Well, somewhere along the line accidentally ordered a roll of PLA-F, so I’m trying it out. Manufacturer’s recommended nozzle temperature is 230-240C. I’m running it at 230C.
It’s stringing faster than Superman in a harp factory.
Does anyone have experience with this stuff?
too hot maybe? I only get stringing with it’s too hot with PLA or PETG
I’ve edited my post. I meant to say I was running it at 230C - the manufacturer’s minimum recommended temperature. I also turned the speed down to 40mm/s. I’m letting it print to completion. Even if it’s a stringy mess, I’ll at least be able to check the fit. I’m reluctant to drop the temperature down any farther at this point because it is, at least, printing, and my fear is if it ends up screwing up completely, I won’t even be able to use it to check dimensions. At least I stand a chance to get something useful out of it.
In hind sight, I should probably have started with a smaller test print.
Lego, Is that the ‘flexible’ pla? I have a few rolls of it but haven’t got to printing any. Google tells me that PLAf is a PLA/ABS material. I wonder if it is similar to Esun AB(s) filament low oder abs but they reduced most of the styrene so abs in name only.
I have not used pla f I can’t find any tech info on it. can you link it? there is a good chance a different manufacturer calls it something else.
I have found when a material is super stringy but I didn’t think it should be a nozzle change often clears it up.
I’l try changing the nozzle on the next print. Thanks for the tip (pun intended).
I wouldn’t exactly call it flexible. It does feel slightly more flexible that normal PLA, but on ly slightly.
There is no detectable odour. As for linking it, curiously, I can’t find any record of ever having ordered it, and I tend to keep meticulous records. Mind you, I had stored it in it’s unopened bag, not the original box, and it’s been sitting around for a while.
There is one, and only one, time that I bought filament from a Brantford surplus store. I just can’t remember what colour(s) I got. This could be one of them.
Now it’s just bugging me.
I am super curious I found this. Too little information but the article does suggest stringing issues.
Have you tried a temp tower to find the sweet spot?
No. not yet. I jumped right into it because the project I was working on was running out of filament and I originally thought this was more of the same. I hadn’t realized it was PLA-F until after I loaded it in. When I realised it was slightly more translucent than the filament it was replacing, I checked the label. That’s when I quickly dialed in the manufacturer’s recommended temperatures.
After that print ended, I came back to it after a couple of hours and, forgetting what was loaded in the machine, started another small (3h) print. I didn’t realise until that print was nearly done that it was old GCode with the temperature set for regular PLA (200/50) and it printed just fine. That surprised me as it’s a full 30/10 below the manufacturer’s recommendation.
I’ve been thinking about where I might have got this from. I can’t find any record of it, so I’m starting to wonder if it was a Christmas present.
I’m going to ask my wife where she got it and what brand it is.
I printed a temperature tower for PTEG that showed almost no difference across 30° range. I could only tell on the overhangs.
It is curious there seem to be lots of new blends appearing. It is quite exciting really!
This is my favourite filament so far in my limited experience. I use 235 nozzle and 60 bed. image|375x500
Smooth Print Filament PLA - F 1.75mm,PLA Blue 3D Printing Filament PLA for 3D Printer, 1kg Spool Blue https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B08J2T3FGJ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_4936GPZT0EEFGSCGC3PT?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
I got a roll of flexable pla from 3d printing canada, but have yet to open it up. If both are simmilar, im curious how flexable the filament and end print were for you, compared to standard pla.
I don’t think PLA-F means PLA-Flexible. PLA-F is a PLA/ABS blend. I’m really loving how well it prints, now that I have the temperature 30C below manufacturer’s recommendation, but there is zero flexibility in it. That’s the good news (for me). The bad news for me is that I still don’t know where this filament came from. I never ordered PLA-F from anywhere, so I came to the conclusion my wife must have got it for me for Christmas, but she showed me the Amazon link that she bought it from and it’s not listed as PLA-F there either, so now that I’ve found a really solid, well behaved filament, I can’t buy more of it. 
Hey Lego!
Look what I stumbled upon!
https://sandoz3dfilaments.ca/products/hytech-pla-f-pla-abs-blend
I might wish to try some some.
Thank you for pointing that out. I’ll give it a try when I’ve run out of the current stuff.
