Lithophane questions
Hey guys I just try some pics to print
well I have black pla. I search to the net and I see that with black some guys make the same effect! I don’t know if it is something special but it didn’t work for me.
Now to my country I find the following.
1)devil pla white
2)neema3d evo pla white
3)neema3d evo pla white natural
4)3D prima value pla white and also natural
5) prima creator easy print pla transparent clear and natural
so my question is ….with white and the natural will work also ?! Does pla is ok for lithophane?! How did I know I the transparent is the very clear or wither the foggy result?!
one last question?! Is there a pla carbon?! If not which carbon you suggest ….petg?! Is the carbon version more strong or not?!
thanx
Lithophan filaments
I rarely use anything but PETG but I would expect similar results from PLA. Having said that, I have tried gray, transparent and white and white gives the best results for me.
To my eye, the transparent and gray both had reduced contrast for what I think are different reasons. The transparent was poor at blocking enough light so the image was brighter but reduced with gray levels. The gray was too opaque and blocked too much light ending up with reduced gray levels.
I'm not sure what "natural" filament is but I'm guessing it means no coloring agent has been added so perhaps the same as transparent?
jwv
Thanx
A very thanx for your detailed answer.
I want the result below
https://www.prusaprinters.org/prints/22443-gothic-lithophane-light
so a white pla as you say is the best for that?! It doesn’t matter the tone of a white?!
as I see from YouTube the transparent is that I am searching for.
For the white I am scared thinking that the light will be blocked at all!
RE: Example lithophane
The top image does not look white as I was trying to shoot it to show the surface which is tough on something is all white. The bottom image is illuminate with a flashlight and I think it demonstrates that white will be fine for transmitting light.
Nozzle 0.4, first layer: 0.2, remaining layers 0.15, infill 20% rectilinear, top and bottom are also rectilinear. I think those are the important settings.
jwv
Some whites bring brown tones, others black and white tones
Some white PLA's are made for lithophanes - sunlu white is a great example. It's got fewer pigments than some of the dense colors (such as Prusament traffic white). I've run several tests on which whites give the desired outcome with lithophanes. Most of the dense whites give a brown (sepia) tone - so if you are looking for that old fashioned effect, consider that. When I want a balanced contrast - where blacks and whites don't look off by brown tones, then I use Sunlu white.
Good info
Thanks for that info Dan. It never occurred to me that different whites would exhibit different colors as lithopanes. A DUH! on my part as hand smacks forehead.
I will add that my example is Hatchbox white PETG.