Filament Recommendations and Reviews

I would really love to hear what filament you guys are using in your FlashForge printers. I know we have some earlier threads on this but they get dated pretty quick as new filament makes and types come and go. I'm having some trouble finding a source of consistently good filament. A few issues I've had:

• Filament isn't consistent in diameter or quality thus causing lumpy extrusion or clogged nozzles.
  
• Filament spool is wound so tight that it gets itself jammed between itself and the spool causing the print to stop (is this a preventable issue? Is is more likely with cardboard spools vs plastic?)
  
• Filament is wound too loosely without enough tension that is tangles itself and breaks off, ruining the print (This happened to me last night at the end of a 12 hour print. Discovered when I woke up this morning. :mad: )
  
• Filament extrudes fine and print looks good but handling it shows that the layers break apart and didn't fuse together. Anyone had this happen? I'm assuming its the filament because the same part in another filament is fine. Like you can literally peel apart some of the layers. Really weird.

Here's what I've used with links:

The two rolls of filament that came with my Flashforge which all worked great

Sainsmart brand ABS from Amazon: In the $30 range- Ordered four rolls of this over last few months and it's been great. Red, Blue and White and Silver (which is really grey) However the last roll I opened is the one that tangled and ruined my print last night. Again, not sure if this is preventable or even the fault of the manufacturer. But I have liked the filament and haven't had any issues with diameter or clogging.

Ordered ABS from this ebay store:In the $20 range in white and coffee- this was the one that extruded fine and looked great but fell apart easily. The prints I made that don't need to be handled or glued together are fine. Again, not sure if this is due to the filament quality. Also the coffee color is really pretty. :)

RioRand PLA in Sky Blue from Amazon- around $30- this has been great. Love the color. Thinking of trying their ABS next time.

I'd love to hear what has worked for you and where you purchased it. Maybe if we can collaborate on reviews and help promote good filament it will help us all get better prints. :)



((***Also if you are a supplier or distributor of filament please don't post asking us to buy from you. That's not the purpose of this thread. ))

The 2 roll's I got with flashforge worked pretty good. I am not fond of the size of the actual spool though, it's quite big.

I've ordered about 5 spools from Hatchbox since then. The price is cheap, most of the color's have Amazon prime free 2 day shipping (if you have Amazon prime) and I have had no problem's really!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_in...&node=16310091

Lately all of my filament has been coming from www.makergeeks.com Both PLA and ABS print great, and they stand behind what they sell....Ive had one roll that the color just wasn't what i thought it should be...1 email later had a new roll on the way and was told to give the roll i didn't like to a friend to use up.....Very good customer service from what i have experienced , and that wins my loyalty.......

Too many sources to list honestly, I have probably used 50+ suppliers now and can't say any of them out-do the other - they all have their pitfalls but will agree with mike above, makergeeks support is pretty top notch.

Hatchbox all the way!

Hatchbox and Makergeeks- check! I've looked at makergeeks site before... their prices really aren't too bad. Hatchbox is one of those that is so cheap that I was afraid to try it. That is good to know. Hopefully people will keep their recommendations and sources coming- it's bound to help others. We all need filament.

My next purchase it to try some of the transparent PLA. The prints that I've seen look great with it. There's so much I want to try! Sigh..... I need another printer. :eek: And no life responsibilities to interfere with printing. ;)

Yeah I have 9 spools of Hatchbox and I swear by them. Amazon has them on Prime...cannot beat that :D lol

I want to try T Glase soon, they have amazing transparent filaments apparently

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Originally Posted by Bassna

The 2 roll's I got with flashforge worked pretty good. I am not fond of the size of the actual spool though, it's quite big.

I've ordered about 5 spools from Hatchbox since then. The price is cheap, most of the color's have Amazon prime free 2 day shipping (if you have Amazon prime) and I have had no problem's really!

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=bl_sr_in...&node=16310091

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I've gotten a bunch of both ABS and PLA from Hatchbox, including some of the more "specialty" filaments, like glow in the dark, transparent, gold, and a bronze-ish color. I buy them through Amazon; with Prime they're $26/roll, free two day shipping. All of them have worked great with my Dreamer. They don't fit on the internal spool reels, but I just bought $10 worth of pipe fittings from Home Depot and built a spool mount that sits behind the Dreamer.

I looked briefly at a site called Cheap3DFilaments or something like that, but I didn't see anything at a better price than what I've gotten from Hatchbox.

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Originally Posted by DrUsual

I've gotten a bunch of both ABS and PLA from Hatchbox, including some of the more "specialty" filaments, like glow in the dark, transparent, gold, and a bronze-ish color. I buy them through Amazon; with Prime they're $26/roll, free two day shipping. All of them have worked great with my Dreamer. They don't fit on the internal spool reels, but I just bought $10 worth of pipe fittings from Home Depot and built a spool mount that sits behind the Dreamer.

I looked briefly at a site called Cheap3DFilaments or something like that, but I didn't see anything at a better price than what I've gotten from Hatchbox.

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Yep, I plan on buying some specialty filament's through a few other company's but I think I will stick with Hatchbox for my normal color's and such. I also got their glow in the dark, love it! Some of the price's are even around $20-22 for a spool, with free 2 day shipping with Prime.

My local Microcenter carries inland brand for $15 per roll. Seems to be working OK so far.

FYI

DO NOT buy Torman filament. Out of 10 rolls, only one was usable and took me months to get a refund.

I thought I saw an ad showing filament at Radio Shack -- I'm going to stop by there today and see if they actually have it in stock; it never occurred to me that any place would carry it brick and mortar. (So far. Give it a few years...)

Microcenter has a bunch if you have one in your city. Their inland brand is inexpensive also and is pretty good.

The microcenter stuff is toner plastics which is excellent. Its premium all made in usa stuff. I have printed 7-8 rolls of this stuff and its all be fantastic. It bliws my mind that you can get this stuff on sale for 15 bucks

I just got my FFCP and having the issue with clumping.... are you able to print dual colors with filament from other suppliers

clumping ?
sounds like you're not printing at a high enough temperature.

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Originally Posted by jasonnunley

I just got my FFCP and having the issue with clumping.... are you able to print dual colors with filament from other suppliers

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Yes, but you will need to find out what each temp they require, 2 types of ABS might have to go 225c/230c.. it all depends on the plastic. Find your minimum print temperature (when it stops clicking and extrudes) and start there when doing a dual extrusion.

Clumping in your case has nothing to do with your temperature as aardvark varked, your nozzle isn't close enough to the bed - or one of them isnt. Most machines need a little work for dual extrusion as they don't care about it at the factory- you will have to adjust the nozzle height slightly if one is printing OK and the other is gooping.

Actually temperature is relevant.

Extruding at low temperatures causes the filament to curl upwards at the point of extrusion, making it stick to the extruder and clump.
Extrude at a hotter temperature and the filament will hang straight down and not clump. Also extruding too fast has a similiar effect, but if you maintain the speed and up the temperature it fixes the issue.

As long as you're using a non-warping filament and a sticky bed, you can get away with a pretty large gap between the plate and the print head and the filament will stll lay down flat.
Something you learn when you don't calibrate the bed for a few months :-)

Yes if the filament doesn't stick to the bed - it will also clump.
And the not sticking might or might not be becasue the bed is badly levelled. Could simply be that the filament doesn't stick to the build surface.
And if that's the case - doesn't matter how tight you calibrate.

Not just one answer to any question round here :-)

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Originally Posted by curious aardvark

Not just one answer to any question round here :-)

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No ,but it helps if you give the right answers ;)

I know you don't do alot of dual colour printing, but I do and from his problem, and the fact that one nozzle prints and the other doesn't, well - it's pretty black and white. Assuming he is using the same material, i.e PLA and PLA and he is printing at the same temperatures (or let's say 200-210) then there shouldn't be any curling. If he is using the same materials, the variance in temperature shouldn't make that much of a difference, at worst he might get some dribble - but to not have it stick to the plate and curl up - while the other one does - really, is it even a question?

If one of the nozzles is 1mm higher than the other, we all know what that means - the bed will be level with one, but not the other and you can't level the other because the first nozzle will hit the bed before it let's you - so you need to adjust the nozzle height manually to get them spot on.

how many times have you calibrated your nozzle height for dual colour prints? surely you would have seen this scenario at least once if so. He was concerned that different suppliers filament might not dual print - no this is not a problem, I don't think I've ever dual colour printed with the same manufacturer in both nozzles.

So, eliminating all the things people think it is, and actually focusing on what the problem is - the solution is basically an M2 Hex and some patience.

I tried AIO Robotics premium filament ($10 per spool) this week. Here is some more information http://www.zeus.aiorobotics.com/#!filament/ijf5x, however I directly bought it from Amazon with Prime. I'm very happy with the quality and it's a high quality filament like hatchbox or tonerplastics with a very competitive pricing.

Makergeeks without a doubt. Not just a great product, but the best customer service around.

I've been really happy with push plastic ABS.

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Originally Posted by 3drobotprinter

I tried AIO Robotics premium filament ($10 per spool) this week. Here is some more information http://www.zeus.aiorobotics.com/#!filament/ijf5x, however I directly bought it from Amazon with Prime. I'm very happy with the quality and it's a high quality filament like hatchbox or tonerplastics with a very competitive pricing.

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I was going to try a spool of red until I seen this, "Usually ships within 1 to 2 months. "

-_-

i bought some inland [micorcenter brand] PLA off amazon its was cheap and works great : )