1. Got a question or need help troubleshooting? Post to the troubleshooting forum or Search the forums!

have you ever spent a HUGE amount of time tweaking your settings....

Discussion in 'Off Topic' started by Bill Monroe, Jan 21, 2015.

  1. Bill Monroe

    Bill Monroe Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2014
    Messages:
    76
    Likes Received:
    47
    Only to discover it was the filament that was crap the whole time?

    oh ya, I did it. temp adjustments.. made a filament oiler... speed adjustments.. failed prints and failed prints and failed prints.... finally changed to a different spool... Presto!

    Filament company blacklisted.
    Filament destined for the weekwacker
     
    #1 Bill Monroe, Jan 21, 2015
  2. Jim K

    Jim K Member

    Joined:
    Oct 15, 2014
    Messages:
    36
    Likes Received:
    17
    and the Filament company was....?
     
    #2 Jim K, Jan 21, 2015
  3. Mike Glass

    Mike Glass Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 29, 2014
    Messages:
    268
    Likes Received:
    123
    lol weedwacker, might have to try that, seems it might be to brittle though.
     
    #3 Mike Glass, Jan 21, 2015
    2 people like this.
  4. Bill Monroe

    Bill Monroe Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2014
    Messages:
    76
    Likes Received:
    47
    The posting was an expression of frustration culminating in joy... I'm not here to pan or degrade the reputation of any vendor.

    I will say that when I put some Dark Green 1.75 PLA of colorFabb XT I bought from printedsolid.com on the machine, I could almost hear my Robo thank me... this stuff prints like buttah..
     
    #4 Bill Monroe, Jan 21, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 21, 2015
  5. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    hard to go wrong with colorFabb and they will fix it if you get a bum spool.
     
    #5 mark tomlinson, Jan 21, 2015
    2 people like this.
  6. k1e1v1i1n

    k1e1v1i1n Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2014
    Messages:
    230
    Likes Received:
    73
    I want some colorfabb but the money. is it really worth it?
     
    #6 k1e1v1i1n, Jan 21, 2015
  7. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    If you are getting good results from the cheap spools (available all over the place) then run with it.
    If you want consistently excellent results with no filament failures... yea, worth it.

    I have a lot of cheap spools and use them daily, sometimes you want guaranteed awesome.
     
    #7 mark tomlinson, Jan 21, 2015
  8. k1e1v1i1n

    k1e1v1i1n Active Member

    Joined:
    Dec 11, 2014
    Messages:
    230
    Likes Received:
    73
    anyone ever done a ranking list ? I have only ever used the robo stuff. but at $40 us a roll that seems expensive here in Canada I can get it for $24 a roll. $40 a month dose not seem like much I guess but its still feels wrong paying almost twice as much for something. I don't drive a lambo for this reason :)

    The colorfabb stuff looks like its $50 a roll and coming from Europe the shipping might be crazy. But something still makes me want to give it a try. At least the metal stuff.
     
    #8 k1e1v1i1n, Jan 21, 2015
  9. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    The specialty filaments are remarkable. There are several examples on here (pictures).
     
    #9 mark tomlinson, Jan 21, 2015
  10. Bill Monroe

    Bill Monroe Member

    Joined:
    Dec 18, 2014
    Messages:
    76
    Likes Received:
    47
    Well considering I've never had a bum print with colorFabb, and I never got a good print with the $24 brand-X stuff.. colorFabb is cheap!
    PrintedSolid.com is somewhere on the north east coast, cant recall exactly, but he ships pronto and I usually see it in under a week.
    I'm not affiliated with them in any way, but I know the owner has been known to troll the groups here...
    I have no idea what getting it though the Mounties is like.. last time I was there I was visiting childhood friends that were "cconscientious objecters"
     
    #10 Bill Monroe, Jan 21, 2015
    Last edited by a moderator: Jan 21, 2015
  11. Brad T

    Brad T New Member

    Joined:
    Nov 17, 2014
    Messages:
    17
    Likes Received:
    9
    I have been using Hatchbox PLA I bought off Amazon and it has not given me any issues. I would hesitate saying it is "the best", as there are much better out there, but for $25 USD for a 1KG spool, it is the best I have found in it's price range. I am planning on using colorFabb for prints that are "final product" and need little touch up/finishing. The Hatchbox is great for prints I plan on throwing out when I am done though.
     
    #11 Brad T, Jan 29, 2015
  12. mark tomlinson

    mark tomlinson ༼ つ ◕_ ◕ ༽つ
    Staff Member

    Joined:
    Feb 21, 2013
    Messages:
    23,912
    Likes Received:
    7,338
    Yea, I have bought a lot of filament from various places (eBay and Amazon among them) and frankly for ABS or PLA it all just worked.

    Nothing finicky or problematic. I prefer the better quality filament and now use the cheap stuff for throw-away experiments or prototyping and generally use a decent name-brand type for whatever I am doing if it is finish quality. The differences in behavior are not massive, but I am always going to get a better flow-n-finish from the better filament.

    Since I do a fair amount of the prototyping/experimenting it works out cost wise.
     
    #12 mark tomlinson, Jan 29, 2015
  13. BrianFraz

    BrianFraz Member

    Joined:
    Jul 28, 2014
    Messages:
    51
    Likes Received:
    10
    I just found out Monoprice.com has a 3d printer, but more importantly filament. I have no idea if it is any good, but if their cable quality is any indicator, it should be pretty awesome stuff. Ordered some ABS, will try printing with when I have a chance.
     
    #13 BrianFraz, Jan 29, 2015
  14. Ben Lindstrom

    Ben Lindstrom Active Member

    Joined:
    Feb 20, 2013
    Messages:
    124
    Likes Received:
    41
    I'm running with Monoprice's ABS. It works well. Not had any real jams or any issues related to the filament (Kickstarter edition printer =). I see their selection has expanded.. When I bought mine two years ago they had red, white, and black. And I've only used the white/black so far.

    However, I've not been an heavy duty printer. Mostly because I have other side projects that keep me busy.. Maybe 2016 when I off-load a few responsibilities. =)
     
    #14 Ben Lindstrom, Jan 29, 2015
    2 people like this.
  15. Ben R

    Ben R Active Member

    Joined:
    Nov 21, 2014
    Messages:
    651
    Likes Received:
    89
    YES!
    http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KDYM7TK/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

    J U N K. Dried it, tuned it... it must have junk in it or poor uniformity. Prints fine for 4 hours, then just doesn't extrude for a layer... then goes back to printing, then fails again... then clogs the head... then I break the hexagon head trying to fix it and have to buy a new one...
    I still haven't thrown it away either ! I'm an idiot. Give me a month, I'll be trying to make it work again!
     
    #15 Ben R, Jan 30, 2015

Share This Page