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Non-warping, no smell, PET filament

Discussion in 'Printing Filament' started by Ruser, Aug 30, 2015.

  1. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    No shrinking or warping.
    No smell.
    No enclosure required.
    Build plate can be heated or not (depends on brand).
    Can be printed on glass without any glue*
    Does not absorb water or moisture from air, so no storage container needed.
    Clear color is the most transparent of all filament materials.
    Is much "tougher" that PLA or ABS; will bend before breaking.
    Uses about the same extruder temps as ABS.
    Does not need a print cooling fan like PLA does.
    Also known as Polyester, PETG, PETT, PET+
    Is what most soda pop bottles are made of.
    Does not degrade in water.
    FDA approved in the USA for for food contact.
    Not brittle.
    Is the most recycled plastic.
    Prices are coming down, and some are about the same as ABS.


    Test model: http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:990484
    Printing video: https://vid.me/eEIW
    Result video: https://vid.me/eEUW


    Current places carrying PET:

    eSun - from Intservo, in North Carolina USA:
    http://intservo.com/products/esun-petg-filament-1-75mm-1kg-spool?variant=942259463
    *opaque black is tested to print onto glass without any glue at all;
    stays attached above 80C, and pops off at room temp.

    eSun - from Intservo on Ebay, in North Carolina USA:
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/221745555099

    Alchement - from New Jersey, USA (choose PET from the menu):
    http://www.ebay.com/itm/321625926855

    RepRapperTech in Hong Kong:
    http://www.reprappertech.com/3d-printing-filament/petg.html

    Made Solid - from California USA:
    http://shop.madesolid.com/products/madesolid-strong-filament-1-75mm-1-lbs

    Made Solid - from Matter Hackers, in California USA:
    http://www.matterhackers.com/store/3d-printer-filament/black-pet-175mm

    Made Solid - from Design Box, in Ohio USA:
    http://designbox3d.com/products/madesolid-pet-filament

    Made Solid - From Australia:
    http://thinglab.com.au/shop/3d-printing-materials/madesolid-pet-filament

    Colorfabb XT - from Netherlands:
    http://colorfabb.com/xt-black

    Colorfabb XT - from Printed Solid, in Delaware USA:
    http://www.printedsolid.com/shop/175-3/xt-amphora/

    Taulman T-Glase - from Matter Hackers, in California USA:
    http://www.matterhackers.com/store/3d-printer-filament/taulman-black-t-glase-175mm

    Taulman T-Glase - from MakerGeeks, in Missouri USA:
    http://www.makergeeks.com/tpe3dprfibl1.html

    Taulman T-Glase - from Imprinte 3D, in France:
    http://www.imprimante3dfrance.com/en/pett.html

    Eco PETG - from China (must email to order):
    http://www.ecoreprap.com/pro/petg-filament

    Reprap PET - from Denmark:
    http://reprap.me/filament/petg-1-7mm

    Gizmo Dorks - in Los Angeles, USA:
    http://gizmodorks.com/petg-3d-printer-filament

    Various:
    http://www.microcenter.com/search/s...ories-:-Printers-:-Electronics-:-Micro-Center

    3D Prima, from Sweden:
    http://www.3dprima.com/en/filaments...a-petg-filament-175mm-1-kg-spool-natural.html
     
  2. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    One thing I can tell you, the eSUN PETG behaves differently depending on the color. I have used the translucent Red, Blue, Orange and Natural. The Red and Blue are very tolerant of temperature and adhere well layer to layer, doesn't always stick to clean glass, so I use some hairspray. Whatever pigment they use in the Orange makes ir a real pain in the ass to work with. It has a very narrow range of speed vs. temperature vs. layer parameters that it sometimes doesn't even stick to itself. I also have to extrude it at the high end of its specified range. The Natural s okay, but if you extrude it too hot the crystallization in the extrusion becomes very evident. I have solid Black and White waiting in the wings to try next. I know black is good for nearly any print, but I wished they had done a smoke or black translucent instead, not like all the silver filaments that call themselves black.

    This is not all bad, PETG is my favorite filament although to say it doesn't shrink or warp is not being entirely accurate, I have some bigger PETG prints where the corners have warped up just a bit. Not enough to deform the print but enough to visually see.

    BTW, Microcenter Inland PETG is eSUN re-labeled. Also, not all PET is the same hence the PETG, PETT PET+ designations, they don't all work quite the same, but generally extrude at the same temperatures and speeds.
     
    #2 WheresWaldo, Aug 30, 2015
    Last edited: Aug 30, 2015
  3. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    Well I think that black uses carbon black as an additive, which conducts heat. And white might use titanium dioxide, as in toothpaste.
     
  4. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    I recently got a spool of clear PETG from Inland ($18.99 plus $5 shipping, so very cheap stuff), and I am very impressed. It doesn't warp (a quick spray of hairspray on glass and even large parts don't have corner lifting), has no odor that I have smelled, and the parts are incredibly strong. PETG is very strong and can flex significantly before breaking, definitely not brittle at all. Layer bonding is great and if parts do break they don't break along layer lines (in fact I the parts seem to behave more like traditional plastic parts and one has never broken along a layer line).

    PETG is probably going to be my go-to filament from here on out, it prints as easily as PLA but seems to have all of the appealing physical properties of ABS. My only complaint is that a lot of the PETG colors I have found are translucent, still looking for a cheap spool of a solid color. The clear PETG that I have does look fabulous, but sometimes solid colors are desired.

    EDIT 9/2/15: After printing more large parts I did get some corner lift, nothing that a better bed adhesion method (e.g. painter's tape, gluestick, PVA solution, Kapton tape, really anything that sticks better than the no-too sticky hairspray I used) wouldn't have prevented.
     
    #4 1nxtmonster, Aug 30, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 2, 2015
  5. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    I just read that ToyBuilderLabs has opaque.
     
  6. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I believe that the only opaque PET that toybuilders carries is colorFabb XT.
     
  7. Printed Solid

    Printed Solid Volunteer Admin
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    I'll also add that we carry t-glase as well.
     
    mark tomlinson likes this.
  8. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    Yep I added PS to the next update list.
     
  9. NeuralChris

    NeuralChris Member

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    Nice, I just bought 3 rolls of PETG based off of this thread. Should get it today. Excited to see how well it performs!
     
  10. NeuralChris

    NeuralChris Member

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    What extruder/bed temps do you guys use for the clear PETG vs the colored kinds?
     
  11. WheresWaldo

    WheresWaldo Volunteer ( ͠° ͟ʖ ͡°)
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    In my personal experience the Blue and Magenta can accept higher temps than the Orange, but they will all extrude at about 235° - 245°C. What I found was that the Orange needed to be printed slower than the other two. I have some solid Black and White but I haven't tried those yet.
     
  12. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    Only solid black for me. For small parts 100% infill, I'm doing 230/100.
     
  13. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    I ordered a yellow roll of it off amazon.. see how it does should have it tomorrow. I have not had much luck with colorfabb XT...is the PETG similar?

    I normally use normal PLA JustPLA brand from amazon but they must not be stocking it anymore? almost out of every color..the colors they do have still are cheap though! ( $15 for Orange )
     
    #13 KTMDirtFace, Sep 10, 2015
    Last edited: Sep 10, 2015
  14. NeuralChris

    NeuralChris Member

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    I just started printing with PETG today. I used the eSUN solid white PETG and it took a couple of times to get it right. First off it didn't seem to like the fast honeycomb infill at PLA speeds (60 mm/s). I changed it to a regular rectilinear infill and put the speed down to 40 mm/s, I also upped the temp from 230 to 245 and it seems to be doing pretty damn well. I really like this material as it has no smell at all and sticks perfectly with zero warping. So much better than PLA.
     
  15. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Thats cool yea I ordered a yellow roll of Esun PETG from amazon prime. should be here tomorrow.

    If it prints easy like pla but is more durable/resiliant..etc like ABS I will be happy.
     
  16. NeuralChris

    NeuralChris Member

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    Has anyone else had problems with the solid colored PETG binding on itself in the spool? It seems the solid colored PETG is very coarse (whereas the clear I bought is super smooth) and while printing it seems to wrap around itself and bind up which causes extrusion issues. Luckily I've been watching it like a hawk and stop it before it causes problems, but I won't always be able to watch it. Other than this issue, I absolutely love this filament. Zero odor, zero warping so far and it looks so nice.
     
  17. KTMDirtFace

    KTMDirtFace Well-Known Member

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    Man I have that problem with EVERY spool I have ever bought. of any brand. ( exept colorfabbXT..that stuff looks like it was wound on the spool by super anal elves. )

    Probably luck of the draw and not the color I'm guessing... But I don't know.
     
  18. Ruser

    Ruser New Member

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    My last eSun opaque black had rough texture, but the current roll is smooth.
     
  19. NeuralChris

    NeuralChris Member

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    Oh that's weird, I just assumed that the opaque stuff was all rough. The blue roll I ordered is the same.
     
  20. 1nxtmonster

    1nxtmonster Active Member

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    The roll I got from Inland was rough as well.
     

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