Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)  

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Has anyone tried AmazonBasics filament? The reviews on Amazon look pretty mixed. I don't want to accuse any reviews of being fake, but since they are selling the stuff on their own website, it makes me a tad suspicious.

I tried one white PLA roll and it prints really bad, so no AmazonBasic for me anymore. In FB group many people like it. Maybe it's a hit or miss.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Has anyone tried AmazonBasics filament? The reviews on Amazon look pretty mixed. I don't want to accuse any reviews of being fake, but since they are selling the stuff on their own website, it makes me a tad suspicious.

so far ive had no issues with non shiny amazon basic pla. i do have a roll of copper brown it's shiny (100% Scooby doo color) and that prints abit stringy. but still prints ok.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

With amazon PETG , like hatchbox, I have found I had to print with lower temp amd slower.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

With amazon PETG , like hatchbox, I have found I had to print with lower temp amd slower.

Is there a repo somewhere of non-official filament profiles so that everyone doesn't have to go through the same trial and error (or at least has a better starting point)?

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Just a quick update, currently getting through a roll of RIGID.INK PETG (Black), it's been connected to the printer for nearly 3 weeks so out in the open, I started to get steam pops and a bit more stringing than I normally get with this filament whilst extruding so have put it in my dryer for a few hours today.
The printer is currently in an unheated room and it has been raining a lot and I have had the stove burning which has a couple of pots of water hanging off the back to keep the humidity from getting too low, this moisture finds it's way through the whole house.

Basically, don't think a filament is poor until you have tried drying it, because a good filament can start to show printing issues in just about 3 weeks when left out. This particular filament is quite difficult to dry as well since the reel has solid sides so air does not flow well through it.

From the looks of it. the Prusament reels look good for drying, but could be improved with a few holes in the cardboard tube through the middle, can't wait to try some if we ever get it in the UK at Amazon. Hint to PRUSA -PETG AMAZON UK 😉

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

With amazon PETG , like hatchbox, I have found I had to print with lower temp amd slower.

Is there a repo somewhere of non-official filament profiles so that everyone doesn't have to go through the same trial and error (or at least has a better starting point)?

No that I know of. I will look at my settings.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

I've recently started a roll of ERYONE White PLA from amazon.co.uk ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DN4MCD7/ ) and it is printing well at the default PLA settings in SLic3rPE...

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Hatchbox: Probably the standard and 'safest' bet. They go in and out of stock all the time, so order colors you want when you see them! I've had really good luck with most colors except 'silky brown' which looks amazing but doesn't work very well in overhangs. Otherwise it's a very solid pick.

Esun PLA Pro: very smooth prints, slightly more expensive, less colors selection though. I've tested the white and black with great results. This filament works really well for fine detail using finer nozzles. I discovered this quite by accident while printing with a 0.20 nozzle. I wasn't getting the resolution I wanted with Hatchbox and 3D Solutech, but the eSun PLA Pro showed amazing detail.

3D Solutech: Not quite as smooth as Hatchbox, but very consistent and lots of colors. Also slightly lower cost which is very nice. It is probably my 'go to' filament. 3D Solutech also has a nice master spool program on Amazon (not sure about in Bulgaria though). A master spool is where they send you the filament, but no spool. You print the master spool ahead of time and use that one over and over again. The master spool takes about 1/4 of a spool, but you reduce waste quite a bit.

Paramount: slightly more expensive, has some really amazing deep, rich colors not found in other brands (look at 'Decepticon Purple,' 'Black Cherry,' 'Primordial Earth' for examples). After going through about 1/4 of two spools, it prints quite smoothly (comparable to Hatchbox and 3D Solutech). The colors are very consistent.

Inland: pretty nice, good number of colors, good price. I am not as big of a fan as some others. It doesn't seem to print as well as the others.

Tianse: Nice colors, pretty smooth. I've only got one spool and have had some good luck, but haven't had enough experience to call it good or bad yet.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

3D Solutech: Not quite as smooth as Hatchbox, but very consistent and lots of colors. Also slightly lower cost which is very nice. It is probably my 'go to' filament. 3D Solutech also has a nice master spool program on Amazon (not sure about in Bulgaria though). A master spool is where they send you the filament, but no spool. You print the master spool ahead of time and use that one over and over again. The master spool takes about 1/4 of a spool, but you reduce waste quite a bit.

I assume an used spool would also work, no?
Will definitely have to try the mentioned brands, Hatchbox and Esun comes up pretty often.
Now that I have that printing machine I want to print everything, it's sorta an addiction 😛
You set the printer to work(and wait for a nice first layer) and then go to sleep and when you wake up you go and collect the new thingy.
Feels like christmas everyday

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

I got myself some SuperFila whte PLA from Amazon ($14.99/kilo with prime shipping) and have found it seems to be working well for lithophane prints. (The other colors that I haven't gotten yet are $15.99/kilo) It is a little glossy off the spool so I was having issues until I turned off the filament sensor (MK3). I am on the thin, flat, vertical prints getting a lot of very fine stringing, almost cotton candy diameter. I should probably have turned off z-hop. I print 205 first layer and then 200, with the bed at 60.

So far, it seems to be a decent, dirt-cheap PLA.

Here is a picture of the first photolith that I did (ever): https://photos.app.goo.gl/A87pHq3omzB1Lpod8

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

For PET I would recommend InnoPET from Innofil3D
Prints nice here at bed 75C and 225/220C on layers.
Using these settings you do not need to use glue or anything other than the PEI bed, print will pop off when bed cooled to room temp.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

[...] I assume an used spool would also work, no?

Unfortunately, most will not. They don't come apart. eSun spools are the only common brand I've found that can easily be re-used.

You can find a wide variety of MasterSpool designs on ThingiVerse to print. They seem to use about $6 worth of filament. My favorite is the Slant3D design for ease of assembly. There's also an adapter for the eSun spools for better fit.

I've only tried re-using eSun spools with the Filastruder Veracity (KVP) PETG refills so far, but they worked very well. You won't save a ton of money unless you're paying shipping by weight. $2-3 per spool seems to be the typical rate, so break-even at your 3rd spool.

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

PETG: Innofil - absolutely wonderful PETG. Rigid Ink also nice but not AS nice.
PLA: Absolutely love Matteforge - sensational PLA but expensive. Smartmaterials in Spain are my favourite for general purpose. Also Fillamentum for their lovely extrafill premium filaments in grey and black. Creality own brand is good but expensive relative to many cheap branded filaments.
Wood: Extrudr Fiche or Colorfabb Corkfill and Woodfill are good wood filaments that give consistent results. Fiche prints well at about 180C
ABS/NGEN: NGEN from Colorfabb is a good alternative to ABS, although seen some funnies with overhangs on one side (yeah I know). The colours are really nice. For ABS itself I've only tried Tevo's own brand or Rigid Ink - both seemed almost identical.
Flex: Good results with Smart Materials flex but not as hard wearing as Extrudr hard flex which is very good.
FTR I've found Fillament PM filaments to be VERY similar in colour and quality to standard Prusa PLA. I think some of the pellets are of the same source, but results from prints look so alike its hard to tell the 2 apart.
Had a go at Colorfabb PA-CF but results were poor on the Prusa (might be the hardened steel nozzle I have currently as it prints fine on brass on a CR10 mini!)

Re: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Two more from weekend trials: Atomic Filament and Esun. Tried PETG and PLA.

RE: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

I'm new to 3D printing (got a MK3S kit, and loved building it!) and I went through my Prusament Silver really quickly.  

I got some Amazon Basics PETG and it is okay with the standard settings but I kept getting hair in the prints. I think these are either hair/hay/grass or maybe the filament scorches.

I bought some AnyCubic PLA from Amazon UK ( https://www.amazon.co.uk/ANYCUBIC-Printer-Filament-Printing-Printers/dp/B07DMH2VFC ) more recently and it has been a complete nightmare to get it to print reliably.  After much fiddling and a few comments from AnyCubic and searching around the web; it seems it needs to be on a cooler setting (around 205c) and the print speed needs to be much slower (50%). I had to set the extrusion multiplier to 0.9.  I also needed to slow down the fan that switches on after the first layer because it drops the temperature too far and the filament has a habit of not melting and clogging the hotend.  I've learned how to remove the hotend with the loosening of 6 screws very well for removing jammed filament.  I've also learned how to cold-pull filament!  As I said, I am new to this!

I'm attaching images of my config for Slic3r PE (1.42.0-beta2) in case anyone else is having trouble with AnyCubic PLA.  

Maybe I've been overthinking this, but these settings give me reliable prints from the filament.  Once I've used up the Kg reel, I won't be buying it again!

RE: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Posted by: laura.f2

FTR I've found Fillament PM filaments to be VERY similar in colour and quality to standard Prusa PLA. I think some of the pellets are of the same source, but results from prints look so alike its hard to tell the 2 apart.

Prusa rebrands Filament-PM (Plasty Mladeč) as the Prusa PLA and Prusa PETG. They're not just similar, they're one and the same. Prusament on the other hand is made in-house by Prusa.

Had a go at Colorfabb PA-CF but results were poor on the Prusa (might be the hardened steel nozzle I have currently as it prints fine on brass on a CR10 mini!)

I had good success with ColorFabb PA-CF Low Warp. (Mk3, E3D Nozzle X). Unlike with Fillamentum Nylon CF15 Carbon, which I haven't succeeded to keep from warping. I assume a 90 °C heated chamber would do it, but I don't have one yet.

RE: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

I've had good experience with Gembird PLA - super cheap, but prints OK. Colors are rather dull. I love Fillamentum PLA Vertigo Grey. It looks awesome and prints well. Fiberlogy PETG Onyx looks good and prints well. But probably discontinued and replaced by Fiberlogy Easy PETG Onyx, which may be different. Verbatim PLA Green prints OK. ColorFabb PLA/PHA is fine, but material properties vary wildly between colors. Some need 200 °C nozzle temperature (like ultramarine blue), some print better at 230 °C (like transparent green). Filament-PM PETG Black (the one Prusa uses for printing printers) is prone to stringing and boogers, otherwise OK. 

RE: Reliable filament brands(aside from prusament)

Here are the images of my Slic3r PE settings. I thought I'd added them to the message.