsewhere. Mind you, it's just PLA, so there are plenty of other options. That is a light gray though!
[...] Unfortunately, he doesn't seem to respond to email. 🙁
IME, that can say a lot about a business. (e.g. MakerGeeks).
MakerGeeks just seems to be chaos and hyperbolic advertising.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
Re: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
I think it's a one-man shop, so they may be slow in responding.
Granted, but it's been a week & a half, and IMO that's just not acceptable. If he has/had... issues (understandable), he could have posted something on his site, or autoresponded... something.
That's "MISTER Old Fart" to you!
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
An old thread but I'm on a similar quest to get 4 shades of grey.
I tried Fiberlogy - gray, Inox and graphite and added Fillamentum Electric grey as the 4th.
Regrettably there is too little difference between Electric grey which is barely paler than the Fiberlogy gray. Also the Inox shade is good but has a metallic appearance like the Prusa Galaxy silver.
I have a RAL fan deck but not a Pantone one, some colours cross reference but not many. Some Fillamentum and ColorFabb have the RAL number/name but none in grey shades I require.
Anyway, I've just found PLA by a company called FibreForce whose range all have Pantone numbers with several choices of each colour.
https://www.fiberforce.it/pantone/
They are Italian but have worldwide distributors - Matterhackers in US and 3D Print Monkey in UK plus others round the world.
I'm going to give a couple of their mid greys a try to see if they will fill my gap between my dark and one of my lightest greys.
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
An old thread but I'm on a similar quest to get 4 shades of grey.
Have you tried Paramount? They have a collection of grays.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
@bobstro
They look just the job, regrettably I haven't previously found a UK supplier or anyone that'll ship. Think I will have another search.
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
They look just the job, regrettably I haven't previously found a UK supplier or anyone that'll ship. Think I will have another search.
I can sympathize. For a few months, every filament I got excited about was only sold in the EU!
Greybeard's filament catalog might help you at least locate suitable colors. If you still can't find a match, ColorFabb's RAL color matching offering can match any shade. A little pricey, but possibly worth it. They have a selection of greys as well. EU Makers always seemed to have what I wanted, but was too costly to ship to the US. Extrudr has a few.
and miscellaneous other tech projects
He is intelligent, but not experienced. His pattern indicates two dimensional thinking. -- Spock in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Overture's "Light Grey" is slightly lighter than the PRUSA silver. It also has no metallic sparkle to it - a true grey. Overture is readily available, discounts on their website and they use Amazon to fulfill in the USA. Usually shows up in 2 days. (it's the upper strand in the attached picture - Prusament silver is lower)
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
Thanks for the suggestions, unfortunately couldn't locate the recommendations in the UK.
Got fed up of looking and decided to try the Pantone ones, arrived today and have done a quick test. I just used a PLA profile and it printed fine. They have a very glossy finish and layer lines hardly visible but top surface layer much apparent than other PLA but haven't done any tweaks. At 30GBP for 750Kg I doubt I'll be buying again, I thought it a bit mean that it comes in sealed bag but not zip lock.
Regrettably neither colour is as I had hoped, one is too silvery rather than a flat grey and the other hardly different to the dark grey I already have. I haven't got a Pantone deck to compare against but likely they are the same.
Not sure what to do, I now have 4 rolls of grey which I'm not going to use for the project, the Fiberology Grey is only a fraction darker than the Fillamentum Electric Grey I already had so needn't have bought, the Fiberlogy Inox is too metallic looking and the latest 2x Pantone Fibreforce are no good either. There comes a point where you don't feel like saying "oh well never mind it'll come in handy for other things"!
Think I'll look at my RAL fan deck and choose 2x Colorfabb ones even though they are £50 for 750Kg, seemed expensive at the onset but after a few failed purchases think I should have opted for these in the first place.
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
FilaCube Light Grey PLA is available on Amazon in the USA. It prints well.
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Chuck H
3D Printer Review Blog
RE: LIGHT gray/grey PLA in USA?
This is 3d Elec Tech, an off-brand, but it prints fine and is a good match to a spool of Hatchbox which I could not find when it ran out.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08KSWV94B/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1