Filament brands - please comment with your opinions

[Technical Ted]

I'm still waiting to receive my Prusa i3 MkS+, but have been looking at the different filament brands/types, costs, etc..

Please offer your opinions on what you have used... I'm mostly interested in PLA and PETG right now, but looking for opinions on all types/brands.

For example, I see some package deals of Amazon Basics with 4 or 5 reels of different colors for what appears to be a good price, especially when listed as a deal of the day, etc.. But, is Basics a decent filament? I see HatchBox gets very good reviews. What are your experiences with it? Others?

Thanks and looking forward to your experiences!
Ted

 

[brino]

My filament recommendation are here:
https://www.hobby-machinist.com/thr...nters-and-looking-for-input.90392/post-820933

-brino

 

[ttabbal]

I haven't heard anything bad about hatchbox or basics. Village plastics and esun are the brands I usually have around.

Start with PLA. It's the easiest to use for the first prints. Though with the profiles included in modern software, it's not too hard to get good prints from most filament types.

 

[KevinM]

For PLA, ABS and PETG I use nothing but Hatchbox. It is consistent and prints nicely. Once I get a certain brand and type of filament dialed in, which can take quite a bit of time, it makes my life so much easier.

 

[vtcnc]

I have used IC3D with good results


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Technical Ted]

Once I get a certain brand and type of filament dialed in, which can take quite a bit of time, it makes my life so much easier.

That makes perfect sense and is good advice, especially for a newbie to 3D printing like me.

Thanks,
Ted

 

[RandyWilson]

For PLA, ABS and PETG I use nothing but Hatchbox. It is consistent and prints nicely. Once I get a certain brand and type of filament dialed in, which can take quite a bit of time, it makes my life so much easier.

In reality, there likely is not an really bad filament out there these. Surely there are detractors for everything, especially Chinese sources. Consistency is key.The PLA+ I use takes temps that are a good bit higher than what the printer manufacturer and slicer software recommend.

 

[John281]

I had a couple prints fail recently because the filament wasn’t wound on the spool neatly in layers. It was a spool of Tecbears PLA from Amazon. The filament wedged itself under neighboring strands like a weed trimmer does. I’ve had no issues with Prusament filament and especially like the PETG material.

 

[7milesup]

eSun was/is one of my favorites. Prusa is also very good.
I disagree about there being bad filament. There is actually a lot of variables that affect print quality ranging composition of the polymers to controlling the diameter of the filament to how it is placed on the spool.

 

[GunsOfNavarone]

I heard good things about Hatchbox...bought a couple and honestly, for the price, I prefer Sunlu (see amazon for great deals on that weekly...like $17 to $20 for 2.2kg)