Info about the Hello 3D Black to red (lava) filament

Hi everyone!
Immature like the inner child that I am, I bought Hello 3D’s “Lava” filament with a “shut up and take my money” attitude.

This of course, without even really looking at what I was buying :man_facepalming: :laughing: Classic… :rofl:

I initially thought it was like a rainbow filament, but now I realize (after purchase of course duh :crazy_face:) that it is a thermally reactive filament. :sunny: :fire:

Has anyone used it? Any ideas for “cool” prints, cool designs, to which this could be applied?

When the color change takes place, how long does it last? I guess that’s only the time it takes to get back to the initial temperature right?

Thanks for you help! :stuck_out_tongue: I guess i’ll have to be creative with this one for my future designs… :laughing:

This one:

3dprintingcanada.com/products/lavablack-to-red-to-yellow-1-75mm-hello-3d-pla-filament-1-kg?variant=31973304205381&ab_version=B&gclid=Cj0KCQiA7oyNBhDiARIsADtGRZYv83pKPhGVxhIVmCXnD1KvIuKCu9MKh7CpmEnNuKFfmGtQi9hDXl8aAoC6EALw_wcB

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no, but what a great choice of colours for a temperature reactive filament.

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Well, I suppose you could cross a Lord-of-the-Rings ring with a 70’s mood ring.

On a practical note, you could make clips to:

  • clip to the hot-end’s cooling fins to alert you to heat creep
  • clip along the outer edges of your build surface so you can visually assess how much heat is getting to the edges of the build plate vs. what the center-mounted thermistor tells you.
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End caps for your steppers - see the heat…

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I love those ideas! :slight_smile: Thanks a lot!
i was wondering if i could do something like a lamp shade. The section near the bulb would be “hotter” than the rest, so i may get a nice variation of colors when the light is on… Would required a regular bulb, cause LED bulbs dont make any heat, but i think it would be great if it works…

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Within the last couple of days, someone posted, either here or on Facebook, a photo of a lampshade they had put an LED strip in. It started out vertical and bent itself into an “S” from the heat of the LED’s. The real problem, of course, was that this particular lamp shade was more of a black box with holes in it and didn’t allow for (much) air circulation. So, if a lamp shade doesn’t have a large surface area and is mostly enclosed, enough heat can build up internally to soften the plastic. I just wish I could put my hand on the picture.

I have experimented with this Hello3D lava filament - it’s really neat!

The colour change effect generally lasts for as long as the plastic is warm – The exception is if you leave a thermally reactive 3D print in the sun day after day, it will eventually stay as the heated up colour permanently… I learned this accidentally!

I think it’s really cool with printing anything handheld. One of my prints with this filament is a colour changing kalimba which shows the handprints after you’ve been holding and playing it a minute or two.

I also think coasters are a great application for this type of PLA… This Hello3D lava PLA is actually the exact stuff I used in my most recent video with 3D Printing Canada! (don’t mind the shameless plug :wink:)

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Thank you very much @Emily1713 !! :slight_smile:

Im actually waiting for UPS, should have this ready to print before the end of the day. Can’t wait to try a few things… :stuck_out_tongue:

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