Filament from China? Anyone try it?

[LambdaFF]

I respect your thoughts, as with anybody or any country, it comes down to the INDIVIDUAL, not the country. Your Comment of comparing Brazil and New Hampshire is off base, not even the same continent, let alone the same COUNTRY.

Yes China is a VERY large place, HUGE, and it has, at the moment 20% of the worlds populations, soon to be surpassed by India. Referring to things as "in China" may not be completely accurate, but that is how westerners view things. As stated, we do not understand their culture, and they do not understand ours, I have dealt with the "Chinese" on many occasions. However those were only individuals, perhaps only the individual did not understand our culture, or myself theirs, but it would seem to be a safe overall bet.

As I also said, I'm sure there are good filament suppliers "in China", buying from ANY unknown source is risky.
"In USA" plastics suppliers will state what percentage of recycled plastic there is in any feedstock, whether it is post consumer recycle, or industrial recycle. All of this matters for the price of the feedstock, the reputation of the seller, and if they will ever have repeat business. ANY supplier, ANY where in the WORLD, that does not care about having repeat customers is going to have shady practices.

So how does this add up overall, pretty easy, you don't know the supplier, you are taking your chances.

I agree with you. US and European providers are statistically less prone to one-offs and more looking for repeat customers. Also I'd say they are usually closer to this community and aware of our issues/requirements.
The customer and service mentality "westerners" are looking for is not something widely spread in China (and I worked there 3 years), it is usually brought in by intermediaries from Hong Kong and Taiwan.

[Solstie]

I live in Korea right now and Korean plastic is really expensive (and US imported is way too expensive)... so I have been using cheap China plastic for the past year (really cheap here). The plastic has all been great for me. Honestly haven't found one yet that doesn't work for me and every time I order it is obvious it is coming from a new supplier. I am sure there are bad ones out there, but I haven't found one yet... Some of the China suppliers have their info on the spools and you can find their stuff and but their stuff from them directly (once you find one you like).

[WillBe]

so don't belive cheap product, you get what you pay for.

[3DPBuser]

I buy many things in quantity from China, mostly electrical. It is only worth it if you buy in quantity that starts about about $300 USD per order. Some things are only available from China at all, because they are so much more expensive (10 to 100 times the price) in the U.S. that they might as well not exist. So my guess is that China orders should be for resellers only.

A note about "cheap"... China is on a different economy. $1 to you might seem like $10 to them. They might be charging top "dollar" for the filament.

My instinct is that almost all of the filament in the US and Europe is actually from China, although of course it is quality checked along the way, and sorted into grades. It just seems exactly like the kind of labor intensive stuff that can't be done for a decent price outside of China.

Black filament: Why not just add carbon black? It's the proven and cheap way to make black anything, just like titanium dioxide is the way to make anything white. I don't see why you'd need to add "junk" to make the black.