Cheap vs Expensive Filaments  

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

@stinkypete - fellow aussie here (South Australia) - have you found ANYONE stocking semi decent priced filament in Australia?  I have had good success with eSUN PLA+ but thats v expensive at the moment too

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Posted by: @ajerazzor

@stinkypete - fellow aussie here (South Australia) - have you found ANYONE stocking semi decent priced filament in Australia?  I have had good success with eSUN PLA+ but thats v expensive at the moment too

I've had some success with FlashForge PLA sold through Adelaide's Jaycar ($39.95 per kilo), printing at an indicated 225 degrees and at 80% speed on my Mini.   It still seems to be under-extruding at times, despite a beautiful first layer, and does not print as cleanly as Prusament.   It's the best non-Prusament that I've tried so far.   I also bought a sample pack of Aussie made Aurarum, and some other stuff over the net, but both constantly jammed in my machine.  With that experience, I am just about ready to bite the bullet and use only Prusament.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

@stinkypete

Another Adelaidien? Thats cool - Ive found someone from Young that is selling a bit of prusament happy to ship - not much left and colors not first preference but way cheaper than from prusa.  Can share details if you interested.

Therese also a place in Para Hills who offer free shipping but prices not fantastic

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Posted by: @ajerazzor

@stinkypete

Another Adelaidien? Thats cool - Ive found someone from Young that is selling a bit of prusament happy to ship - not much left and colors not first preference but way cheaper than from prusa.  Can share details if you interested.

Therese also a place in Para Hills who offer free shipping but prices not fantastic

Message sent...  

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

@stinkypete

Good to see more Aussies in here. 🙂

I wouldn't write off Aurarum too quickly. They're a well regarded Australian filament manufacturer and also make Wombot printers.

Give them a call. They should be able to help you with some settings to try. As you said, you're new to 3D printing and it is more likely you (no offence intended) and not the filament.

You can also give another respected Australian producer a go - 3D Fillies.

Their PLA is under $27 a spool, but they're  $140 minimum spend for free shipping versus $110 from Aurarum. 

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Another tip for Aussies is to make your purchases from Prusa in Polish Zloty because the AUD kills it in the exchange rate. Saved me $170 (versus USD, GBP and EUR) on my MK3S kit with both sheets and 3 extra spools of Prusament.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

@morphias

How do you change the currency - I’d love to go window shopping

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

@ajerazzor

Up near the top right of the page in the web store. Next to 'Sign In'.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Posted by: @morphias

@stinkypete

Good to see more Aussies in here. 🙂

 

I wouldn't write off Aurarum too quickly. They're a well regarded Australian filament manufacturer and also make Wombot printers.

 

Give them a call. They should be able to help you with some settings to try. As you said, you're new to 3D printing and it is more likely you (no offence intended) and not the filament.

 

You can also give another respected Australian producer a go - 3D Fillies.

 

Their PLA is under $27 a spool, but they're  $140 minimum spend for free shipping versus $110 from Aurarum. 

@morphias - 3d Fillies - I cant see whether they are australian made, or just warehouse and sell?  Have you had personal experience with their stuff on a prusa?

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

For my usage i have a local store (Clas Ohlson) who got PLA for around 20€/kg and petg around 23€/kg

I have also used https://addnorth.com/ E-PLA for around 25-29€/kg depending on size and place of purcharge.

For ASA i have only just got Scapefill 500g roll for 14€ for testing and another 8kg of Scapefill Easy-ABS for 21€/kg

I also buy in bulk from local auction sites when they show up within reasonable €/kg incl shipping.

I mostly do prototyping in the cheapest available PLA and then adjust for final material.

I'm located in Sweden/EU.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

All of the replies to this thread have been interesting and informative, and it seems that many users are getting good results with cheaper filaments on their Minis.

However I am still trying to figure out what the physical differences are between cheap and expensive PLA filaments, which lead to better prints with more expensive filaments.    My own investigations have been limited to measureing the diameter of filaments at multiple placers along their length, and the worst I've tried measured between 1.71mm - 1.80mm and underextruded and nozzle blocked on every attempt to use it, despite trying different temperatures and speeds.    There must be other factors in the makeup of fillaments, other than diameter variability, that impacts on print quality.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Hey all,
how youse gaarn? *secret handshake*

I just started running a MK3S (super n00b) & started looking also.

I tried "Comgrow Creality PLA 3D" from Amazon here locally, $33 a roll & worked perfectly fine - would recommend.  I got out the calipers & its 1.74mm/1.68mm (oval shape) and worked perfectly.

I tried the Aurarum ASA... nothing but issues, poor bed adhesion (textured sheet) - which is odd as the prusament ASA stuck to it like the proverbial!
I couldnt print a calicat past its feet without a blockage/stoppage & had to remove the hotend completely on one occasion.

Got out the Mitutoyo dial calipers (proper calibrated machinist calipers) & its way out of spec, 1.65/1.62 in places (oval shape) at best it was 1.66 to 1.68mm at the largest diameter. You can run it between your fingers & feel the bumps and lumps in it.

Maybe there's less forgiving printers out there, but its unusable on the MK3S & i'm back onto Prusament. My time is worth more than troubleshooting & a jam...

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

I've had very good luck with Hatchbox, Paramount, Overture, RepRapper, SainSmart and others I can't think of right now.  In the States they are mostly available in the $20-$25-ish range to the door.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

I have recntly bought some reels of Matts Hub Filament.  See:  https://mattshub.com/collections/all     It is claimed to have a tolerance of 0.02mm, which is confirmed by my measurements at various points along a roll, which gave a range of diameter of 1.74mm to 1.76mm, which was well inside the stated spec. I then ran a series of test prints using my successful Prusament profile, and achieved a faultless Benchy, a test slab with a perfect top and bottom layer, and a longer 15 hour print with smooth even surfaces and no imperfections.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

I don't have that much experience with various filaments, but so far I haven't had any issues with the "cheaper" ones that I have bought. In my search for non-Chinese filaments I ran across Jinos 3D Printing (  https://www.fiberich-usa.com/3d-filaments ). They are located in US and produce all their own filaments in North Carolina. Very good prices and free shipping (at least in US). I bought 2 rolls of PLA and 1 roll of PETG. The PLA's have been issue-free. I haven't had a chance to try out the PETG yet.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Posted by: @timbratten

I don't have that much experience with various filaments, but so far I haven't had any issues with the "cheaper" ones that I have bought. In my search for non-Chinese filaments I ran across Jinos 3D Printing (  https://www.fiberich-usa.com/3d-filaments ). They are located in US and produce all their own filaments in North Carolina. Very good prices and free shipping (at least in US). I bought 2 rolls of PLA and 1 roll of PETG. The PLA's have been issue-free. I haven't had a chance to try out the PETG yet.

 

Those prices are good, $20-ish or under to the door here in the States.  The selection looks limited but it looks like they have the basic black/white/gray.  I just reordered Hatchbox Black PETg, and if that is ever unavailable when I need more I'll consider this one.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

Thanks for the most helpful ideas and suggestions.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

I recently moved to the UK from Greece and since I couldn't get all my filaments I am trying to find some suppliers here. So far I have found these but since I just moved I haven't bought anything yet:

3DFilaprint- Supplier with many EU brands

Filamentive- Manufacturer, also using recycled plastic

Altec3D- Manufacturer

3DPrintz- Manufacturer

I believe that the difference between cheap and expensive is in the quality of the raw material, the consistent temperature during forming and of course the consistent diameter. All these play their part in the final product. Even the winding can end up messing your print. So I guess the "you get what you pay for" applies here too. It all depends on what you want to achieve with your 3D prints.

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

It's great that you have such cool and cool ideas that are always in the subject and in fashion. But to implement such ideas, you need high-quality machines or services that print photos or stickers or even stickers for your order. Many of these services are very poor quality or are simply deceiving. And there are a lot of them. And high-quality ones are very rare, but this is exactly what I will recommend to you. The service on the site www.islandprinting.com.au is very high quality and good because you can order any product that you read on the site. I wish you good luck with your calendar and just you).

RE: Cheap vs Expensive Filaments

I'm beginning to 3D print as a business, & even expensive filament is less than 8% of my total cost to design, slice, print, & ship a product. The headaches cheap filament causes are not worth the few cents per part I would save in material cost. My go-to is Prusament for consistent quality. But I have to do a really good job of inventory control to make sure I don't run out for the long shipping lead-times; and Prusa has been out-of-stock on some items - especially after the Black Friday sale.