USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles  

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

Hello George,
Almost any filament brand will work on the MK3.
Feel free to use the search function in this forum. There are a lot of threads here which are covering this topic already pretty good.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

For easy to get and low hassle: Hatchbox and the amazon branded filaments both work with the generic prusa profiles (though tweak temperature as needed). If you want filament made in the usa push plastic or maker geeks are good (though some have reported bad customer service with makergeeks).

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

Thanks for the reply.

I did search and read for a while before posting, and what I found matches your response, almost any filament will work on the Mk3.

What you didn't say is "... with the proper profile."

I've had fairly good luck buying filament from Prusa and using their provided profiles.

I've had fairly bad luck buying other filament and trying to use either the "Prusa" profile or the "Generic" profile.

I don't doubt that I could debug it (probably by asking for help here or there...), but

I'd prefer to start with something that's known to work and then explore from there.

Some people love to jump into the deep end of the pool and just figure it out (or drown trying).

I'm an experimentalist and prefer to learn in smaller doses.

There *are* non-Prusa profiles in Slic3r, but they seem to be for other European filaments (like E3D's Edge) or specialized filaments. They're expensive enough that I might as well keep it simple and buy Prusa.

My ideal (maybe Prusa's listening??/) would be for Prusa to identify an easily available filament in the US that is reliable/stable enough and then provide profiles for Slic3r for it/them.

Second best would be for someone to say https://www.amazon.com/3D-Solutech-Filament-Dimensional-Accuracy/dp/B00MB3CV6K from Amazon works well for me using the most recent release of Slic3r and the Prusa PLA profile (or whatever...).

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

@kevinh

Thanks

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

...
What you didn't say is "... with the proper profile."
...

I didn't said that because I don't mean it. The only profile change is a temperature. So far I set the recommended nozzle temp for the particular filament and that's it. Every brand has it's own recommended temp but this is something I wouldn't even name it "profile change".
Any other defaults settings can be left default.

...
I've had fairly bad luck buying other filament and trying to use ..
...

Which one have you tried? Especially PLA and PETG are very simple to print plastic types.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I had good luck using the generic and the prusa profiles with matterhackers build pla, 3dsolutech, hatchbox, and proto pasta filaments. Im using a ruby nozzle on my printer now but I have had no issues running the stock temps as well though that's something that's easily adjusted to get it to work well for you but I had results with these brands and profiles on my machine.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I have had my printer for some time. Prusa filament is really good but unless they store it on amazon (hint prusa) its just too expensive to get(ie shipping is as much if not more than filament)
Esun -PETG and PLA is really good with standard settings. I tried there white ASA even that printed good first time out.
Hatchbox- PETG and PLA is ok. You will needs to dialed it in but it works good.
Makergeek-PETG not very good. The color is not uniformed. Needs to be printed really hot 255C. I got one roll that just keeps clogging up im ready to pitch it. Im getting a 50 percent fail rate with makergeek PETG. I purchased 4 rolls. When I take makergeek PETG out and put anything else in, prints fine. I really don't recommend that stuff. The Pla prints about a good as hatchbox. What everyone says about cutomer support is true. It really is as bad as what people say.

Thats all the different filament companys ive used. Hope it helps

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I use Inland PLA (Microcenter) and use the default Prusa PLA profile. I changed the temps by 5 degrees lower to reduce some stringing, otherwise no changes. Even without the change, it printed fine 95% of the time.

I use Hatchbox PETG with the Generic PETG Profile. No changes at all and it seems fine to me.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I figured I'd ask if anyone had specific recommendations for filament that's easily available in the US and that works trivially with one of the canned profiles.

As a starter, a transparent PLA would be great!

Zyltech Transparent PLA

This filament ships from Texas, prints great with the canned Prusa PLA/Generic PLA profile and as an added bonus is very inexpensive. I specifically linked to the Transparent but have used just about all their colors and they are fantastic.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I had good luck using the generic and the prusa profiles with matterhackers build pla,

I'll second this. I too am taking things slowly. I prefer the "single step" vs. "shotgun approach". 😉

My first filament order was MH Build PLA in a few colors. I really didn't think about it when I first loaded it in (like Drax, I was thinking of something else...) so I forgot to even consider changing any settings. The stuff printed just fine--really fine. Afterward, I did think about settings, but couldn't find any difference between Prusa PLA settings and Generic PLA settings (though I could have missed something--it was more of a cursory check. 😳 )

YMMV.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I've had great results with MakerGeeks. Never have to tweak the settings on PLA or PETG. I don't print ABS, so I can't comment on that.
Their customer service leaves a lot to be desired. I have to remind myself its a small team with a lot of people ordering from them. Filament quality is great, I have had 1 issue in the past. 1 order of black PLA came out green (my guess during transition). Fortunately it wasn't the whole spool. I used it to print the Hulk figurine and by the end of that print it was black as it should have been. The subscription box they gave a few months ago also was terrible. It promised Nano-conductive filament when they become available "soon", still not available today, and I don't have much of a use for conductive PLA.

I would avoid their nano-carbon as it probably does nothing to help the PLA. I got it in a subscription box, but I haven't used it yet.

I've had issues where items took too long to ship, so I cancelled my orders. Its a pain to do so since you have to send an e-mail DURING business hours or you won't get a response. They have reversed every transaction I've asked them to do so.

I still order from them, their quality is great, colors are good and consistent (other than the issue I had with black). I love their white PLA as its more of a frost color.

Push plastic gives me inconsistent extrusion (worse than just the usual MK3 extrusion), I haven't had anything clog, but not as nice looking as I would get with maker geeks. Their plastics ship quickly, most colors can be found on amazon, so there is a huge plus there. You won't be waiting weeks for replacement rolls like with MakerGeeks.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

...

I'm an experimentalist and prefer to learn in smaller doses.

There *are* non-Prusa profiles in Slic3r, but they seem to be for other European filaments (like E3D's Edge) or specialized filaments. They're expensive enough that I might as well keep it simple and buy Prusa.

My ideal (maybe Prusa's listening??/) would be for Prusa to identify an easily available filament in the US that is reliable/stable enough and then provide profiles for Slic3r for it/them.

Second best would be for someone to say https://www.amazon.com/3D-Solutech-Filament-Dimensional-Accuracy/dp/B00MB3CV6K from Amazon works well for me using the most recent release of Slic3r and the Prusa PLA profile (or whatever...).

I do like Solutech PLA/PET. It's made in the US, is not too expensive, and works well for me. What I want to convey to you, if you don't know, is that the filament performance can changes over time depending on the storage conditions. This is commonly attributed to water absorption. I tested this and found that fresh Solutech PET worked nicely with the pre-set profile out of the package, but the temperature needed to be dropped by 20C to reduce stringing after being left out for a month. Additionally, the transparency was reduced.

Interestingly, I tried out a different brand and it performed like the Solutech filament that had been left out even at the first use. I did not bother drying it and then printing to confirm if it was a water effect or simply different behavior.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

Makeshaper filament is really good. $21 PLA isn't the cheapest in the world, but it is made in NC and they give pantone color match values for most of their solid colors. As a bonus, they even sell rolls up to 25KG for bulk printing. Wonder if you could convert a 5 gallon bucket into a dry box/holder for that.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

@nikolai.r -- Thanks for following up. I'm still learning, and assumed that the fact that Prusa includes separate profiles for *their* PLA vs generic PLA means that profiles make a difference. Perhaps it's just marketing on their part.

The time that I've had trouble have been when I've bitten off too much at a time, e.g. trying to print bits of the single 3dlabprint.com's plane that's Slic3r approved (it has very thing walls and internal braces and ...) using PLA that I'd been "gifted". Some is unlabeled, some is AMZ3D. It hasn't been stored properly and is probably "damp". I've also tried the same plane using Prusa PETG, but I think that PLA is what 3dlabprint's "special" profile is tuned for.

I've basically been a monkey in the space capsule, but I've been able to reach buttons and knobs and have been pushing them to see what happens.

Time to settle down and be a bit more methodical.

Thanks to all for all the info.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I have had good results from Hatchbox and Amzon Basics. I ordered 10 rolls of black PLA for 139.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

I would second the vote for 3D Solutech. I buy it on Amazon and print it without altering the Prusa PLA settings. I have probably two dozen spools of their PLA and like it all. I pretty much only tweak the layer height, amount of infill, whether to use supports or not, and toggle brim on or off depending on the print and go. I like the results I get so they've become my go-to brand.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

...
The time that I've had trouble have been when I've bitten off too much at a time, e.g. trying to print bits of the single 3dlabprint.com's plane that's Slic3r approve...

You picked an advanced project. The planes need to be printed in a special way. It's nothing for a default profile. As far as I remember they even provide you the gcode files if you're not much experienced. I would recommend you to use those if available.
In addition you can watch this Video
Stefan from CNC Kitchen explains a little bit his experience with his Plane build. It might help.

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

Wonder if you could convert a 5 gallon bucket into a dry box/holder for [25KG spools].

There are quite a few projects for making 5 gal. buckets into dry boxes for "regular" (1KG) spools.
Shouldn't make much difference as long as the spool's dimensions will fit inside the bucket. 😉

five gallon bucket filament dry box

Re: USA Filament that works easily with Mk3 Slic3r profiles

Do you want them to slice your objects and print them for you to? This hobby is all about tweaking. Get used to it.