Who is your filament provider of choice.

Hi recently I bought the makerfarm 12 i3v and am looking for your filament of choice provider.
I have a list of providers.
Example: Makerfarm, colorfabb or makergeeks this are some of the most popular I hear or ebay if is ok for you guys or amazon.
Who is your favorite and why?
Also what do you like working with the most PLA or ABS ETC?
Also your choice of 3mm or 1.75?
Also favorite color to print in and why?
Reason I asked is because i heard people buying filaments that made popping sound or filaments that clogged the extruder so am trying to avoid most of this problems from the beginning and choose a great provider from the start. My question is who do you buy from and why?
Thank you for taking your time to answer!

I usually use MakerFarm filament, though I did bite on two cheap random filament spools from MakerGeeks. I haven't had any problem with any yet. I prefer to work with ABS, but the two random spools I got were PLA, so I got to play with it some. It made nice prints. I run 1.75mm filament. The colour I aim to use most often is either White or Natural ABS, or Clear. They all look nice on their own, and can be painted if needed.

The popping sound is usually caused by the plastic (usually ABS) absorbing moisture from the air, and it vaporizes and pops out of the plastic as it's heated. If you keep your filament spools isolated in a dry box, it'll help reduce the popping. I just read of one guy keeping his plastic under vacuum too to draw out the moisture.

I have had mixed results with Makerfarm filament. Two out of three worked well but one roll was wound so poorly that on most prints I had to stand by to make sure a tangle did not stop the process.

I have also used Matterhackers premium PLA. No problems with it in three rolls.

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Originally Posted by rhonal89

Hi recently I bought the makerfarm 12 i3v and am looking for your filament of choice provider.
I have a list of providers.
Example: Makerfarm, colorfabb or makergeeks this are some of the most popular I hear or ebay if is ok for you guys or amazon.
1. Who is your favorite and why?
2. Also what do you like working with the most PLA or ABS ETC?
3. Also your choice of 3mm or 1.75?
4. Also favorite color to print in and why?
5. Reason I asked is because i heard people buying filaments that made popping sound or filaments that clogged the extruder so am trying to avoid most of this problems from the beginning and choose a great provider from the start. My question is who do you buy from and why?

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Enjoy the build!
1. My favorite filament has been purchased from MakerFarm. It has just turned out to be the most trouble-free of the MakerFarm/PushPlastic/Toner Plastics/Makerbot stuff that I've tried.
2. I prefer PLA since I find it easier to work with. I've had troubles with ABS curling and layers delaminating. If I want a glossy finish, I have printed in ABS and ran the print through an acetone vapor bath. So, it depends...
3. Everything I do is in 1.75mm since that's the hot end I bought. At the time of purchase, I had read how 1.75mm takes more motor steps to push the same extrusion volume, hence providing a likely debatable benefit in having more extrusion "resolution"
4. Filament is quite an investment, so most people usually only have a few colors. I have some in ABS and some in PLA, with very few colors in both. For prints that will be photographed, dark colors show detail and flaws the best. I prefer to print in the MakerFarm PLA black, since I can set my temperature based on how glossy the print comes out. My least favorite is my Toner Plastics red ABS, since it turns to extension-cord orange when extruded.
5. See AbuMaia's response. My Push Plastic brand purple initially popped really bad, but after being in dry Colorado for a while it no longer pops. Note that many cases extrusion stoppages can be something other than a clog - like a filament spool that isn't feeding smoothly or overzealous retraction settings that can cause the hobbed bolt to simply chew into the filament being fed until it no longer grips the filament.

That reminds me. One minor issue I've had with one MakerFarm spool. It was a roll of clear ABS filament. It apparently was the last of a batch, as it was not one continuous length, but several separate strands. Luckily I have an "out of filament" sensor switch on my printer that pauses the print if the filament runs out, which it did several times when printing with the Clear. It's a very minor issue for me as it's only been this one spool, and I was set up so that it didn't ruin any prints. I wouldn't worry about it. I've gone through 8 MakerFarm spools so far, and this one has been the only oddball.

Since we're mentioning MakerFarm issues, be aware that some of the MakerFarm filament spools do not fit the filament spool holder provided with the MakerFarm kits. We don't know what sort of spool holder is on the 12-inch i3v, but the 73mm width spools don't fit on the 8-inch and 10-inch printers unless you're using an aftermarket spool holder.

Thank You!! everyone for the replies. Am going to try MakerFarm filament for a first round.

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Originally Posted by rhonal89

...
Who is your favorite and why?
Also what do you like working with the most PLA or ABS ETC?
Also your choice of 3mm or 1.75?
Also favorite color to print in and why?
...

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Q: Who is your favorite and why?
A: RioRand filament from Amazon. I like this filament because it extrudes very well and give me nice finishes. Haven't had any breaks or tangles. This brand is also holding nice consistent tolerance and circularity.

Q: Also what do you like working with the most PLA or ABS ETC?
A: I work with PLA & Flex EcoPLA because of a few reasons...
- 1) Environmentally Safer
- 2) Extrusion fumes are not noxious, unlike ABS.
- 3) Much lower UFP rating (article HERE)
- 4) Lower working temps; This gets me printing sooner and reduces the amount of 'wear-and-tear' on my machine.

Q: Also your choice of 3mm or 1.75?
A: I choose 1.75mm because its what my printer came with and I too believe it gives more print resolution.

Q: Also favorite color to print in and why?
A: I print in black for most my projects. I just like the color, it seems to give my prints a cleaner more professional look (purely my opinion).

*I do a short review HERE on the materials I've used so far & my findings.

I think I am going to pick up some rolls from Microcenter. Their house brand, Inland, appears to be rebranded Toy Builder Labs/PrototypeSupply for $15 a spool. They also offer Toner Plastic's filament for $19 a spool. Both of these are offered on their website, so even if you don't have a Microcenter near by you can order from the web.

I am still experimenting with PLA vs ABS. ABS is opaque, while PLA is somewhat translucent. Depends on amount of dye, I guess. PLA permits a lower bed temperature, but for some objects (I am printing terrain models ATM) does not "flow" together nicely on the surface layer.

Good experience with Makerfarm ABS and PLA, but limited availability in some colors. Also, very happy with my one roll of red ABS from IC3D through Amazon. Have another roll on order.

Bad experience with the only roll of PLA (blue) I have from Matterhackers. Brittle and very prone to breakage above the extruder. Replacement roll had same problems. I won't be buying there again, personally, but I would not want you to form your opinion based on a single data point from me!

I have 3mm extruder because that is what Colin suggested pre-sale. I am not yet sufficiently 3D printer savvy to know if that was a good suggestion or not, but I have no complaints.

I like blue and red ABS. Roll of green on the way. Black, not so much for my tastes.

I am still looking for my favorite PLA. Clear is nice for some things. Yellow is also nice, but my roll is not at all opaque. Tried blue from Matterhackers but it kept breaking before I could get a finished print. But what I saw looked nice on the bed.

HTH.

Jim

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....

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 notice printbus. Now this make my choosing interesting. I guess I'll start by picking the most mention and start from there.

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.

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Originally Posted by printbus

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.

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I'm using a toner plastic roll from microcenter right now and so far, I haven't had any issues yet.

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. :p 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...

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.

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Originally Posted by jaguarking11

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.

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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.