Low cost good filament

[cesern 0]

?Hi I have just started 3d printing with Ultimaker 2, I am so happy printing so many things, so easy  to use and even pleasant to watch with such an elegant machine?.

I'm now about to finish my first filament spool, have looked at the spool prices and the happy feeling is over?.

 

Only kidding Still happy but just worry on choosing the right filament. I already made a big sacrifice on buying the printer itself I now need to look for affordable prices but at the same time have good quality.

 

?Could I please ask the community for any recommendations on good quality affordable filaments.

The internet has so many companies I don't want to fall victim for cheap stuff. 

I live in manchester so ideally would like to buy from as near as possible to save on post.

 

Thanks very much for your help

 

[kmanstudios 1,120]

I hate to say it, but you get what you pay for when it comes to quality.

 

Some great filaments are:

1. UM
2. Colorfabb
3. Extrafill (filamentum)

A cheap one to bang something out and do prototyping  before final print is Matterhackers MH Build. Not great, but it is a decently consistent material and as I said, great for banging out some things.

 

Some of the Matterhackers Pro series is good like their PETG.

 

Then for PETG type of things, Taulman is good. T-Glas is really nifty.

 

Being in the UK pretty much rules out the Matterhackers stuff though. But the others are Eropean in make. Frankly, the European stuff is some of the best.

[cesern 0]

Thanks for your reply. Much appreciated for this information. I'm only wondering what's the difference when it come to quality. Does the layers seem more neat, smooth and stronger? I think I also remember seeing discussions about warping.

 

[gr5 2,267]

In the UK, faberdashery is pretty amazing stuff.  But it's not spooled.  Which has never been an issure for me - I just put it on the floor on a lazy-susan.

 

eSun from china is the cheapest stuff I know of that is okay quality.  I would tell you to stay away from eSun 3 years ago but it seems reasonable now.

 

Bad quality: will unlikely be weak.  I've never seen PLA that is so bad it is weaker than normal and I've never seen PLA that is super strong (unless fiber fill and if you want fiber fill go with nylon, not PLA).  PLA is mostly PLA is mostly PLA.  In other words it's mostly all the same.  PHA added is fantastic stuff.  Looks better.  Overhangs better. bridges better.

 

Bad quality: dusty.  Filament not correct diameter (diameter varies every few meters).  

Most common problem: Just won't do overhangs very well (overhangs look like crap).  Overhangs look all melty and droopy.

 

Almost all the brands out there are quite good by now.

[jofleck 0]

Currently I'm using PLA filament from 3djake.com (they are selling their own brand which I use and other brands). Im really happy with it. The colors are good and strong and the surfaces are good too. 1kg costs something like 22€ which is really cheap. (notice that the spools are bigger then the usual 750g spools) . 

 

Currently I'm testing their own PETG Filament which costs 30€ per kg. 

[Bigbrit 9]

Hi there

 

UK printer here, I have been using stuff from 3dprintz.co.uk - 1KG drums and are very well priced.

[cesern 0]

Thanks very much for your answers guys

[dxp 23]

Maybe REC?

[jofleck 0]

3 minutes ago, dxp said:

Maybe REC?

 

This filament wasn’t good at all for me. The diameter was variating a lot, buildplate adhesion was horrible (warping) and the color (in my case red) was a transparent red color.

 

Maybe RECs facility had a bad day. I ordered three spools in different colors and all of them had the same problem except the transparent color 

 

[dxp 23]

19 hours ago, jofleck said:

This filament wasn’t good at all for me.

Oh. We had gray and dark green PLA. It printed OK. And it was a recommendation from igo3d.

(But to be honest, i had the impression of underextrusion with the gray filament - but i used the UM-profiles without any changes, so it was my fault.)

[kmanstudios 1,120]

2 hours ago, dxp said:

but i used the UM-profiles without any changes, so it was my fault.)

Not necessarily. I found with quality filament, the UM settings are very good for me. But, then again, I am on UM machines too.

 

And quality is not always a price issue.

[yvest 18]

For many of my regular prints I'm using Makerfill PLA. It's costing 18.95EUR for a spool of 750gr and did not have any complaints so far. Not sure whether they're delivering outside of BENELUX though.

[fergazz 60]

There is a filament in UK that I would like to try... named Filamentive. Specially the Cosmic series... have anyone tryed this? They have metalic flakes that looks awesome... at least on reel 

[mvalenti 1]

Your going to find all kinds of opinions with an open ended question like that. Try, I am looking for PLA filament in the 20-30$/kg price range, where can I get the best quality for the $ ?. Still a bit open, but you narrowed the responses by providing a budget. I made the mistake of buying cheap thinking that i am new and bound to screw up so i dont want to spend.... but a better quality filament will eliminate that variable and with 3d printing, eliminating variables will get you better prints...

 

Good Luck!

Mark