They sell 1.75mm and 3mm filament (not welding rod) with a claimed tolerance of +/–.001 (although some commenters suspect it is more +/-- .01) for prices about half of other sources.
Their minimum order is 10 lbs in one color, but they will split it onto 5 lb rolls for free, or 2 lb rolls for $5 per roll. http://www.3dprinterfilament.com.
I don’t need 10 lbs of any one color or type, but I’d be happy to order some split into 5 lb rolls and then split it with someone from the community if they wanted to go in on some PLA or ABS.
I would like 5 lbs of black ABS and PLA, and 5 lbs of natural ABS and PLA for myself, but I would consider some other colors if enough people aren’t interested in these colors.
Let me know if you are interested in splitting a larger bulk order. I live in the US, midwest region and would prefer to split with someone nearby for shipping reasons.
@Thomas_Sanladerer I’m certain that is what their website claims. I have yet to order any to verify myself. @Chapman_Baetzel said that he’s run 40 lbs of their stuff through his printer without an issue. Maybe he has some that he can throw some calipers on for us.
@3D_Printing_Systems Nope, I definitely did not mean to use the URL with the “s” at the end. I realize that the sites are similar, but the one you linked to appears to only have 1.75mm filament and not the same bulk pricing as http://www.3dprinterfilament.com/.
I will admit that http://www.3dprinterfilament.com’s website is antiquated and you have to get quotes through their email address, but if their +/-.01 tolerance claim is true and you need 5 lbs or 10 lbs of filament, it looks like they are hard to beat.
We’ll have to wait on @Chapman_Baetzel to take some measurements on his filament that he has from them.
Diameter tolerance isn’t every with filament - factors like extrudability, adhesion, warp, smell and so on also play a big role in the quality of the filament.
@Thomas_Sanladerer I’m in agreement with you, and while I am inclined to believe that a company who would make filament to that tight of a tolerance would likely have a product with good adhesion and extrudability, it’s not a guarantee.
We do have @Chapman_Baetzel 's personal experiences of running 40 lbs through his rig without issue. So while he is kind enough to take measurements for us, he may be willing to comment on the factors that you’ve listed above as well.
I’m no chemist, so all I really can say is that I run this filament a little hotter than others. 225 for the first layer, and 220 for the rest. I notice no smell, but there is an exhaust vent in the room where i keep my printer. I don’t run the fan for it, but the air passage is present. It sticks well to PET tape, and I wipe the bed down with acetone on a paper towel every month or so. Generally I don’t do that twice before the tape is worn out from over-enthusiastic not-yet-cooled part removal and i have to replace it anyway. Warp is an issue, but this is ABS, and slic3r’s brim has done wonders getting rid of it.
Other extrusion issues stem from unbalanced filament rolls of 10 pounds or more(I asked them to try and fit 20 on a spool once, it bowed out the edges of the spool and didn’t really work so they sent two 10 pounds replacement rolls for free) causing the extruder gear to strip the filament, and then the rest of the print running unattended with no filament fed and just cooking the hot end. This causes hot filament to pool up at the edge of the heater barrel and then it doesn’t feed well. Hotend cleaning takes care of that issue. I’ve never had air bubbles(that I could detect) or foreign objects in filament, but I’ve only gone through about 40 pounds, not counting that 20 which had to throw out because the spool broke.
The one-way locking bearings I use now have taken care of the spool imbalance problem. On free bearings, the heavy part of the spool will get to the apex of the roll, being pulled by the extruder, then spin further due to gravity(heavy side wants to be on the bottom). It will then oscillate, and if the extruder has fed more filament during that time, can yank taught the filament and strip the section in contact with the gear teeth. This will cause a failure to feed.
With locking bearings and a fixed axle, the imbalanced spool will spin due to gravity after the apex, but not oscillate, as the bearings prevent motion in the reverse direction.
Not home yet, but I’ll measure the filament once I am.
@Chapman_Baetzel Thanks for the very detailed response, I almost feel guilty for mentioning you so many times in this thread.
They said that they can do 5 lb spools at no cost difference, so that may be a good way to reduce some of the challenges you’ve have with the weight or spool size affecting the extrusion process.
Yea but id have to replace those more often. Now that i have the locking bearing sorted out i was considering asking what the next size larger spool is.
my calipers only measure to .00mm, which makes the hundredths a doubtful digit, if i remember my significant figures from high school physics.
That said, i’ve never had any problems with quality from these guys, and the cost is dramatically lower than the other suppliers i’ve heard of. That low cost is one of the reasons that printing my own is such a useful option.
@Brian_Low While it is billed as 1.75mm filament, and I would love it if the average width was actually 1.75mm. The average diameter was roughly to 1.705. While the variance from that average was pretty small, +/-- .015. So by setting your filament width in the slicer to the actual average diameter, 1.705, you should have better results because they have a fairly narrow tolerance and you’ve accommodated for the filament diameter in the software.
@Mark_Oates I see. A consistent diameter is the important characteristic so the printer can extrude a known amount of plastic. Thanks for the explanation.