In recent times I have fallen in love with 3D printing. It complements woodworking and making in many ways. I’ve used it for stand-alone projects, jigs, drill and alignment guides even to repair my Microwave.
Its the perfect way to get the creative juices flowing when it’s too late to go out into the workshop. I love the process of seeing my designs come to life and how easy it is to tweak the design with the click of a mouse.
Naturally, I’ve used a fair bit of filament during this process.
Then along came 3DFillies (https://3dfillies.com/), I have found PLA+ from 3DFillies to be the most consistent, strongest and smoothest filament so far. Personally, I print it at a slightly higher temperature (210c) when compared to regular PLA but other than that it’s just the same as PLA to use.
Heres a run down of the benifits for PLA+ taken straight from the 3DFillies website:
https://3dfillies.com/plaplus-filament-175mm-1kg/
PLA+ is our excitingprod uct that has been developed for over 8 months.
Here are some of the exciting new features at a glance;
– 10x stronger than PLA
– Australian approved food grade standard
– Better layer adhesion (brilliant for the first layer)
– Solid colours are vibrant and not opaque
– Resealable bag to avoid moisture issues for long-term storageStrength:
Our PLA+ has been independently tested by Intertek™ to be around 10times stronger than our previous PLA. The two measures used were the Durometer Hardness (ASTM D2240) and Tensile Strength (ASTM D882), bothshowed excellent results. Rather than simply relying on theoretical resultswe also called upon some of our wonderful customers to conduct field tests, requesting feedback for iterative changes to the formula.Special thanks go to Stephen O, Adam P, Luke P and Daniel B.Food Grade:
We further conducted independent testing for Food Grade with the National Measurement Institute (Australian Government, Department of Industry, Innovation and Science) and also FDA (US Government Approved).Results both comply with the Australian and FDA standards (AS2070-1999 10/2011). The tests show that the filament is composed of safe ingredientsthat can come into contact with food products. There are howeversome important practical considerations when printing objects withfood contact in mind.
– It is important that your printer, namely extruder andhotend /nozzle are also up to food grade standards. Typically, stainless steel parts provide the best measure to ensurefood grade printing is not compromised. Brass nozzles are not recommended.
– Thorough cleaning of printed object is needed for repeated useover time . If you wish to repeatedly use a part, you must ensure that nofood products remain even in the tiny gaps between each layer.Organic products remaining on the can rot over time and contaminate yourfood product on the next application.
Better Layer Adhesion:Only the most cavalier 3D Printing Professionals do not wait for thefirst layer to complete before carefully walking away from a print job. Our PLA+ provides stronger adhesion to the base plate/material. Thiswill help with fewer crossed fingers or pray to deities against failedprints right at the beginning of a job. This does not mean we guarantee 100% layer adhesion since it is dependent upon your print set up, butwe designed PLA+ to give you an advantage in the fight forsuccessful prints .
Solid Colours:
We’ve listened and actionedfeedback from our wonderful customers that have demanded a more solidcolour filament . Creating a solid colour filament is easy. It simplyrequires more concentration of dye. The consequence is thatgreater amount ofdye tends to clog the nozzle more frequently. We don’t believe inselling cleaning filament to sweep up the problems of this issue. Instead,we have sourced an exclusive dye made in Taiwan that is both food gradeand does not increase the instance of nozzle clogging.
Resealable Bags:Caring for our environmental footprint is everyone’s responsibility.Recycling is our best way to do this. We have changed our PLA+ filaments tocome in free resealable bags that not only care for our planet but alsohelp in warding off moisture damage to your precious filament. Thisenables them to last longer so they are not exposed to damage from humidity.As with all filaments, it is best to pack them away in the resealablebag when not in use and always keep the desiccant satchel inside the bagto absorb any remaining moisture.
Strength: Rating:
Ease of Use: Rating:
Value for Money: Rating:(Free Shipping > $99)
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