Shipping Prusa filament from USA?  

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

[...] I checked my spools of MH Build Series--there is no country of origin. So would this suggest it's made here (US) like some of their other "house labels"?Well... The only thing we can say for sure is that it doesn't confirm that it's not made in the US. Presumably if it weren't, it'd have to carry the country of origin somewhere, but I'm not sure how much teeth those regs have. If it had a country of origin not the US, of course that would confirm it wasn't US made. Keep in mind, MH Build series is not advertised as "Made in USA". Only their Pro series is.

I have had good luck with MatterHackers, and they seem to be actively working in and supporting the 3D printing community, so I'm not inclined to disbelieve them at this point. Short of driving to their facility and observing, I have no real way to say for certain where their "Pro" stuff is made.

I just checked a few spools: 3DXTech, MakerGeeks and AtomicFilament sport "Made in USA" on the spools. FormFutura and ColorFabb clearly state "Made in Netherlands". FilaCube states "Made in USA" with "with globally sourced materials"... which I guess is the same as "Assembled in USA" -- the Toyota of filament I suppose. Fillamentum says Czech Republic. Inland and GizmoDorks clearly state China.

It seems as with bluejeans, if you want to put your money where your mouth is regarding "Buy American", you're going to be spending more of it. I am going to order some MH Pro Ryno to compare to Colorfabb's nGen (not that I've got anything against the Dutch). Otherwise, you're wearing a hat and waving a flag from who-knows-where.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

It seems as with bluejeans, if you want to put your money where your mouth is regarding "Buy American", you're going to be spending more of it. I am going to order some MH Pro Ryno to compare to Colorfabb's nGen (not that I've got anything against the Dutch). Otherwise, you're wearing a hat and waving a flag from who-knows-where.

Yes & no. Through my initial search, I've found a few "Made in USA" that are still reasonably priced (under $25/KG.) Where those prices will be after the Fed Min. Wage is raised, and for imports after possible tariffs kick in, who can say? As I've indicated before, neither price nor origin are killing criteria for me--it's the several factors together on the date I order... The only beef I might have with certain origins relates to human rights issues (child/slave labor, etc.) and intentional misrepresentation.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I could care less about US made. I would like US distributed.

Sure, we can be worried about fair labor practices and child labor. I will stop buying if there is any evidence of the sort, but I am not going to go out of my way looking for it.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I would like US distributed.

Is that the same as the company having a US physical presence?
That's one thing I do look for.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I could care less about US made. I would like US distributed. It is a bit odd to be worrying about buying American-made consumables for a Czech-made printer. I'm sure a lot of the non-US readers here are rolling their eyes. I'm not particularly hung-up on "Made in USA" so much as wanting to support those companies that support the 3D printing community. I'll gladly buy non-US made filament from a company that invests "locally" (supporting my interests, online or geographically). To that point, I'm really looking for non-Amazon suppliers that aren't all about race-to-the-bottom pricing. That's why I was delighted to realize that MatterHacker's free shipping is as fast as Amazon's. PrintedSolid, FilamentOne and AtomicFilament have also been prompt with shipping, though not all are as fast or cheap as MH.

I've ordered some of that "forin" stuff from MH before (mostly Colorfabb) and just put in an order of their Ryno to compare to NGEN. I know MH competes with Prusa in that they sell their own line of (expensive) US-made Prusa knockoffs, but I think it would be great of Prusament were available from MH and other US-based, non-Amazon sources. Surely Amazon pushing the low-quality knockoffs is more of a threat to Prusa.

It is interesting to see the low-cost shipping options becoming more common from non-US, non-China sources. I've purchased hobbyist products from the UK (rigid.ink for cleaning filament and samples, pimoroni for Raspberry Pi gizmos). I'm happy to spend my money with those little operators that innovate and are part of the communities I participate in regardless of where they're located. Hell, that's part of the reason I went with a Prusa!

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I have to agree with you. I am more concerned about shipping costs.

Don't get me wrong; I am choosy when I buy from non-US companies. I am only leary if I feel like I need support.

The whole experience with PRUSA has made me more likely to order from them again. I am probably not ready to order directly from a Chinese or North Korean company that makes 3D printers, but I am willing to order from a friendly country like Czech.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

A US distributor (speaking of human rights abuses - why not make available on Amazon?) would be THE difference between my purchasing the stuff and not.

I don't want to wait a week.

I don't want to pay $30 shipping overhead.

I don't want to pay more for quality filament, but I would be willing to if the other two were met.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

Inland had been my go to, ... color and quality seem a bit inconsistent, it hasn’t caused me any actual problems though.

I never used 3D Solutech, but they appear to be well-rated on Amazon, so how bad could they be?

Prusament is a non-starter to the US until they get to Amazon due to exorbitant shipping.

First off, Nice Avatar! 🙂

Inland was a favorite of mine - but you can get PLA or PLA+ without warning or distinction. The stuff prints 10-20 degrees hotter, so you kinda have to test each roll when you get it to see what it is. It would rock if they could just label it - I'd buy either but I want to know what I'm getting.

Recently a friend bought a bunch of cheap filament and it was too cheap. Breaks, strings, etc. I bought a roll of Melca and it was terrible, way undersized and inconsistent on top of that.

I have one solutech (silver fill) which I use a lot as customers love it, but some of their others have been hit or miss.

At this point, I'm really hoping for a PVA I can trust. eSun is my goto but I haven't tried it on the MMU yet.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

[...] I don't want to pay more for quality filament, but I would be willing to if the other two were met.
Definitely check out MatterHackers. I've ordered from them several times, and each time their free shipping option arrived within 2 days. They sell a variety of cheaper and premium brands as well as their own in-house stuff. They've also done a great job shipping nozzles.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

Some in the United States think Amazon is committing human rights absues. I agree about Matter Hackers. Expensive though.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

Some in the United States think Amazon is committing human rights absues.

It's why I brought it up. At least they (said they'll) raise their minimum wage.

I would go through the trouble of checking another site to get Prusament. Just have to wait for something to happen.

I've got a stack of credit with Prusa, I'll probably burn it on filament.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I could never call paying minimum wage a human rights issue. It is really hard to use the same "human rights" term to refer to minumum wage in the United States to child labor in China, Vietnam, or Tailand.

I will continue to buy my filament from Amazon.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

[...] I agree about Matter Hackers. Expensive though.
MatterHackers is competitive for the same brands. If you're shopping the least expensive brands, there are cheaper. MH Build series PLA at $19.99 compares well to eSun and Paramount on Amazon for $20-24. After the recent quality and consistency issues with Inland, I'm prepared to spend another $5 for assurances of getting a good spool, so it works for me.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I could never call paying minimum wage a human rights issue. It is really hard to use the same "human rights" term to refer to minumum wage in the United States to child labor in China, Vietnam, or Tailand. I wouldn't call working in an Amazon warehouse a long-term career option or great work, but it is definitely better than working 7 days a week and living in a company dormitory, or without basic safety precautions. I'm not crazy about Amazon, but I order plenty with them. I do like to find other sources where available for the same cost & convenience and use them. Amazon is probably no worse than Walmart, K-Mart or any other large brick & mortar reseller.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

[...] I don't want to pay more for quality filament, but I would be willing to if the other two were met.
Definitely check out MatterHackers. I've ordered from them several times, and each time their free shipping option arrived within 2 days. They sell a variety of cheaper and premium brands as well as their own in-house stuff. They've also done a great job shipping nozzles.

+1 (including the nozzle thing--each came in its own labeled zip-loc bag).

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I could never call paying minimum wage a human rights issue. It is really hard to use the same "human rights" term to refer to minumum wage in the United States to child labor in China, Vietnam, or Tailand. I wouldn't call working in an Amazon warehouse a long-term career option or great work, but it is definitely better than working 7 days a week and living in a company dormitory, or without basic safety precautions. I'm not crazy about Amazon, but I order plenty with them. I do like to find other sources where available for the same cost & convenience and use them. Amazon is probably no worse than Walmart, K-Mart or any other large brick & mortar reseller.

[RUFUS RANT]
Ohhhh.... I really didn't want this thread to go here; that's why I kept my previous observations as non-political as I could. (Maybe not perfect. 😳 )

I guess I wouldn't go so far as to call Amazon "human rights" abusers; it's a complex issue as our (US) Min Wage hasn't increased since 2009 (last I heard). Part of the problem is that a significant # of Amazon employees have to rely on gov't. subsidies (food stamps) just to survive. I had written more, but...
If anyone cares, see: https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=+working+at+amazon
[/RUFUS RANT]

Labor/Wage issues aside (since they're finally addressing that issue), with Amazon, one still has the option/ability to research sources, and purchase from those that they're comfortable with for whatever reasons.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

[...] Ohhhh.... I really didn't want this thread to go here; that's why I kept my previous observations as non-political as I could. (Maybe not perfect. 😳 )
I certainly didn't mean for it to be political. I'm not crazy about Walmart or Amazon's practices, nor Barnes and Noble for that matter, and their impacts on local communities and businesses. I think it's a bit of a stretch to compare a crappy job in the US to a sweatshop in other parts of the world. That's not political, just a comment on my buying preferences. Trust me: Nobody's figuring out my political leanings based on that comment!

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

I certainly didn't mean for it to be political.

Wasn't singling anyone out--definitely not personal; I prolly started this with my Non-Sequitur, so it's on me.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

No worries. My spool of Makeshaper Greige arrived yesterday. I'm avoiding opening it because I have too many open spools of PLA aging on my shelf now, but I've realized a light color is great for prototypes and this color is really interesting. US-made. Delivery was $8, so not as stellar as MatterHackers, but it looks like good stuff. The spool has openings to see how much filament remains, unlike the pic on their site.

Re: Shipping Prusa filament from USA?

No intent to turn politcal either. It just did.

I ordered from matter hackers and will give ti a try also.