Hi everyone, I was wondering if you’ve had experience using the two different lines of filaments, Euro PLA and Value PLA. I have used and enjoyed the value PLA line and decided to buy some silver Euro PLA to compare - they seem to be very similar in terms of printability, colour palette, etc. Have you noticed any differences between them (aside from price of course XD)?
Thanks and cheers!
Alex
I tried the black value pla recently. It seems to print well with good bed adhesion. I had a bit of trouble with feed problems through my MMU2, and contributed it to a bit of friction through the lengths of 2mm PTFE tubing unlike the Euro and other brands. At first I thought the diameter of the filament was out of tolerance, but random checks with the caliper read 1.75mm. It just seems rougher than other filaments. I wanted to use it up as fast as I could and now that there is only a couple of meters left on the spool, I might actually miss it. For the extra $4 for Euro PLA, I am going not going to cheap out anymore. It was such a PIA for me but others may find it okay. I feel if I direct fed to the extruder for single color printing, it will be fine.
I have used the value pla. Its ok. I have not used the Euro. I agree with @bd43 don’t cheap out on filament. I have come to a new conclusion. If it isn’t well wrapped then what other flaws are hiding? If the manufacturer takes the time and effort to get the filament wrapped perfectly they have taken the time to get everything else right too. I have bought rolls recently that had jams in the wrapping and were a mess. I am going to stick with better wrapped rolls in the future.
When you get filament that looks like prusament and you can scan the GR code and see the tolerances measured of your roll you see the care and effort made to be certain you have flawless filament. https://prusament.com/
Take it from a carpenter: you can’t save money with cheap materials. Ever.
Ancient Chinese Proverb: if you think hiring a professional is expensive, try hiring an amateur.
I had some Prusament left on the spool that I was not sure whether it would be enough for a project. I entered the spool number on their website, weighed the spool with
the remaining filament, entered the number, and viola, it told me how much filament was left. That’s pretty sweet! Whenever I am ordering from Prusa, I add a couple of rolls of Prusament to the cart. Love their filament.
Yeah the MMU2 is notoriously finicky so I’m not surprised that changing filament lines could affect it’s performance. I have had success with the value PLA for single colour printing.
Yes that’s why I wanted to know what the difference between them was. I’ve not had any problems with the value PLA and I really liked their colour so I didn’t want to change for fear of getting colours that weren’t quite right. However, I suspect the value and Euro PLA are manufactured by the same company since they are identical in colour. Maybe the value PLA has less strict tolerances, I’m not sure.
I’d love to use all prusament and I do have some coming, but the cost is prohibitively high. $45 a roll vs $18 or even $30 is difficult to justify, especially if there aren’t any problems with the less expensive filament.
Less expensive doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not suitable to a certain application. You wouldn’t buy $100 filament even if it was perfect tolerance, never jammed, cleaned your hotend at the same time, did your dishes for you, etc… Okay maybe if it did my dishes.
I have bought 100$ filament. Apollo X.
hello 3d is good, kexcelled, sunlu, are all decent. I really like Eurekatec its Canadian made so it buys some slack on the rough rolls. Canadian maker low sheen is also a good one that isn’t rolled well. The IIID prints well but I’d re roll them. I hate being part way through a 3kg print and have the filament jam and not complete. it makes the cheap filament not so very quickly.
I would agree single color printing directly to the extruder. Unfortunately, I like using my MMU2 even for single color prints, and I’m used to having 3 or 4 colors loaded at any given time and I can pick and choose which color to do the next print with.
The only reason I bought a roll of the value PLA was my Euro black was almost done. I saw the spools looked the same for both thinking it was the same brand? That would be a “NO” IMO. Seems strange that the spools are identical. I sometimes wonder if the boys a 3DPC are buying bulk filament and spooling them onto 1kg lots?
That is a common practice. I started a list of know Canadian filaments or at least tried too. I was very quickly told most were re rolled 3dpc guys as much as said it.
There are a few legit Canadian made but it is few and far between. Canadian maker and Eurekatec are. I think that has a lot to do with quality. Having giant rolls sitting around they can pick up dust, moisture, debris, and have the potential to get stretched during the rolling. Not being a manufacturer these don’t effect the end product where if you are extruding it these are a nightmare they would need to control them…
Eurekatec is just down the road, they do make good filament although I find they need to be dried out sometimes. Nova Scotia is a moist province.
I’m sure you had good reason to use ApolloX, but it wouldn’t make sense to use it to make impact and UV resistant deadpool busts. Every grade of filament has its application, even if it’s just to teach you that you get what you pay for.
Maybe we can get the 3dpc guys to chime in on this - I’m genuinely curious.
I’m up… LOL
personally, I print almost exclusively with our house brand with a couple of exceptions, if I need another filament for a colour match, function or if my wife asks me to pick up something she chooses for a project she is working on.
I will have to be honest one of the most important factors I use in choosing filament is predictability. Will the roll I buy today print/look the same as a roll I bought a year ago?
In my case, I do production runs for my customers so I want the next run to look like the last.
I have had the best success with the 3DPC brand, the IIID Max finishes up really nice, nice spooling on it as well 100% Canadian is a nice added bonus. The Hello3D has some nice colours and the spooling I have had no issues with at all. My wife generally prints with it her things are usually one-off kinds of designs so I cannot speak to colour consistency but the quality is there for sure. I do have to admit, I also will add a couple of rolls of PRUSAmint filament into any Prusa parts order I place just to have a few rolls around, Its consistency, colour and winding are just outstanding. By the time I get it here though it’s almost $50 a roll. We used to carry a brand made in Montreal called Meterieo 3D. I really liked their colour palette and consistency seemed to exceed expectations, however, they were able to keep up with the demand we were able to create for them. I ordered a couple of rolls from them direct but even now I cannot get the Army green I was looking for.
I kinda put the Value PLA and the EUROPA in the same group. Decent filament will print without drying and once in a while, you will get a tangle or an inconsistent size. However, it’s also sub $20 a KG so I can expect to waste a meter here or there without an issue.
I hope that helps
I have never needed to dry Eurekatec unless it has been sitting around opened for a really long time. it is in my back yard making it an uneatable price as there is no shipping and I don’t need to buy more than I need to get free shipping, and have it sit around. ApolloX does everything you listed…
[quote=“Aldabest, post:8, topic:3431”]
$100 filament even if it was perfect tolerance, never jammed, cleaned your hotend at the same time, did your dishes for you
[/quote] Well not the bloody dishes.
Which is Canadian? IIID Max ? It is made in usa. The 3DPC house brand is Canadian made? I thought it was Hisun, when did that change?
I get Eurekatec stuff whenever I can but they tend to run out of colours so it’s hard when I need something specific. They have a great sale on right now too.
Is there a 3D printing group for NS? I wish I was more connected to a local community.
oh sorry my bad, IIID is US, its the M3D that is Canadian. I apologize
@Jason do you have any thoughts on the sakata line of filaments compared to other brands? I have been printing with their pla and PETG for a while and don’t have any issues with them but I kind of just choose a brand and have stuck with it.
I do use the house brand value PLA to and haven’t noticed a huge difference between it and Sakata. Sakata might be a bit nicer finish and consistency but it might be entirely in my head since I feel like it should be more ‘premium’.
I also just ordered a few rolls of the Matter 3d carbon petg to try out and I will test it against the house brand version
I did also notice that the Matter 3d premium PLA users the same Nature Works Ingeo 850 resin that the Sakata PLA uses so I was thinking of switching to that when my current stock runs out since it is made in Victoria BC. I’m happy to see you guys are carrying their products now.