Just started printing with ColorFabb PLA/PHA filament. I like it!
The print quality appears better than PLA with about the same shrinkage. It doesn’t feel cold and brittle like PLA, feels like ABS. I’ve got Black, Leaf Green and Blue, only tried the Black so far and very pleased with the results.
I think I’ll try a few drop tests and see if I can use it instead of PC-ABS parts for functional testing.
Printed a 200 x 50 x 30 box with 2mm thick sides, hardly any shrink onto a cold acrylic bed. Also printed on Painter’s tape, again, completely flat.
I’ve been printing at 220 ˚C at 100 and 200 µm layer height.
“We’ve developed a new type of filament, it’s a blend of PLA and PHA. Polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) is an biodegradable polymer produced by bacterial fermentation of sugar or lipids. The filament is tougher compared to normal PLA and therefore a lot less brittle. Normally when you would bend a piece of PLA between your hands it would snap, PLA/PHA filament just deforms instead of snapping.”
@ThantiK you might want to try some Taulman Nylon, it is easy to print with and has a better temperature range than PLA. Ultimately, if you’re going to leave something in your car in the sun you’re going to have to print a mould and then cast a part from a thermosetting resin.
I’m still on the fence about it… I made this http://www.thingiverse.com/make:45798 on a wobbly printrbot but even on other machines, the prints seem to have noticeable banding (maybe b/c its so opaque) and it sticks to acrylic and tape printbeds like nothing Ive seen (it tore chunks out of my acrylic platform). I like it though so I might try your higher temps.
I previously pulled chunks out of my acrylic using PLA, so I tend to use abraded Kapton tape on glass these days (although I prefer the etched acrylic finish). I didn’t get any noticeable banding and I had no trouble removing it from green painter’s tape. As you say, maybe it’s the 220˚C.
The painter’s tape left a dull finish on the surface touching the bed, so I tried directly on the acrylic and got the finish I like, but as you say, there’s a risk if you get the first layer too well bonded to the bed that you’ll damage it during removal.
Oof! Shipping to Canada would be £19 for a single spool from iMakr, and my local ColorFabb reseller pretends 1.75mm filament doesn’t exist. Oh well, I’ll have to keep an eye out for it and hope that it becomes available for a somewhat reasonable charge at some point.