Filaments, Better Filaments and Colors. Time for a change.

[Wolfie]

I am really new to 3D printing and I am constantly on the hunt for new filaments. But. I have noticed a trend lately. Company after company releasing their "better" filament. Generally they do so with marketing fluff and little substance explaining why their filament is better than company B's filament. What EXACTLY does it mean to me as a user is what needs to be explained. If you want me to buy your standard, boring red filament, explain to me what makes it better. Information is what I want. Not marketing fluff. If I want marketing fluff, I will go shopping for a car and some guy in a plaid suit.

Something else I noticed, for the most part, they all seem to be in the same tired colors. It would be nice to see a variety of colors. Multiple shades of blue. Transitions between blue and green. And it would be nice to see some form of color information (CMYK, Pantone, or Federal) or some formal color specifications. Photos don't cut it if you need to match a company color or logo. And even within sites that sell filament, some have extremely inconsistent imaging showing the colors. And even others don't show any color at all and leave you guessing what color names are from a dropdown list. What am I talking about? Well, lets look at one of the big player's description...colorFab: "At least as bright as a summer day, that’s how intense this shade of blue really is. We have no doubt this vivid blue color will complement your designs.". Really. What hue is it? If you look up "Sky Blue" on MatterHackers, their PLA doesn't look remotely the same color as ColorFab's. THIS is why we need to have decent color info about what we are buying.

If 3D printing is ever to make it into a mainstream manufacturing solution, standardization of supply materials is going to have to happen. Calling your filament "Baby Butt Beige" doesn't tell a manufacturer squat about what color it is any more than calling your filament "premium" or "xt" tells them what makes it different or better.

What we need to see is information about a filament. More than whats currently provided (which is almost nothing). Things like if it fluoresces (ie glows under UV, aka blacklight). I have purchased several spools from different sources that looked like it should glow under UV (think parties and Halloween) yet did not. Can it be etched/cut safely in a laser cutter (think awards or trophies). What chemical resistances does it have or not have (if I print a chamber safety flag for a gun, will the flag dissolve the minute it touches a bore solvent). Most of that is controlled by additves to the base ABS resin. What did they add? Who knows. And extremely rarely is any detailed info given about a filament.

I am not talking about stifling new filament development, I am talking about standardizing the information provided to the end users. I am talking about working together to make this more of an interchangeable part concept than one-off concept. I am talking about being able to look at a filament and tell its Pantone PMS 802 2X and that it glows under blacklight and its UV stabilized for use outdoors or even looking at a glow-in-the-dark filament that looks like pantone 806 in daylight and glows pink in the dark (I was surprised by MakerGeeks' glow pack, NONE glowed anything but green even though they were different colors in white light). Right now, I can't find ONE website that will give me any of that information about a filament.

So, can we please start getting useful information about filaments please?

[curious aardvark]

yep. Can't argue with any of that (and you know I would if I could :-)

[INDMATEC GmbH]

PEEK filaments for FDM 3D printers might be of interest to you. Here are some specifications:

- Thermal stability up to 260ºC (it does not suffer structural deformation hence can be used inwater boilers or low pressure steam systems without change in its physical properties).
- Good wear and abrasion properties (can be used in bearing, sliding surfaces and systems wheresurfaces in relative motion must maintain dimensional tolerances) – better than for titaniumand steel.
- Good creep properties (can be loaded under static or constant loading conditions for a long timewithout permanent deformation).
- Very low moisture absorption.
- Repeatedly sterilized using steam (hence prevents the survival or germs, bacteria and othermicroorganisms).
- Chemically inert and bioinert/biocompatible with a flexural moduli similar to that of humanbone than any other implant material hence less stress shielding and better bone resorption.
- It has a density that is at least 5 time less than most technical metals but capable ofwithstanding mechanical loads inherent in most engineering operations.
- Good electrical insulation.
- Holds a V-0 flammability rating (that means it stops burning within 10 seconds once inflamedand drips hot particles which are not inflamed).
- Approved by the FDA for food contact applications.
- Natural light brown color.

If you find it interesting I'll be glad to give you more info .

[LambdaFF]

PEEK filaments for FDM 3D printers might be of interest to you. Here are some specifications:

...
- Natural light brown color.

Man you were doing so great until that "Natural Light Brown color"... ;-)

[INDMATEC GmbH]

Man you were doing so great until that "Natural Light Brown color"... ;-)

Haha I know, right? PEEK filaments are quite costly and thus seldom attractive for private usage, that's why they're not produced in colors. But they're very nice for other purposes, quoting Wikipedia's nice article about PEEK polymeres:

Because of its robustness, PEEK is used to fabricate items used in demanding applications, including bearings, piston parts, pumps, HPLC columns, compressor plate valves, and cableinsulation. It is one of the few plastics compatible with ultra-high vacuum applications. PEEK is considered an advanced biomaterial used in medical implants. It is finding increased use in spinal fusion devices and reinforcing rods. It is extensively used in the aerospace, automotive, and chemical process industries.