Stateside filament options
Hello,
Wondering if anyone has any stateside filament options that perform similar to the Prusa PLA. As a new user I got this roughly dialed in and wanted to stick with it for now...until I found out shipping doubles the cost of the product for me. I guess I'm stuck buying closer to home.
Aside from "buy similar spec PLA" is there anything I should look for?
Thanks 
Re: Stateside filament options
A lot of people love Micro Center's in house brand, Inland, which is supposedly just rebranded eSun. You can purchase directly from Micro Center or, if that's not an option for you, buy eSun filament on Amazon. It's cheap and the quality seems to be pretty good, which you can see from the reviews on Amazon. They have a large variety of colors and materials. PLA, ABS, PETG, PC, nylon, TPU/TPE, etc.
Re: Stateside filament options
3D Solutech on Amazon has been good to me so far. Consistent quality with 3 spools over 2 colors over the last month.
Re: Stateside filament options
I second the Inland recommendation. Hard to beat at $15/kg for PLA if you live near a Micro Center, and I find it prints very well. Not sure what their shipping costs are.
Just got home with three more spools of it.
Re: Stateside filament options
It really depends on what you want to do.
Do you want beautiful? Go with some PolyAlchemy. (Stuff is crazy expensive)
Do you want strong? There's a few options. I'm testing a "new" brand, that I haven't seen much about, that I find STUPID strong, but it's a touch difficult to print with.
Do you want cheap? I've had *DECENT* luck with XYLTech... With a 15% discount code, (I can give it in a PM, but it's not "my" code, to share, so I'm not posting public) you can get PLA for I think it's right at 11.05$/kg... Quite a few colors. (about 15) and if your order is over 75$ free shipping. I have quite a bit of this, and *MOST* of my spools are great... I just found my first "lemon" of a spool.... Gonna burn through 100-200 grams of this "lemon" roll, and see if it gets any better, but it "oozes" *REALLY* bad, and has major inconsistencies in extrusion width. But as I said, It's a "lemon roll". I have 5 open rolls, and used almost an entire spool, and never had an issue. So I'm calling this a "lemon". But at 11.05$/spool, I can honestly forgive the occasional "lemon" of a spool... If I was to buy those 5 spools for 15$/each, that's 20$ more than this brand, and even if I assume this spool is 100% un-usable for anything... and get another one... it's still 9$/cheaper.... for 5 spools... (excluding the lemon spool you simply threw away) lol. 🙂
My favorite filament I've printed with, is ESUN PLA PRO. The stuff prints like a dream. Minimal oozing, VERY flexible, very smooth. It's like the best of both ABS and PLA. (Prints like PLA) It's not a "cheap" filament, but it's 24-28$/kg. But honestly, assuming all spools are "Good" I would rate it with 30$/kg filaments.
PS: the super strong filament I'm using is 60$/kg sticker-price, so likely not what you are interested in!
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: Stateside filament options
MicroCenter's Inland brand apparently used to be rebranded eSun filament, but it seems that recently they switched to another manufacturer without any changes to the packaging, and unfortunately reports are that the new filaments are vastly inferior in quality to the old ones. While I have not printed with any of the new ones yet, I can confirm that the colors of the new filaments are noticeably different from the old ones. This screenshot shows the new "white" (actually more of a beige) filament on the left, with the old paper white PLA on the right. (Note the packaging is completely identical down to the SKUs and bar codes.) 😥
Re: Stateside filament options
Hatchbox PLA from Amazon works fine.
Re: Stateside filament options
Good feedback! I was excited about microcenter as there’s one not far from me and $15/spool sounds nice. We’ll see tho I will probably still try the “new” stuff. I ordered some eSun in the interim to hold me over.
Re: Stateside filament options
MicroCenter's Inland brand apparently used to be rebranded eSun filament, but it seems that recently they switched to another manufacturer without any changes to the packaging, and unfortunately reports are that the new filaments are vastly inferior in quality to the old ones. ...
Based on color, it looks like I had just come home with the new type of white. I've only printed one item, but it was this years Easter Egg torture test from Maker's Muse. Had to apply a bit of force to release the three bottom layers to allow them to turn, but it wasn't too bad. Raw filament has a strange, gritty texture, feels like what I would expect wood fill to feel like.
Re: Stateside filament options
I’ve used plenty of Hatchbox from amazon with generally very good results. I wouldn’t hesitate recommending it for day to day use, though I have found some colors to behave better than others with similar print settings.
My go to filament of late, though, is AIO Robotics (also on amazon). So far it has been fantastic and claims an especially fine tolerance that I have come to believe. I also like that they sell it in .5kg spools since I don’t always go through my spools at a steady pace. Smaller spools means less PLA to hassle with soaking up moisture and becoming brittle if I let it sit too long. Less money and material wasted in those situations.
Their range of colors isn’t enormous, but they are very consistent in every way so far.
I’ve used eSun PETG with decent results and generally respect it as a quality brand. I’ve not tried any of the uber premium brands cited yet, but likely will for some future special print.
Hope it’s useful info...
Re: Stateside filament options
How are peoples first layers with Hatchbox?
Was given some new in box sealed black, and I have not had a single good first layer for larger surfaces, where before on monoprice PLA+, I was getting cast like first layer surfaces with almost indistiguishable divisions between lines, this Hatchbox stuff seems to give me issues all over in comparison no matter the settings I change with temperature, speed, extrusion factors, or what has always worked for me, changing the nozzle bed distance!
Nothing seems to give me the first layer thats I desire. The longer the line, the less likely it seems to perform as expected.
I get pealing curled edges, patterned ripples in open areas, and seemingly totally diferent inconsistent surface over the entire first layer surfaces.
*This is a recent failed test part with a few flathead screwdriver imprints/marks on the back for reference.
Slightly different lighting to acentuate first layer issues.
Re: Stateside filament options
My first layers with Hatchbox PLA, across 9 different spools and 8 different colours, are all just fine.
Re: Stateside filament options
How are peoples first layers with Hatchbox?
Was given some new in box sealed black, and I have not had a single good first layer for larger surfaces, where before on monoprice PLA+, I was getting cast like first layer surfaces with almost indistiguishable divisions between lines, this Hatchbox stuff seems to give me issues all over in comparison no matter the settings I change with temperature, speed, extrusion factors, or what has always worked for me, changing the nozzle bed distance!
Nothing seems to give me the first layer thats I desire. The longer the line, the less likely it seems to perform as expected.
I get pealing curled edges, patterned ripples in open areas, and seemingly totally diferent inconsistent surface over the entire first layer surfaces.
*This is a recent failed test part with a few flathead screwdriver imprints/marks on the back for reference.
Slightly different lighting to acentuate first layer issues.
That weird "bunching" effect, is caused by over-extrusion. I'm not a big fan of Hatchbox. I think it's decent filament... but for it's price, I find it hard to accept.
Hi, I'm Sean. I used to work on CNC machines.
I try to not make mistakes, but the decision is YOURS.
Please feel free to donate to my filament/maintance fund.
Re: Stateside filament options
i've used Hatchbox PLA with good results. Typically use for finished prints. For prototyping or quick down dirty prints I use FoxSmart PLA. its about 20% cheaper than the Hatchbox material. one downside to the FoxSmart material is the spools are smaller diameter and when you get low on the spool there is a lot if curl and sometimes it may break or cause issues with inconsistant feed rates
- 1st "printer" TIKO 3D
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Re: Stateside filament options
3D Solutech available on Amazon $18 (and is Prime), prints at least as good as my Prusa and Filamentum Extrafill stuff does.
Re: Stateside filament options
I've purchased some Maker Geeks to test. They have a good price, but keep on them if they don't send your full order. Remind them that you didn't receive a certain item and ask when they will ship.
Re: Stateside filament options
I've purchased some Maker Geeks to test. They have a good price, but keep on them if they don't send your full order. Remind them that you didn't receive a certain item and ask when they will ship.
From my limited experience with Maker Geeks, it seems like they don't keep true inventory for their filament (except for the transitional spools, which are a great value btw). They may not have whatever you order already made, so you have to a wait a while until they make that filament type/color. I'm not saying that it's acceptable, but in my experience that is the cause (or so they say when I email them).
Re: Stateside filament options
I've purchased some Maker Geeks to test. They have a good price, but keep on them if they don't send your full order. Remind them that you didn't receive a certain item and ask when they will ship.
From my limited experience with Maker Geeks, it seems like they don't keep true inventory for their filament (except for the transitional spools, which are a great value btw). They may not have whatever you order already made, so you have to a wait a while until they make that filament type/color. I'm not saying that it's acceptable, but in my experience that is the cause (or so they say when I email them).
I just finished printing my first real object "the Adalinda" so I haven't played with their filament yet.
Re: Stateside filament options
Printed Solid has a great selection of filaments including Hatchbox and offer free shipping over 40 or 50$ They also carry Polyalchemy Elixer which is cool stuff if you want something shiny.
Maker Geeks offers free shipping and their prices are pretty solid. I've not had any issues with their filament but one of my orders was delayed quite some time.
Matter Hackers has started offering free shipping as well and their build series is pretty solid stuff by all reviews. I had great results out of the spool I got but some of it was pretty brittle near the interior of the spool. I will be ordering more however.
Lastly, if you are looking for some premium PLA I can highly recommend Proto-Pasta HTPLA. It was the first pla I used and while expensive it is well worth the price.
Re: Stateside filament options
PushPlastic has some good PLA as well... if you are interested in the MasterSpool, they sell the PLA in MasterSpool Refills as well.