Ultimaker PLA

[SandervG 1,521]

Ultimaker PLA is highly versatile, easy to print and therefor a popular choice for many applications. What about yours? If you’re not sure about all of its properties, drop us a line below! Community experts and Ultimaker experts are available to help. 

 

Or have you already used Ultimaker PLA? Please let us know below what your experience is. It could be useful for new customers considering to use PLA. Whatever the inquiry, write a comment below, grab a coffee, and sit back knowing that help is on its way! 

[UlrichC-DE 115]

With the Ultimaker PLA I print patterns for the construction. Mostly different colours and large.
The material is comparatively cheap and can be printed for a long time without maintenance.

 

PLA is widely believed to be the easiest to print. But I think this opinion is probably outdated from the early days of printers. (Back then, the printing boards were not always heated and Bluetape was very fashionable. Which would be inconceivable today).
In contrast to this opinion, it is important to keep an eye on PLA from time to time. In the past, my print head has filled up several times. Each time it was with PLA.
The first thought was always: "Yay, it's only PLA". "But the last time I understood that it only happened with PLA.
With PLA it is important that the printer surface is clean and evenly treated. Otherwise the printed part will lose its hold on the plate in a later layer.
To improve the athesion, I also use the brim as a platform binding for large PLA parts.

For the athesion I mainly use the UHU glue stick on the glass plate. I have tried different glue sticks. The one from UHU is actually one of the few that holds well.
@Smithy has made an interesting video on the use of the glue stick.

It can also happen that I print the Ultimaker PLA on a plate that has been treated with hairspray. But then only when the coating is new and even.

The Ultimaker PLA does not warp very much. It may happen that the edges lift off the plate, but the process does not usually continue upwards into all layers.
So I can definitely attest the material a comparatively good athletesion.

Generally, you have to cool PLA well when printing. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the filamant has as much fresh air as possible.
On the UMS5 with Airmanager, I leave the doors of the printer open for PLA.
If I forget to do this, it's not a bad thing. Practically, the Airmanager is not so burdened with this.

I print the Ultimaker PLA on the bundle.
Sometimes I print patterns in the kg range with two print heads on 0.8 nozzles.
This is also done in combination with material from other manufacturers. In combination with a modern printer with two print heads and a filament sensor, you can make good use of leftovers with PLA and ABS.
I print the first three to four millimetres with Ultimaker PLA for the improved athesion. After that, I continue printing with the material scraps from other manufacturers.
Since then, I have actually run out of partially to almost used up PLA filament rolls from other manufacturers.

This brings me to the next topic.
The Ultimaker PLA does not smell as much as the material from various other manufacturers. If you don't like the intense frying smell that is usual for PLA, this is the right filament for you.
The odour emissions are generally kept within limits with Ultimaker filaments.