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  1. #11
    Technician
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    66
    Who is your favorite and why? - As of now its the inland brand from microcenter (read microcenter brand)
    Also what do you like working with the most PLA or ABS ETC? - ABS because its more durable for my needs, I need plastic that is temperature stable.
    Also your choice of 3mm or 1.75? - 1.75 as its better for a bowden setup.
    Also favorite color to print in and why? - Black ABS has been the least problematic with a close second of red, natural has been the most problematic as it seems its more brittle but extrudes at lower temp.

    One thing to note, I started buying $20-21 dollar spools on e-bay, then I switched to toner plastic when it was on sale at microcenter now I swear that microcenter brand is the best of the bunch, as well as the cheapest ~15USD per kilo and I get to jump in my car and go pick it up in less than 20 minutes round trip....

  2. #12
    Staff Engineer printbus's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2014
    Location
    Highlands Ranch, Colorado USA
    Posts
    1,437
    Add printbus on Thingiverse
    I'm glad to hear the Toner Plastics PLA from Microcenter has been working out for at least someone. On one of the $14.99 USD sales, I bought every color the Denver store had in the 1.75mm size. Took them all back a while later after two rolls kept having extrusion problems due to bumps in the filament that couldn't pass into the top of the hexagon hot end. I had dialogue with TP directly on the issue, along the lines of "we've never had that problem with our filament". For some reason the dialogue went quiet when I offered to send them a sample piece of the filament with a bulge in it.

    rhonal - as you're probably realizing by now, picking a "good" filament gets to be interesting. There's only a limited number of manufacturers, so a lot of what you find is rebranded. Stores like MakerFarm don't make their own, and there's no guarantee that what you buy today will be the same when you buy again downstream. Brands vary. Colors vary. Batches vary. It makes a difference whether your small spool was from the beginning or the end of a larger spool, and how that transfer was done. Storage practices at the supplier and once it's in your hands make a difference. Also, experience matters - someone very skilled at printing can often find ways to make poor filament work for them. Someone new could easily get into trouble using perfectly flawless filament.

  3. #13
    Technologist
    Join Date
    Nov 2014
    Posts
    138
    I notice printbus. Now this make my choosing interesting. I guess I'll start by picking the most mention and start from there.

  4. #14
    the best i have used is zeni kenetic pla,fillament, they are one company i know for sure makes there own fillament, black pla 3mm is the easiest to set up. plus the guys at there shop are super friendly and helpful checking out my prints and giving me tips to inprove them.

  5. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by printbus View Post
    I'm glad to hear the Toner Plastics PLA from Microcenter has been working out for at least someone. On one of the $14.99 USD sales, I bought every color the Denver store had in the 1.75mm size. Took them all back a while later after two rolls kept having extrusion problems due to bumps in the filament that couldn't pass into the top of the hexagon hot end. I had dialogue with TP directly on the issue, along the lines of "we've never had that problem with our filament". For some reason the dialogue went quiet when I offered to send them a sample piece of the filament with a bulge in it.

    rhonal - as you're probably realizing by now, picking a "good" filament gets to be interesting. There's only a limited number of manufacturers, so a lot of what you find is rebranded. Stores like MakerFarm don't make their own, and there's no guarantee that what you buy today will be the same when you buy again downstream. Brands vary. Colors vary. Batches vary. It makes a difference whether your small spool was from the beginning or the end of a larger spool, and how that transfer was done. Storage practices at the supplier and once it's in your hands make a difference. Also, experience matters - someone very skilled at printing can often find ways to make poor filament work for them. Someone new could easily get into trouble using perfectly flawless filament.
    I'm using a toner plastic roll from microcenter right now and so far, I haven't had any issues yet.

  6. #16
    Engineer-in-Training ssayer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Lakeville, Michigan
    Posts
    369
    I'm using a toner plastic roll from Microcenter (white) on one side of my printer, and a roll from Maker Geeks on the other. The Microcenter roll is just about used up. Mostly, it's gone well, but I've had four prints that had the filament break (so failed prints). Luckily, none of them were 20+ hour prints. The roll from Maker Geeks has been perfect so far. When you consider price vs. time wasted, I'd still take another chance on the Microcenter stuff...

  7. #17
    Technician
    Join Date
    Jun 2014
    Location
    New York
    Posts
    66
    The inland plastic (Microcenter brand) has been easier to extrude for me. Its also more consistent with less variation in size than toner plastic. The down side is that it does string more. I suppose I should up my retract from 4.5mm to probably 5-5.5mm... Given the choice I will take the inland from now on, unless they change supplier and they ruin it. The black ABS inland brand is actually shinier than the tonner plastic and also sticks to the bed better with a thinner layer of goop.

  8. #18
    Quote Originally Posted by jaguarking11 View Post
    The inland plastic (Microcenter brand) has been easier to extrude for me. Its also more consistent with less variation in size than toner plastic. The down side is that it does string more. I suppose I should up my retract from 4.5mm to probably 5-5.5mm... Given the choice I will take the inland from now on, unless they change supplier and they ruin it. The black ABS inland brand is actually shinier than the tonner plastic and also sticks to the bed better with a thinner layer of goop.
    That's good to hear. I picked up 5 or 6 rolls of inland brand when I ordered the toner plastics, but haven't tried any of them out yet.

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