What brand of filament does everyone recommend?  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@makreljohnson

I really love the Paramount Cadet Blue PLA.  I just finished my first roll last week.  Now, I move on the Paramonnt's Stealth Grey PETG.  Their filaments are of good quality at a great price.  

Thanks for the suggestion to buy the sample packs.  I did nto see that before and now I can try them out before buying them by the roll.  I just order Parmount's PETG Sample Pack and will probably order the PLA Sample Pack also.  The best part is they have a 4 spool PLA sampler on Amazon. 

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @bobstro

Best value will depend on where you live. In the US, Inland is decent and readily available if you live near a Microcenter. If not, it's available from them online and also on Amazon. AmazonBasics/Overture are OK and have been on sale recently. eSun, Paramount and 3D Solutech are good. I prefer to support companies that actually support the 3D printing community unlike the Amazon behemoth, so like to buy from MatterHackers,  PrintedSolid and FilamentOne (resellers) as well as AtomicFilament and others (manufacturers) that offer competitive free shipping. MatterHackers manages to beat Amazon for deliver time with free shipping. So long as you avoid the really cheap no-name stuff, it's unusual to get really bad filament these days.

MatterHackers Build Series is the worst trash I’ve ever printed with in my life. I’ve tried multiple spools of PETG and multiple different settings, environments (temp and humidity) and they’ve all printed horrible - stringing, warping...EVERY spool I’ve received had either been unsealed or the seal was broken. I’ll never buy filament from MatterHackers again. All should be warned.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

I’ve tried eSun PLA+, Prusa PLA, Hatchbox PLA, MatterHackers PETG, and Inland PETG.

Prusa is great but shipping is too expensive.

I’ve liked eSun PLA+ the best, and MatterHackers has been terrible.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@matt-m5

You must have gotten bad spools.  I printed 10-15 spools to print a 10 inch in diameter Saturn V.  Not a single issue.  It printed well on my Predator, CR-10 Pro, and every Prusa I own.  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@charles-h13

Must be a pretty terrible production process when I go through 4 spools of MatterHackers PETG and each is worse than before. And did I mention they came with either no seal or the seal was broken? When I messaged MatterHackers about one not being sealed at all (basically tossed in a bag) they essentially told me I was wrong and the seal must’ve come loose during shipment. But there’s a clear distinction between a bag being vacuum sealed and heat staked closed and there being no heat staking marks at all.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@matt-m5

Odd.  Too bad.  I order their PETG 4-5 spools at a time.  White, Orange, Yellow, and Blue.  My customers love the stuff.  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

I have only ordered one spool of MatterHackers Build. It was completely unremarkable. I didn't have any issues, but it's not economical enough to be my budget brand of choice. I do happily order filament from other manufacturers from MatterHackers. Their pricing on Polymaker PolyLite PETG is good ($25/kg). They're also my US-based source for ColorFabb filament. They have a good selection and manage to ship with free 2 day delivery, occasionally even beating Amazon.

I'm also very happy with ordering filament direct from Paramount. They often have colors available that are out of stock on Amazon. Not quite as fast with shipping, but free.

Just realized I forgot to mention FilaStuder. Their spool-less Veracity PLA & PETG refills fit nicely on the eSun reusable spools and are discounted a bit.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @bobstro

I have only ordered one spool of MatterHackers Build. It was completely unremarkable. I didn't have any issues, but it's not economical enough to be my budget brand of choice. I do happily order filament from other manufacturers from MatterHackers. Their pricing on Polymaker PolyLite PETG is good ($25/kg). They're also my US-based source for ColorFabb filament. They have a good selection and manage to ship with free 2 day delivery, occasionally even beating Amazon.

I'm also very happy with ordering filament direct from Paramount. They often have colors available that are out of stock on Amazon. Not quite as fast with shipping, but free.

Just realized I forgot to mention FilaStuder. Their spool-less Veracity PLA & PETG refills fit nicely on the eSun reusable spools and are discounted a bit.

I have to agree with Bobstro on Polylite PETG.  I would add that to my list below.  Polymaker Polylite PETG is terrific for $25 a spool.  Paramount is $28 is just as good.  I like buying from a US company.  

Posted by: @charles-h13

@makreljohnson

I really love the Paramount Cadet Blue PLA.  I just finished my first roll last week.  Now, I move on the Paramonnt's Stealth Grey PETG.  Their filaments are of good quality at a great price.  

Thanks for the suggestion to buy the sample packs.  I did nto see that before and now I can try them out before buying them by the roll.  I just order Parmount's PETG Sample Pack and will probably order the PLA Sample Pack also.  The best part is they have a 4 spool PLA sampler on Amazon. 

 

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @rmfarber

We are newbies in the US and were dismayed by the markup of some Prusament filament on Amazon by 3rd parties ( https://forum.prusa3d.com/forum/english-forum-general-discussion-announcements-and-releases/newbies-here-prusament-fulfillment-in-us-amazing-amazon-markup/#post-182529 amazon customer service phone number)

We are now using Hatchbox with good results. Prusament PetG is also available and works nicely.

I agree, Hatchbo the best!

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @harmonmonic

I agree, Hatchbo the best!

I'm new to 3D printing, just looked at Hatchbox.  Very little of it is actually available.  Why is that?

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@tlveik

COVID and reduce production.  Where are you located?

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @charles-h13

@tlveik

COVID and reduce production.  Where are you located?

I'm in the USA. Just finished building my kit and seems to be working great.  So looking for filament.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @tlveik

Posted by: @harmonmonic

I agree, Hatchbo the best!

I'm new to 3D printing, just looked at Hatchbox.  Very little of it is actually available.  Why is that?

 

I would guess supply and demand.  I'm about out of one color of Hatchbox which is impossible to find now, and I'm probably going to have to sub another brand with somewhat of a mismatch.

Hatchbox has been my favorite for some time now, but the spotty availability is a pain!  It was difficult to get at the height of the pandemic, maybe April-May, then became more available, and now is difficult or impossible to find in some shades.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@jsw

You can get some crappy rolls of Hatchbox.  I have had one.  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @charles-h13

You can get some crappy rolls of Hatchbox.  I have had one.  

I may just be lucky, but I have not yet had a spool of anything that I could not get to print satisfactorily.

I try to get the brands that I know work well, but particularly during the pandemic it seems like catch as catch can for what is available at a decent price.

I've had some oddball off-brands that have performed perfectly well.  Ultraline, I would swear was rebranded Hatchbox, but it's totally disappeared now.  CCtree, I had never heard of, but they were the only one who had a brown that looked like it would closely match what I was running out of, and it printed perfectly.  RepRappers is another that I've had good luck with but does not seem to be well known.

Lately, it seems like Overture and Paramount are the ones that work well and are consistently available.  Overture seems to have the neutrals available most of the time, and Paramount has a variety which can be overwhelming.  LOL, if you want 'Medusa Slab Stone Gray' or 'Sky Blue Pink Cherry Crush', Paramount will have it, but they might not have black or white.  😉

The only one I've been disappointed with is Solutech.  It prints fine, but it's obvious that they do not use as much pigment as Hatchbox and Overture, as their white is quite translucent.

And, I should mention that FilamentPM is a good Stateside second-source, at reasonable prices, for some of what what Prusa sells, including the silver-gray that comes as a sample with the printers.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@tlveik

Since you are from the US, I would highly recommend Paramount.  They have a wide variety of colors and materials.  I am very happy with Paramount Black PLA in both standard and matte.  I would just order it from Amazon.  They also have black PETG. 

My personal favorite is McLauren Orange PETG.  Not a color match for Prusament, but it is a great orange.  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @charles-h13

@tlveik

Since you are from the US, I would highly recommend Paramount.  They have a wide variety of colors and materials.  I am very happy with Paramount Black PLA in both standard and matte.  I would just order it from Amazon.  They also have black PETG. 

My personal favorite is McLauren Orange PETG.  Not a color match for Prusament, but it is a great orange.  

I'll check them out, thanks.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

I would add SainSmart to the list of the brands that have worked well for me, at least with PETg.  ("PETg is the new PLA.")  😉

I had never used it, and ordered a spool of it a few days ago since it was the only brand I could find in about the color I needed which was readily available.  It's reasonably priced and prints well using the PS "Generic PETg" settings with no futzing around.  The color is dark and solid.  No obvious translucence (my gripe with Solutech).

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Another call-out for good luck with a brand that I had never used before.  Tianse (spelled on the box with a lower-case 't') PLA works quite well and lays down a very good and smooth first layer.  I had never used it, but one color seemed like it was about right for what I was doing so I said WTF and ordered it with next-day delivery.

It does just fine with PS's Generic PLA defaults.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@jsw

I have to concur.  I like Tianse Silver PLA.