Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup  

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

The Prusament filement sold by Amazon are all $24.99 to $34.99.  What you linked to is sold by a third party seller who can charge whatever they want and are trying to take advantage when Amazon is out of stock of a particular color.

There are many threads of other filaments to buy.

I use Push Plastic and Atomic Filament a lot, but also many others.

David

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

@david-s102

Hi David,

You are right. It seems that Amazon does not carry the Prusament Galaxy Silver (or galaxy black) at this time. Hence the high markup via 3rd party (in this case TikiTop). There does not seem to be another US-based supplier at this time. 

Yup, lots of very confusing discussion for a newbie on filament. (Great or sucks depending on how far you read. <sigh>)

I was trying to stay with what Prusa shipped given how well everything else they provided with our MK3S worked and how low we are on the learning curve. KISS (Keep It Simple ...)

Thanks for the recommendation. I'll try your filament recommendations if I find issues with Hatchbox.

Much appreciated.

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

The good news is that most PLA from the better-known companies is good these days. If you have a Microcenter near you, Inland is good quality for a good price. You can order from them online as well as visit nearby stores if you're lucky. I've had good results with Paramount, eSun, 3D Solutech, Sunlu and others off Amazon. Don't forget the 3D printing resellers who directly support the community and also offer free shipping. MatterHackers, PrintedSolid and FilamentOne are all excellent. MH manages to be faster than Amazon with shipping sometimes. Avoid the no-name stuff off eBay and the like. They're rarely much cheaper and quality can vary.

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

@bobstro

Following up, the forum and @bobstro is right in telling us (newbies here) that transitioning away from the included Prusament Galaxy silver as your first spool is not problematic. That said,  I wish we could get the Prusament Galaxy silver and black at reasonable prices in the US.

So, our limited experience shows that the 3d printing world is opening up for us! (Wish I could include the picture of my 15 year old - who literally built the printer - saw it work for the first time. Privacy is a concern, not the forums software.) He is now hands on learning excellent life skills: the whole point of the Prusa MK3S printer purchase. MMU2S is next but we are hoping for a new revision given the bad reviews.

For anyone who reads this thread:

We have had outstanding results using the Hatchbox white for lithographs at 0.1mm layer height. Thanks 3drocks!

The Hatchbox bronze is working well for general printing and puzzle gift boxes. (Our friends will love and hate our 3d printing ability LOL!)

Prusament Petg (obtained from Amazon at a decent price) worked great for a Raspberry Pi holder so we are viewing our prints via octoprint on our android and other devices. 

We find the real lessons are coming from the Prusa MK3S and "learning" what the prints tell us. Yes, 3d printing is great but it is still somewhat "fiddley" as we learn what works for models and what does not.

For example, the 3dRocks lithographs ( http://3dp.rocks/lithophane/ ) needs a base for our MK3S. Tall lithographs have a long lever arm and start breaking loose from the bed late in the print. Maybe reducing the y-axis speed can help reduce the probability of detaching but we just added a base (via the website) and it works nicely. Lovely gifts btw! The 0.1 mm z-axis resolution really is a great test of printer tuning. (Again newbie here, so take with a grain of salt.)

Thanks to a recent Prusa support for a 12 hour chat session to help with a y-axis length error. That was a PIA but they worked through the basics with us. Not certain if it was a rogue filament wire or ensuring the linear bearings were against the stops on the y-axis frames (as appropriate), but they worked through the issue with us.

Thus with the support, the Prusa MK3S is a "great" first printer and Prusa has stood behind their product for us. Meanwhile, the length error might be a good thing as we can now tear apart and reassemble our printer at will. Perfect for maintenance. Not so fun while happening the first time tho ...

Now we will see how long-term behavior happens. I don't think our printer has been idle very much since it was built! I'm already looking a bearing replacements given the 800 hour MTBF.

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

Just a note: I always print lithophanes with a brim. It keeps the print adhered and removes cleanly.

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

Thanks for the feedback!

We tried a brim of different widths but it did not work on tall lithographs as the brim remained tightly adhered to the bed but the lithophane eventually broke loose.

Apparently others have had similar problems which is why Image To Lithophane lets users specify a base. (I saw this in the comments by 3drocks somewhere)

As an aside, do you recommend we calibrate printer per https://all3dp.com/2/how-to-calibrate-a-3d-printer-simply-explained/ ?

My thinking on why the base rather than a brim ...

The lithophane is great for a newbie because we can see the print quality quite well in the lithographs. Everything looked fine until about 1.5 - 3cm in height in my failed prints.

My guess is that the mass distribution became uneven at the top when printing thicker, dark areas which caused a slight lifting at one corner. The brim stayed adhered so the lithophane slightly broke from both bed and brim. This extra freedom started the lithophane rocking during fast y-axis moves. The rocking got worse over the next 3-5cm as the lithophane gained in height until it eventually broke from the bed and brim. The brim remained strongly adhered to the bed.

I saw this in the quality change in the lithograph.

I'm a newbie so this made sense. Adding a small thin base that was stronger than the brim fixed the issue. Perhaps I could have slowed the y-axis, but this made sense to try given the already long 9 hour print times.

FYI: Smaller ones like the moon test printed fine like the test print in step 13 of https://www.instructables.com/id/Progressive-Detail-Moon-Lamp/ even without a brim.

Again, thanks for the advice!

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

I've started adding "wings" to my lithophanes to keep it rocking side to side during prints. Basically, one or two perimeter extrusions that go most of the way up and turn the top down view from an "--" into an "H" with side bars.

RE: Newbies here - Prusament fulfillment in US ... amazing Amazon markup

The stuff on Amazon is not always sold by Amazon even if it is “Prime”.