Hi all. I’m looking for some quality PLA to get ready for printing the Primo. Having used a 3d-printer for a while, it’s more and more obvious to me that the filament type means a lot to print quality and strength.
Right now I’m considering a few brands that are easy to order in Norway, either the Filamentum PLA or the Primaselect PLA+. I’d also like to consider add:north HT-PLA, but I can’t find it in any national stores.
EDIT: Or perhaps the Fiberlogy IMPACT PLA? 2nd edit: Fiberlogy IMPACT PLA doesn’t seem stiff enough, at least not for the gantry.
What are your experiences with these, or do you have other favourite brands that are easy to aquire in Europe/Norway?
I’m a big fan of HATCH BOX!
It prints smooth and the colors are stable. You can buy rolls a year apart and the color will be the same.
On Amazon its only $20 a roll.
Thanks! I’m aware of the shop and that they send - but since we (unfortunately) are outside EU, we get high import taxes, unless the online retailer is VOEC registered. And it seems like they aren’t…
This is actually super interesting. It seems like the european and american filament markets are very isolated from each other. I can’t say anything about the differences in quality, but it seems like the different brands are not very known on either side of the atlantic ocean.
Prusament is king but expensive. Less than .02 mm tolerance on most spools. (You can lookup actual measurements for each spool). Very Very pretty stuff. I use it only on things I want to look amazing. It doesn’t get brittle as easily or quickly. It works better on Bowden printers than other brands because it is more firm. It also seems to crack less often under stress (printed parts). Not a ton of color options but what they have looks great!!!
Overture is my normal go to for most projects. Harder to get recently because you are all buying it up. great tolerance. .02 mm again. Quality stuff. Not a lot of color options in PLA. Gets brittle over time like most brands but keeping it dry helps a lot.
Sunlu is next on my list. Very very similar to overture with a few differences. It is softer so it tends to be stringy when used with Bowden printers. Also it tends to rip or crack when stressed. Not as good for MPCNC where the parts are held under tension.
Hatch box used to be my main goto brand but it has slipped to fourth place for a single reason. It’s tolerance is ±.05 mm. Even that is better than a lot of other brands. Other than that it’s great stuff. And it has a lot of color options.
As @turbinbjorn said, there seems to be very little “crossbreeding” of European and American brands for Filament, the brands you are mentioning is almost impossible to find over here as far as I can tell.
Sunlu is one brand I can get here in Sweden however, and thats also available on Amazon.co.uk for instance.
White Sunlu is what I’ve used almost exclusively for several years.
I also liked greatly, the silver Prusa filament that has come with both the Prusa printers I’ve purchased. So much so, I ordered a couple of rolls of white filament from them after I had assembled my latest printer. It’s a bit more expensive, but not outrageously so, and it came promptly. It’s still sitting, however, unused in my stash.
I’m not sure what their international shipping is like, but I gave Atomic Filament a try during the shortage when I couldn’t get Hatchbox and I’m very happy. It’s a little more expensive, but prints amazing. It’s made in the USA and I also like that I am supporting an American company. My only complaint is that, at least in the US, the price includes “free” shipping via FedEx. I wish they would separate that shipping cost and add cheaper shipping options.
Prusament is the only PLA brand that I’ve found that is worth using and readily available in Europe. Given how much more expensive PLA has become recently the price is pretty much in-line with all the standard stuff you can get from Amazon now too.
I was excited to try out some Fillamentum but honestly wasn’t that impressed by it and it’s even more expensive than the Prusa stuff.
For real budget stuff I use the ecoPLA from 3DJake. It’s fine but does take a bit of tweaking to get printing good as I find it extrudes quite thin.
great tolerance. .02 mm again. Quality stuff. Not a lot of color options in PLA. Gets brittle over time like most brands but keeping it dry helps a lot.