Bambu Lab PLA Wood vs. the Competition: Stunning Prints or Festive Fails?

[@customdevvv]

Learned a lot from this video! Some of my prints had some weird artifacts in certain spots and I never thought of looking at the printing speed of each layer before, setting a constant speed fixed those problems immediately :)

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you so much for your kind donation and support - I truly appreciate it! I'm glad the video was helpful to you. It means a lot to me 😊

[@RichardGunther]

I learned so much about why I might want to change certain settings I'd otherwise ignore or default. Thanks for all the detail and recommendations!

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words! I’m glad you found it helpful.

[@OhImKiCkiN]

With the new BL PLA-Wood I found that lowering the volumetric flow actually decreased my print quality, which is extremely odd. With a volumetric flow rate of 15-18 the quality was much better than when I tried it on 9. The sheen was also reduced with a higher vfr, so it looked more like actual wood. All my tests were with the Black Walnut version.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for sharing your experience! My deer odyssey, as I mentioned in the video, had me experimenting with all sorts of settings-it was kind of frustrating! In the end, I printed all the outer and inner walls at 15 mm/s. Therefore, I lowered the nozzle temperature to 205°C, added retraction, reduced the minimum print speed to 10 mm/s, and increased the minimum layer time to 10 seconds. It seems the filament basically overheats when printing too slowly. However, with these settings, printing slow worked for me, and the results were quite similar to Bambu's default filament preset. Have you tried any other adjustments or found a workaround for this? I’d love to hear how you approached it!

[@OhImKiCkiN]

@creativemakerat It does seem like it sort of overheats when going too slow. Well said. I actually hadn't considered that as the cause but it definitely makes sense. I have a few rolls in the dryers now and when they're done I'm going to throw them in the printers using different combinations of your settings. I'll comment back with my results.

[@phasesecuritytechnology6573]

If you want less sheen it's pretty simple. Add more fan speed, lower nozzle temp or slow down. Sheen comes from melting plastic in general. The speed at which the plastic cools determines the level of sheen. So whatever you can do to cool less or slower will increase sheen and vice versa.

[@OhImKiCkiN]

@@phasesecuritytechnology6573 Yes, all filaments, save some HF variants, loose their sheen when printing faster. This makes the BL wood filament look more realistic. My goal is the best print quality though, and the matte look was just a bonus. I'm currently still testing print settings for the wood pla. It's one of the trickiest filaments I've ever dialed in but it's worth it imo.

[@dura2k]

It's not that odd, that's a common thing, just lowering the flow rate is not recommended. Especially with Bambu and their specific profiles there should be a good reason to change settings.

[@Grimmance]

If you print in lower layer resolutions you can theoretically just use wood dust and glue mixture to put a thick coat on before smoothing and polishing.

[@MrBaskins2010]

great comparison, thank you including print speed settings

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words! I'm glad the content was helpful to you!

[@majicMix911]

I just learned a TON of settings and techniques during this video.

[@MarMarMarielle]

On the Bambu site there are MSDS, Material Safety Data Sheets. In the Wood one there is 10-18% Wood powder described. Great video!

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for the nice feedback and the tip - I was wondering where to find that info! Learned something new for future reference - much appreciated! 😊

[@ivangutowski]

@@creativemakerat the Legend himself !!

[@DrZylvon]

nice video, thank you. Appreciate the slicer settings.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words!

[@JohnP.6775]

If you have a bambu lab X1C you can actually dry out the filament with the 3d printer itself just put it in a a box inside and then select dry mode setting.

[@roryrobinson8220]

You can also do it in a p1s but have to set the temp manually

[@creativemakerat]

You're absolutely right, the dry mode is a great feature! However, I think having a dedicated filament dryer has its benefits. For one, it doesn't block your printer, so you can print and dry at the same time-this way, you can ensure the filament doesn’t absorb new moisture during printing. Back then, I bought the Sunlu dryer, but today I’d go for the Creality dryer. Being able to dry two spools at once is just more energy efficient in my opinion! 😊

[@dfloyd888]

I like the X1E's chamber heater for filament drying, but it means your printer is out of commission for a number of hours. Creality had a good discount on Amazon, so I have one of those headed my way.

[@mahefarakotobe1191]

Very well put and very instructive video. Can you make marble PLA comparison next?

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words and for watching! 😊 I’m not currently planning a comparison video about marble PLA, but that’s a great idea for the future. The next video I’m working on will focus on flexible filaments - maybe that might interest you as well? Stay tuned! 👌

[@mmacchi]

Great video!! Learned a lot about slicer settings as well as about this neat new type of filament. I bought a roll of BBL wood PLA in the colour Rosewood because the colour was so lovely and I plan to use it in some Lunar New Year projects in the future so this was incredible informative! Question though about retraction since I haven't seen it really discussed by other youtubers when it comes to oozing/stringing. I commonly see this issue when printing with PETG. I know PETG is notoriously oozy/stringy and I've been seeking answers to combat this. From my experience, it accumulates over time on the nozzle and eventually deposits it in the print, leaving lumps on the print surface. While I've found increasing nozzle temperature to 270C has helped with reducing buildup on the nozzle, I still get small lumps here and there. When you enabled retraction in the video, did you change the default value? Or did you leave it as is? Does the value go up or down if you want to reduce the amount of ooze? Once again thank you so much!

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you so much for your kind comment! I’m really glad the video was helpful for you. Unfortunately, I have limited experience with PETG, so I can’t give a definitive answer about the buildup and stringing issues you mentioned. In the video, when I used iSANMATE filament just the lenght value was changed to 0.8 mm, but I think it might benefit from being slightly increased to combat stringing further. For the Bambu Wood PLA which i used for the deer model (where I had to print very slowly), I tuned several retraction parameters: - retraction length: 1 mm - retraction speed: 50 mm/s - detraction speed: 50 mm/s - enabled “Wipe While Retracting” - wipe distance: 2 mm I’m not entirely sure if these settings would translate well to PETG, or if they would solve the nozzle buildup issue you described. But it maybe helps against stringing. Maybe someone else here has some valuable tips for PETG? I’d love to hear their input as well!

[@mmacchi]

@@creativemakerat thank you so much!

[@macadameane]

With wood fibers being in the filament, I am curious how they would react to staining.

[@drpainsjourney]

Thank you, Sir! You are doing a wonderful, great work! I am now a subscriber to your channel!

[@SofaKartoffelSchorsch]

Thanks for the detailed test and happy hollidays to you as well!

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind comment! Happy holidays to you too! 🎄

[@jcandthewires]

Great comparison. I've got the Amolen product in their Rosewood and Ebony variants. For what it's worth, the Amolen can print much faster. On my A1, I do 190-220 range, 200/200 on the print temp, 50 on the bed. Stock settings for the rest. I made some clocks out of both for Christmas gifts, and both definitely have a wood vibe to them. I've also made several Harry Potter wand models from each with success and they all look great.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your comment and for sharing your experience and print parameters - great to hear that Amolen can be printed faster! Rosewood and Ebony sound like a nice combo. If you'd like, feel free to share links to the models you used -I’m sure others (myself included!) would love to check them out. 😊

[@trappedinroom1014]

That gnome looked edible and delicious…like chocolate and meringue! 😂❤

[@Jpeglism]

happy holildays and thank you for such a great review. Please keep it going! Probably try marble or concrete next time?

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for the kind feedback and holiday wishes! 😊 To be honest, I’ve never heard about concrete filament before, but that sounds super interesting! Do you have any recommendations for brands or where to buy it? I’d love to give it a try!

[@oldsaltypossum5287]

Outstanding video and one that I will reference when making similar prints. Sadly it seems the vase model has been removed from Maker World.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words! If you open the model directly in Bambu Studio (search for it in the "Online Models" section), you can download the STL file.

[@oldsaltypossum5287]

@@creativemakerat Verified I can download other online models through Bambu Studio online models but all of Patapouf_09 files result in; “The server cannot find the requested resource.”

[@oldsaltypossum5287]

@@creativemakerat I am able to download other models through Bambu Studio but all of Patapouf_09 files result in a server error indicating the file cannot be found.

[@lazyman1011]

Nice pace and explanations! Abo is out! Thanks for the vid.

[@Factorian_Designs]

Great video and quite a few settings I always recommend as well! Love the iSANMATE and Bambu filament look btw. the others are a little disappointing for wood filament.

[@creativemakerat]

Hey, it’s awesome to see you here on my channel-I know all your videos about the egg cup! 😊 And yes, I’ve definitely picked up a tip or two from you-thank you for sharing all that knowledge! Your videos are incredibly detailed and take tuning to the next level-what I’m doing here is just scratching the surface in comparison!

[@Factorian_Designs]

@@creativemakerat Thank you for all the kind words but I definetly also learnd a thing or two about wood filament here, keep on going!

[@morsikpl]

2:00 - what do you mean "no information" for wood in Bambu? Documentation on website clearly states 10-18%

[@creativemakerat]

thanks for the info - meanwhile i found the info in the MSDS sheet ;-)

[@quattrocity9620]

I used the Creality Wood PLA to make personalized Nutcrackers. It was pretty cool and wood-esque.

[@creativemakerat]

Thanks for the info! May I ask which profile did you use for the Creality Wood PLA?

[@quattrocity9620]

@creativemakerat generic pla profile (bambu studio slicer) was perfect.

[@vakieh4381]

A quick level up on the way you use max volumetric flow - do it *before* you set your specific speed values (but after you pick a nozzle diameter and determine your layer heights & adaptivity). When you see the max speed is 106mm/s after setting a max flow of 8, you know that the 200mm/s you picked isn't actually doing anything, because you've bottlenecked at that max flow. Changing the flow rate to accommodate a different speed is not as smooth as keeping the same flow, so if you take the 106s and match them to your other 100s by changing that max speed, you'll potentially end up with a more consistent print - though I should say I have no clue at all what granularity Bambu's printers use for their extruding, 106mm/s is possibly functionally identical to 100. I've definitely seen the influence on slightly bigger variances though.

[@creativemakerat]

Thanks for pointing that out - you’re absolutely right, the order I showed doesn’t make much sense! Setting the max volumetric flow before fine-tuning specific speeds definitely makes things smoother and avoids those bottlenecks you described. I’ll keep this in mind for future projects and really appreciate the tip 🙏.

[@AdamSchlesingerD]

I've been using OVV3D wood filament which claims 30% wood content and prints very well after some calibration. It's super easy to post process as well.

[@creativemakerat]

I’ve searched the web for OVV3D wood filament and read in several forums that there can sometimes be clogging issues when using a 0.4mm nozzle. Did you have similar experiences?

[@Mazinga]

Great to know that you don't need a 0.6mm nozzle to print pla wood

[@ecc3d452]

Great vid!

[@creativemakerat]

thanks 😃

[@poorman-trending]

Why not use vase mode?

[@creativemakerat]

Vase mode worked perfectly for the tree, and I absolutely love the smooth, continuous surface it produces. In my opinion, for the vases, I found that prints using vase mode weren’t stiff enough.

[@DanielLopez-up6os]

Thank you very much for the speed tips. ive always sturggled with consistency in surface finnish. Have you tried treating any wood filament with Stain or something like that?

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your kind words! I’m glad the speed tips were helpful. I haven’t tried treating wood filament with stain yet, but after looking into it a bit more, I’ve found some incredible examples online. I’m planning to explore this further, possibly in a follow-up video. Do you have any experience with staining wood filaments? If so, I’d love to hear what type of stain you used and whether you’d recommend a specific brand or technique. 😊 Thanks again for your comment!

[@scojosmac]

Im curious if you would do 3d model consulting? I designed a part and trying to print it the best I can with efficiency.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you so much for considering me as a consultant; I'm truly honored! However, I think I’m not the right person for the job-I do this more out of personal interest and to give back to the community. My focus is on achieving the best quality possible, so efficiency often takes a backseat for me, and I have little experience with optimizing for it. That said, I highly recommend checking out @Factorian_Designs channel. He has some excellent videos on efficiency, including tips on using modifiers to optimize print speed and filament consumption. Perhaps he even offers consulting services. Or maybe someone else here feels inspired and can offer their expertise? Once again, thank you so much for the offer-I really appreciate it!

[@jonfortner3919]

A step you missed in your review is sanding and finishing. These filaments are supposed to do well with both which would likely eliminate layer lineas all together

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your feedback and the suggestion! I've seen sanding and finishing in a few KZbin videos, but I’ve never actually considered trying it myself. Do you think it’s worth the effort? When finishing, does the wooden filament make any difference compared to standard PLA? Anyway, sanding a vase does sound like it could turn into a bit of a time sink though 😅

[@jonfortner3919]

@@creativemakerat Well the point of using filimint with wood impregnated in it is to be able to treat it like wood. Otherwise just use a wood toned PLA. As a woodworker, I would like to know which did the best. Also as a wood worker sanding is part of the job. Thew advantage of combining the 2 is gettijng shapes thaty would be difficult to acchieve in just woodworing alone.

[@creativemakerat]

@@jonfortner3919 Thank you for clarifying, now I understand your point much better! After reading your comment, I did a little digging online and came across some impressive examples. Adding texture with stain, in particular, looks amazing and really brings out the wooden feel. I’m actually considering making a follow-up video on this topic, as I’ve now got a bunch of questions myself. If I do, I’ll definitely try sanding and applying stain to see the full potential of these filaments. Do you have any recommendations for the best grit to use when sanding? And is there a particular stain you’d suggest for wooden filaments? Thanks again for your input! 😊

[@SamMillett]

@@jonfortner3919 I am also a woodworker - PLA is horrible to sand, it is very hard, and melts easily so you can’t use power sanding tools withour being careful. Wood filament is *better*, but still not great. Ideal would be wood PETG - PETG sands very nicely. To be clear I absolutely have used Wood PLA a lot - and I like the many shades in the new Bambu range, I just try to avoid sanding it, printing at higher layer resolution. A good way to get prints to ‘cohere’ with wooden parts, in my experiences is to use carnauba wax finish over both. It takes great on almost any material, and gives a unifying satin/diffuse shine which makes everything sit nicely together.

[@creativemakerat]

@@SamMillett Thanks for sharing all this info! The tip about using carnauba wax finish sounds really interesting-I’ll definitely keep that in mind for future projects. It’s great to hear how you’ve worked around the challenges of sanding and managed to blend prints with wooden parts so seamlessly! You mentioned wooden PETG-do you know if there’s any filament like that available?

[@ivangutowski]

Perfect timing !!

[@sutton4791]

Can't wait for someone to figure out how to separate tree resin from the fibers. Finely shred the fibers. Add a modified resin, something with properties similar to acetone, to give it slightly more flexibility. Before heat is applied back to the finely shredded fiber. Make "noodles" with it like a pasta maker.

[@creativemakerat]

Bambu should hire you 🤩

[@3Dprintinglawyer]

Thanks for trying it out so I didn't have to. I wish you would have tried Hatchbox, which has done wood filament for the longest and is pretty much the standard. Priline has always been the premium brand of wood filament. Are you going to start printing more often? Subscribing.

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you for your feedback and for suggesting those brands! To be honest, I didn’t research the most common or best wood filaments beforehand, but I’ll definitely try to get my hands on them now. I’ve just ordered a roll of HATCHBOX Wood PLA to test it out! Unfortunately, I haven’t been able to find a supplier for Priline Wood PLA-do you know of any reliable sources in Europe? Do you have any recommended slicer settings for the HATCHBOX filament? I’d love to hear your tips and experiences! Thanks again for subscribing, and I really appreciate your support

[@3Dprintinglawyer]

@@creativemakerat Your prints looked so beautiful, I was going to ask you for YOUR settings. 😜

[@creativemakerat]

​@@3Dprintinglawyer The filament is expected to arrive on December 30th, so it’ll be a little while before I can dive in. 😉 I’ll be sure to keep you updated once I’ve had the chance to test it out! 🙃

[@3Dprintinglawyer]

@@creativemakerat You are too sweet!

[@nosenseofhumor1]

Try hitting each with a little stain and/or varnish!

[@TheRattleSnake3145]

All hail the algorithm.

[@creativemakerat]

"All hail indeed!" 😄 Looks like the algorithm decided to be kind to me this time!

[@Theprofessor1212]

You did a wood filament test without the best one - Protopasta. Once you try Protopasta filaments you never go back.

[@creativemakerat]

I’d really love to get my hands on Protopasta filament. Unfortunately, it’s quite hard to find here in Europe. Does anyone know a reliable source or supplier where I can buy it? I’d greatly appreciate any tips!

[@SamMillett]

It’s completely unaffordable anywhere outside of USA. It’s typically around AUD$100 a roll in Australia. I’m sure it’s great - but their distribution is terrible outside USA. That kind of money is ridiculous.

[@genin69]

whats a wais? vh-aaas

[@creativemakerat]

Oh no, my pronunciation strikes again! I’m sure there are plenty more words I can butcher-stay tuned! 😅

[@grimmx]

Great test, the iSANMATE looks great, I'm going to have to order some!

[@creativemakerat]

Thank you so much for your feedback! I’m glad you liked the test. If you decide to try it, let me know how it works for you and if the slicer settings I shared helped achieve good results. I’d love to hear about your experience!

[@schr3ck3]

A comparison with Polymaker PolyTerra Dual Gradient PLA Wood would be good. It has no real wood inside if im not mistaking, but dual color AND gradient which shall deliver a more real wood Look. I saw pictures on reddit and it looked amazing. I bought 2, unfortunatelly it is less then 1,75 mm thick (

[@creativemakerat]

Thanks for the tip! I’ll definitely check it out. Are you planning to get fresh rolls with the correct 1.75mm diameter?

[@schr3ck3]

@ would like to have them, yes. Currently I'm waiting for clarification of the warenty case of the shop

[@BlackMapleMFG]

All of these filaments are just PLA.. try Fillamentum Timberfill if you want the good stuff

[@creativemakerat]

Thanks for the tip! I'm thinking about a follow up. In case - I’ll definitely consider grabbing a roll.

[@vndk36]

Sorry to ask, what is good with a plastic spool ? You keep saying this in the video and I cannot agree. More plastic waste, increase weight in the shipping, and so one. A cardboard spool work as well as a plastic one while being less impactful on the environment. Same and even better for refill. If I'm missing something here, let me know, but I my opinion plastic spool is a real waste of resources.

[@zackmckee8432]

Bambu labs spools are reusable and you are able to order refill for that spool that is cheaper and also when using Amsterdam system that has rollers on bottom it helps to not get as tangled as the cardboard that tends to get caught and bend

[@creativemakerat]

No worries at all for asking - I'm actually really glad you brought up this topic! To answer your question: there isn’t a definitive answer here, and you’re absolutely right. There’s really no strong reason for using plastic spools, except for slightly better performance in the AMS. That said, cardboard spools have worked just fine for me as well. Sometimes, cardboard spools do have some imperfections and might get slightly dented, which can make them run less smoothly compared to plastic spools. But overall, they’re definitely a more eco-friendly alternative. I’ll admit that I hadn’t really thought much about the waste caused by plastic spools until now. Thanks again for pointing this out - it’s definitely made me reconsider and shifted my mindset towards thinking more sustainably!

[@vndk36]

@@zackmckee8432 for sur, bambu refill is a great system! If every company was doing this it would be great. Issue is that the majority of the companies are still providing non reusable spools that need to be just thrown in the bin. In my country, we have taxed trash bags so the less I need to throw in the regular bag, the better it is. Also cardboard spools can be dismantled and thus take less space in the bin when finished.

[@vndk36]

@@creativemakerat no worries. I'm glad I can make peoples think about the spool as well as the material that they are printing. To be honest I'm running mostly running polymaker ASA filament in 2 X1C at work. Their printed both printed 2600h each and the AMS work strong (using printed sidewalls for the spools) and I don't have to deal with a ton of plastic waste. Way easier to throw cardboard here in Switzerland.

[@ethancohen6005]

Cardboard can harm the ams. And if you are thinking your impact on the environment, using a cardboard spool is just a feather in the cap. 1: It's up to the garbage processor if they just trash it. 2: vs all the purge and failed prints you discard on a regular basis? Your contributing to landfills far more by just owning the printer

[@sergeyrudenko7725]

This dude knows too much about high-quality printing and slicer settings... This information should be prohibited for free distribution!

[@creativemakerat]

Haha, thanks for the comment! 😄 I promise, no need for a penalty - my limited knowledge is meant to be shared! Let's make cooler things together 😎

[@1stRanger]

None of these look like anything resebling wood to me.

[@creativemakerat]

It's like the wood-look tiles - in the end it's just an imitation 😉.

[@cptairwolf]

bamba labs lol