Tips/Techniques Filament Recommendations

[MrWhoopee]

TLDR

I use principally PLA and PETG, inclucing PETG-CF, along with some TPU.
I've been buying Elegoo filaments mostly, having very good luck with them.
Have had no problems with CF filaments or the TPU.

I bought a food dehydrator for a filament dryer. Appears to be working quite well.

I bought these air-tight cereal containters for open roll storage. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08TWH2QHV
I dedicated one of them for TPU feed container and printed a roller support that fits inside the container.
Using some of the PTFE guide tube and a y connector, I can feed directly from the container, which, with the help of some dessicant
stays at 10% r/h.

I glued my PLA collet rack with CA glue last year, still holding fine.

 

[Susquatch]

Great stuff Peter. I plan to ease into it. I'm sure I'll have lots of questions as I go along.

This channel is pretty good.

Not gunna happen Peter. Youtube and me are not friends. I'd rather get a good book.

Familiarizing yourself with Bambu slicer & your specific printer is time well spent.

That will have to wait till it comes I guess..... Is there an app I can try? Or maybe an online user guide?

 

[PeterT]

Not gunna happen Peter. Youtube and me are not friends. I'd rather get a good book.

And here I hand picked that channel specifically for you. 😛 He is a get-to-the point kind of guy with specific videos to your hardware & slicer app.
Well, you can always show transcript & probably download it too. But that can be just as time consuming, especially wordy folks. That is why I often paste video link directly into Gemini & say 'summarize this in 20 points' or ask specific questions. But, and this is a personal thing, learning software is a very visual. You see menu picking, drag & drop, mouse cursor manipulation, keyboard commands, screen interactions... all occurring in mere seconds. That does not readily lend itself to textbook type communication. I could say a 'large pointy rock' or, show you a picture of Ansel Adams mountain photo, different experience

 

[Susquatch]

I confess I did try the first video that popped up. Maintaining a P2S. I really couldn't handle it Peter. Just not fast enough for me.

Almost a minute of intro w zero value and advertising. My hand was already on the kill button but I hung in a bit longer. I bailed at 6 minutes, much better would be: Raise the bed and blow out all the dust. Blow dust out of AMS too. Remove AMS and top cover. Use white lithium here and here every x hours, use light oil here here and here every y hours. Done. 6 minutes in 5 seconds. Yes, I know there is a bit more detail there. Just not enough for me. Maybe that was not one of his better videos. I'll never know.

That is why I often paste video link directly into Gemini & say 'summarize this in 20 points' or ask specific questions.

Now THAT is worth trying! I'll do that.

But, and this is a personal thing, learning software is a very visual. You see menu picking, drag & drop, mouse cursor manipulation, keyboard commands, screen interactions... all occurring in mere seconds. That does not readily lend itself to textbook type communication.

All my life I learned from a book. I can scan and turn pages at my own pace, sometimes stopping to try something, or test an idea. That included software. Especially software.

You clearly have a faster brain than mine. I get totally lost and frustrated at menu picking, drag and drop, cursor manipulation, keyboard commands and screen interactions. What you see as mere seconds, I see as a blur I cannot follow. For me, it is much better explained with a screen shot, click here (circled or highlighted), then you get this drop menu (photograph I can study), select this (circled) with an explanation I can read. Better yet, I can glance back, perhaps even re-read, and preferably practice on my own screen at my own pace.

One if things I hate most is seeing ads for stuff the guy gets a kickback on. That turns me right off. If they promote something they discovered that's really cool, I'm good with it. But not if they get a kickback.

I don't have any trouble seeing why it works for you Peter. And I'm not knocking anything that does work for you. It just doesn't work for me.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

Clean and grease the screws, Clean and oil the shafts. There, I summarized the P2S maintenance video..... They really make a science project out it it, when It's a pretty standard operation most of us are doing, and expect to do for our machine tools.

 

[Doggggboy]

I confess I did try the first video that popped up. Maintaining a P2S. I really couldn't handle it Peter. Just not fast enough for me.

Almost a minute of intro w zero value and advertising. My hand was already on the kill button but I hung in a bit longer. I bailed at 6 minutes, much better would be: Raise the bed and blow out all the dust. Blow dust out of AMS too. Remove AMS and top cover. Use white lithium here and here every x hours, use light oil here here and here every y hours. Done. 6 minutes in 5 seconds. Yes, I know there is a bit more detail there. Just not enough for me. Maybe that was not one of his better videos. I'll never know.



Now THAT is worth trying! I'll do that.



All my life I learned from a book. I can scan and turn pages at my own pace, sometimes stopping to try something, or test an idea. That included software. Especially software.

You clearly have a faster brain than mine. I get totally lost and frustrated at menu picking, drag and drop, cursor manipulation, keyboard commands and screen interactions. What you see as mere seconds, I see as a blur I cannot follow. For me, it is much better explained with a screen shot, click here (circled or highlighted), then you get this drop menu (photograph I can study), select this (circled) with an explanation I can read. Better yet, I can glance back, perhaps even re-read, and preferably practice on my own screen at my own pace.

One if things I hate most is seeing ads for stuff the guy gets a kickback on. That turns me right off. If they promote something they discovered that's really cool, I'm good with it. But not if they get a kickback.

I don't have any trouble seeing why it works for you Peter. And I'm not knocking anything that does work for you. It just doesn't work for me.

Use the Brave browser and all the ads just don't show at all.

 

[Engmaxx]

PLA can be bonded permanently with a variety of adhesives. I think this was discussed quite a bit elsewhere. I bought a dedicated plastic adhesive Weld-On 16. These adhesives etch (soften) plastics which is a different mechanism to normal bonding. Having said this I have an arsenal of glues & PLA lends itself to all kinds of CA glues, regular, plastic-formulated, black-rubberized. They will all hold beyod where the PLA will fail.

Beware the glue on the bed thing. Here I am speaking from limited experience but on my Bambu A1 with textured bed. I have never used glue, ever. I have had prints fail but they were always resolved by slicer settings - part orientation, support structure, support pads, initial layer settings, speed/temp. This gets deep & specialized, most of which I have not had to tweak much. And I am only scratching the slicer settings. But if you hop on any Bambu forum & read any 'failed print' question, the very first thing that comes up is dos & dont's of your bed. Don't touch it with your fingers because that tiny amount of oil is enough to create problems. Always wipe & clean with mild water detergent, no chemicals (read the manual). I've been using a spritz of lens cleaner & wipe with KimWipe. It takes 2 seconds. I put a trash bag over the printer so the bed doesn't get dust on it. Your enclosed chamber side steps some of this stuff but not all. When the bed is cool I remove the part, no twisting the metal required. My buddy has had printers spanning many generations & showed me many examples where glue was a requirement on printer-X but his A1-mini just banged it out, no glue, no flex, at 2x the speed. This is a gross generalization but I'm trying to say there are many experiences out there that may not apply to your specific printer, or only to some degree... My advice is ease into it. Start with PLA because its cheap & get a handle on what you are doing. The issues related to other filaments & challenging parts will come up soon enough as they do for everyone.

View attachment 78484

This channel is pretty good. Familiarizing yourself with Bambu slicer & your specific printer is time well spent.

https://www.youtube.com/@planet3dp[/URL

+1 PeterT nailed it exactly with the Bambu print bed! I have never used glue on the bed with PLA, PETG or TPU. A gentle wash with dishwashing detergent (Dawn or the like) has always solved every bonding problem on both my A1-mini and P1S.

 

[Engmaxx]

@Susquatch This is where you want to go to learn: https://bambulab.com/en-ca/support/1030573831911342080

 

[Susquatch]

Use the Brave browser and all the ads just don't show at all.

I was talking about advertising he did himself at the beginning of the video not advertising inserted by browsers and the like.

 

[Susquatch]

@Susquatch This is where you want to go to learn: https://bambulab.com/en-ca/support/1030573831911342080

I'll take a look, but I was wanting a physical book that I could read while falling asleep.

I'll certainly give their library a go though.

Thank you.

 

[Dan Dubeau]

I'll take a look, but I was wanting a physical book that I could read while falling asleep.

I'll certainly give their library a go though.

Thank you.

Print it out.....

 

[Susquatch]

Print it out.....

Yes, I do that quite often. It isn't as good as a book but it's the next best thing.

 

[Mcgyver]

gives you time to ponder if you want to go up the H2C 🙂 I've the X1C; imo not worth it for an upgrade, but if I didn't have it, the multi nozzle thing would be tempting ....

anyway, on filament, i recommend the reloadable rfid tagged Bambu filaments, and I mostly used PLA. The plastic spools get reused and you're buying filanment catridges for them. I've a dryer but rarely used it .... however do have a dehumidified in that room and keep it<40%. It's a basement room and I like basement dry. Buy 10 at time (standard is they give 40% off for 10 -$15.59) and the price delivered is less than the cheapest non name on Amazon ..... and the stuff is flawless, autos-senses when you load, keeps the dusty cardboard out the AMS. All part of the Bambu ecosystem that works oh so well. Ships from BC.

 

[Canadium]

It looks like my planned Bambu 2PS Combo is at least a month away, maybe two. No stock.

@Susquatch , Did you ever get your P2S???

I've been itching to get something better than my old Ender 3 for some time. Wanted something that could print more plastic types than just PLA. Something enclosed. Then people on the forum started on about the P2S. Sold me! Thought I would wait for a sale. But then this crap with Iran war hit and now looks like all prices are likely to go up not down. So I pulled the trigger! Today! I hope I don't regret it!!!

 

[Susquatch]

@Susquatch , Did you ever get your P2S???

I've been itching to get something better than my old Ender 3 for some time. Wanted something that could print more plastic types than just PLA. Something enclosed. Then people on the forum started on about the P2S. Sold me! Thought I would wait for a sale. But then this crap with Iran war hit and now looks like all prices are likely to go up not down. So I pulled the trigger! Today! I hope I don't regret it!!!

Not yet. But I did have a major breakthrough... So the 3DP is only weeks away. I could even order it now.

I got my bride a new laptop for her birthday. Apparently the laptop at twice the price is considered equivalent to the Bambu P2S at half the price. So she is all hot to get me the 3DP for my birthday. The kitchen floor ultimatum she had previously threatened me about was totally forgotten.

I'm not overly concerned about the impact of the war in Iran on 3DP prices though. In fact, the optimist who thinks I am good looking, had actually hoped for a price drop or a sale. Moron.

 

[Doggggboy]

There is a new model of Bambu printer coming in April as well.

 

[Canadium]

I'm not overly concerned about the impact of the war in Iran on 3DP prices though. In fact, the optimist who thinks I am good looking, had actually hoped for a price drop or a sale. Moron.

As I understand it oil is a primary ingredient in most plastics and a higher price for oil will have a complex knock on effect most every where in the global economy. In fact judging from what I've been reading in the news this is not a prediction. It's already happening.

 

[dave_lawson@]

Had great success with PETG-CF. Used it to simulate a CNC machined steel motor mount. Proofed fit and function with the FDM part and then sent out for machining (I don’t own a CNC machine).

For general stuff, PLA is fine. White, black and gray are always in stock. 99% of my stuff is functional, not decorative.

 

[dave_lawson@]

Had great success with PETG-CF. Used it to simulate a CNC machined steel motor mount. Proofed fit and function with the FDM part and then sent out for machining (I don’t own a CNC machine).

For general stuff, PLA is fine. White, black and gray are always in stock. 99% of my stuff is functional, not decorative.View attachment 81447

Second image is completed BLDC drive for my SB9.

 

[TonyK]

It looks like my planned Bambu 2PS Combo is at least a month away, maybe two. No stock.

In the meantime, I find myself hungering for knowledge about filaments.

What is best for what?
What to avoid?
Best General Purpose Filament
Special Considerations
Shelf life & recommended storage.
Special Applications
Colour Availability by type
Cost Considerations
Etc etc

Has anyone got such a list or table already that they would like to share?

Input Received:

Filament is best on plastic rolls with RFID not Cardboard

PLA - best all round for newbies. Get Black, White, Grey, and wife's fav colour.

Be careful about Carbon Fiber. Some users report that it separates easily, but the carbon microfiber significantly improve the inter-layer bond, like millions of tiny zippers locking together.

PLA has some moisture problems. Moisture proof storage containers and dessicant or dryers help.

Nylon is VERY moisture sensitive.

Now I am scared. I know nothing about 3D printing, have a flip phone that I wish had a dial rather than push buttons and now this. I need someone to hold my hand if I am to take a plunge. My kids cannot believe that I don't want a 3D printer seeing all that I do and can do. My comfort was YOU. Now I am going to have to follow this a bit more closely. Possibly your order will get lost, never show up and you will abandon this foolishness. Possibly I will have to conform. Please keep us posted, with reluctance and fear I will follow.

Thank you for the post.

TonyK.

Grimsby Ontario Canada.