What brand of filament does everyone recommend?  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Thanks.

I'm always a bit leery of filament brands that I have never tried.

This was also only $20-ish to the door, so lotsa bang for the buck too.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@neek

On my Mk3S textured plate with SunLu PETG I have been getting good results with first layer 240/85 and 2nd layer 250/90.  Box says range of 190-220.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

I have all hatchbox except for some silver stuff that came with my mk3s. I like that a lot, though I don't know where it came from.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

I am in Australia and have been using eSUN filaments with a lot of success. I use a lot of PETG and PLA+.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

Posted by: @ward-l-morrison

except for some silver stuff that came with my mk3s. I like that a lot, though I don't know where it came from.

A good second source for the silver-gray filament that came with your printer is the FilamentPM online store in North America or Europe.  Last I checked, the European site did say Prusa in the description, but the US site said something like 'proudly made in the Czech Republic' or something like that.  I've ordered it and can confirm that it's either the same exact stuff that comes with the printer, or else extremely close.  I do agree that it is very good filament.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@bobstro

I am in the USA, and prefer filament that is manufactured and distributed here. I heavily prefer filament with a tolerance no more that .03, and prefer .02. Color consistency is also important. I have found some that I bought from China causes problems and color is poor (White that is off white/grey)

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

One other brand that I had never used, I can now recommend.

CC3D (there are a few other brands with similar names) specifically the 'Silky Shiny PLA Metal Silver Like' metallic filament.

It does produce a fatter 'worm' when loading, as do the Mika3d metallics, but in printing it lays down a very nice first layer and prints very well.

$21 and change to the door (in the US) via Amazon.

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

@kenraysr

I would recommend Paramount PLA if you looking for a PLA.  I am printing a spool of Iron Red PLA as I type.  

RE: What brand of filament does everyone recommend?

One other thing about Paramount is that they tend to be VERY conservative with predicted delivery dates.  They usually ship USPS here in the States, and for my last order they estimated Wednesday of the following week for delivery and it turned out that it hit the door on Saturday.

They are out of Wood Dale, Illinois, just west of Chicago, and I know that USPS has very good service between ORD and OMA, so YMMV on this.

Another brand that I can now recommend is Iemai (I searched for that name on the forum and it came up totally empty), which I recently purchased from Amazon, recommended in one of those 'We think you might like ...' emails.

My spool of Hatchbox black PETg was running low and the price was right (US $15.99 to the door) so I said WTF and ordered it.  Today I did my first couple of prints with it and had I not known that I changed the spool, I would have sworn it was Hatchbox.  It lays down just fine on the MK3S using the default generic PETg profile in PS.

Here's the link and the price (for the black PETg) is still good as of this posting. Some of the colors are under US $20, but some are $27-ish.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XGX23TP/

Filament.

I have had decent success with that brand of PETG also.  It is good stuff.  

Posted by: @jsw

Another brand that I can now recommend is Iemai (I searched for that name on the forum and it came up totally empty), which I recently purchased from Amazon, recommended in one of those 'We think you might like ...' emails.

My spool of Hatchbox black PETg was running low and the price was right (US $15.99 to the door) so I said WTF and ordered it.  Today I did my first couple of prints with it and had I not known that I changed the spool, I would have sworn it was Hatchbox.  It lays down just fine on the MK3S using the default generic PETg profile in PS.

Here's the link and the price (for the black PETg) is still good as of this posting. Some of the colors are under US $20, but some are $27-ish.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08XGX23TP/

Posted by: @cwbullet

I have had decent success with that brand of PETG also.  It is good stuff.

That one really flew under the radar.

I had never heard of it prior to the Amazon spam I received.  The price is very good.  I think that US $15-ish to the door is the cheapest I've ever paid for filament.

Under Radar

Another under-radar brand is Jayo PETG.  Good quality and easy to print.  

Posted by: @cwbullet

Another under-radar brand is Jayo PETG.  Good quality and easy to print.  

That's another good set of prices.

I find myself doing more and more PETg and less PLA ('PETg is the new PLA') 😉 particularly since my 'other' printer now officially supports PETg.  (Prior to the official support it was done with manual temp tweaks.)

I see that they have so-called transparent PETg.  I've had good luck with RepRapper and Overture so-called transparent PETg and when I run out I will keep this one in mind.  Low US $20s to the door for transparent PETg is a bargain.

The jayo brand is a sub-brand of Sunlu, as is e-notebook.  All of them are easy to print.  The clear/transparent is a little brown - so I still go with the Overture for clear.  The sunlu white is perfect for printing lithophanes - but the density of the pigment is not intense so some call it off-white (tis more translucent).  The impact on lithophanes is color tone.  Most "hard whites" leave a sepia tone when printed for lithophanes.  The sunlu white leaves nice black and white tones due to it's translucence.

The jayo brand is a sub-brand of Sunlu, as is e-notebook.  All of them are easy to print.  The clear/transparent is a little brown - so I still go with the Overture for clear.  The sunlu white is perfect for printing lithophanes - but the density of the pigment is not intense so some call it off-white (tis more translucent).  The impact on lithophanes is color tone.  Most "hard whites" leave a sepia tone when printed for lithophanes.  The sunlu white leaves nice black and white tones due to it's translucence.

Sunlu

I am testing a roll of roll from Jayo right now.  I did not know they are a sub-brand of Sunlu.  Good to know.  

Posted by: @dan-rogers

The jayo brand is a sub-brand of Sunlu, as is e-notebook.  All of them are easy to print.  The clear/transparent is a little brown - so I still go with the Overture for clear.  The sunlu white is perfect for printing lithophanes - but the density of the pigment is not intense so some call it off-white (tis more translucent).  The impact on lithophanes is color tone.  Most "hard whites" leave a sepia tone when printed for lithophanes.  The sunlu white leaves nice black and white tones due to it's translucence.

RE: Ireland

I live in the far west of Ireland, with no retail outlets except perhaps in Dublin. I invariably use Prusament or Prusa. Pretty good quality and they don't gouge you on the postage.

Posted by: @towlerg

I live in the far west of Ireland, with no retail outlets except perhaps in Dublin. I invariably use Prusament or Prusa. Pretty good quality and they don't gouge you on the postage.

I have yet to find, here in the States, any retail outlet that has any meaningful selection of 3d filament that can be purchased over the counter.

I'm in Omaha (NE, US), which is a bit smaller than Dublin, IIAC, and we have zero stores that I know of that even stock it.  On trips to Chicago and Kansas City (pre-Covid of course) I was unsuccessful in finding any.  I was told that some larger Fry's stores (former chain mostly in western US) had it, but then Covid hit the fan and all of the Fry's locations closed before I was in an area that had them.

When I started doing my own printing at our local 'makerspace' (again, pre-Covid), they allow you to bring your own filament if you want (otherwise they check you out a spool at the desk, weigh it, and charge you for what you use) I asked where I can buy it locally and she said 'You don't!' and said that most of their people order it from Amazon, which is where I get most of my filament.

We do have several Best Buy stores in the area, and they 'can order it', but it's more expensive and takes longer than Amazon, which is usually 2-3 days from mouse click to box at the door.

RE: Same here

Same here.  I am in the SE US.  I can get filament at the Amazon Outlet store when they have it for 2-3$ a roll.  The only store I can find it is at Microcenters.  There is one near Atlanta.  

https://www.microcenter.com/site/stores/default.aspx

It is easier just to buy it online.  I would love got have a local store, but there just are not any.  The time of the mom-and-pop stores is gone by the way of Amazon and Walmart in the USA.  

Posted by: @jsw

Posted by: @towlerg

I live in the far west of Ireland, with no retail outlets except perhaps in Dublin. I invariably use Prusament or Prusa. Pretty good quality and they don't gouge you on the postage.

I have yet to find, here in the States, any retail outlet that has any meaningful selection of 3d filament that can be purchased over the counter.

I'm in Omaha (NE, US), which is a bit smaller than Dublin, IIAC, and we have zero stores that I know of that even stock it.  On trips to Chicago and Kansas City (pre-Covid of course) I was unsuccessful in finding any.  I was told that some larger Fry's stores (former chain mostly in western US) had it, but then Covid hit the fan and all of the Fry's locations closed before I was in an area that had them.

When I started doing my own printing at our local 'makerspace' (again, pre-Covid), they allow you to bring your own filament if you want (otherwise they check you out a spool at the desk, weigh it, and charge you for what you use) I asked where I can buy it locally and she said 'You don't!' and said that most of their people order it from Amazon, which is where I get most of my filament.

We do have several Best Buy stores in the area, and they 'can order it', but it's more expensive and takes longer than Amazon, which is usually 2-3 days from mouse click to box at the door.