Things you should know about your filaments

Filament misconceptions, filament basics knowledge, call this one whatever you want (as long as you don't call it a vlog)! But this video is jam-packed with info on how to pick a filament and what you should be looking for!
Thank you to Aprintapro for sponsoring the series! Check out their filaments here: shop.aprintapro.com/collectio...
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[@printingotb521]

I model recycle symbols in some of the products I print. This a great topic and I'm glad you bring it up. When people talk about strength, they tend to think about different things.

[@johnhmaw]

Great information. I have only been 3D printing for just over a month but have learned much from you channel. Many thanks Tom.

[@ryankrammes8245]

Another one of many reasons Thomas is the best 3D Printing KZbinr!

[@bardenegri21]

The colors and overall video quality is so good on this one, nice lights too. Content is great as always. Thank you!

[@krism3163]

I do individual bin for each plastic type, when bin gets full - content goes on baking tray till I have solid plastic “slab”. Currently I have good 20x slabs in my shed ready to be recycled when world is finally ready.

[@williamthomasmi10]

badASS!! I'm wondering how well I can melt my mix of PLA, PLA+, and PETG haha... Should be interesting

[@evertchin]

*throws in skeletons still waiting meme*

[@AlexKuttner]

i've seen people do the same with the caps from milk cartons, you can make pretty nice slingshots/knife handles from it :D

[@MrMadvillan]

no recycling plan is the most disappointing part of 3d printing, that and the loss of the serialized part that give vintage, dead stock or new old stock parts their value.

[@orbitalair2103]

Nicely done Tom, I like the new style, this should be a very good series. Thanks for all the hard work!

[@edumaker-alexgibson]

I enjoyed this video a lot. Great production quality, the pace is good, and I completely agree with your analysis.

[@Youpuber]

Really dig the dynamic video style! And great in-depth info as always :)

[@m3chanist]

Thomas, you are a gift to humanity. At least, the 3d printing bit anyway. Clear information well presented, it's an art, especially for an engineer, and I've taught both. Live long and prosper.

[@RJMaker]

I think I'm going to like this series a lot! Thanks

[@robmohnacky4545]

Awesome start to the filament series. Looking forward to great content.

[@paulusdettmer1921]

Really looking forward to this series!

[@jfboulanger5368]

I hope you will address viscoelasticity or flow rate vs printing speed. I think that flow rates are the most important specification we should be given by the manufacturers.

[@MSupperi]

Holy Crap, the quality of your videos are SO much higher than anyone else i have seen here on the youtubes😁 I love it!

[@tombuck]

This is so interesting and helpful, filament can be almost as confusing as the printers themselves. Plus your studio/workshop looks super rad!

[@KaliKavala]

Great one. Amazing video editing btw. Good job!

[@RV_There_Yet]

Great info as usual. Keep it up!

[@minty_lint]

I've made the same comment about filament crossovers in winding on several Facebook groups and the pitch forks come flying! Great video as usual.

[@W.Keeling]

very informative tom, gonna be a good series

[@af099]

Just picked up a new filament which you may want to check out ( preorder shipped Jan 1st) . It's by 3d4makers called "facilian c8". It claims to be home-compostable and has an interesting smooth texture / print quality.

[@flymypg]

I always do a 2-wall temperature tower for each new spool. Very little filament yields a ton of useful data. 1. Appearance. I've used a temperature tower to tell me how to "push" a PLA filament from a glossy finish to satin/matte (overcooked, for outer walls only). 2. Layer bonding. Tested by pushing a thumbnail between the layers in the middle of each temperature step. When the data isn't clear, I'll also do a speed tower. 3. Yield strength. See where it breaks due to bending across the layers.

[@GothBoyUK]

BobC Which temperature tower do you use for it & do you have to manually adjust the temperatures or are you able to set it via the slicer software?

[@toniwryan]

Will you talk about nozzle wear & fumes from the different types of filaments?

[@AlexKenis]

THANK YOU for making a point about stiffness: there seems to be a lot of confusion and misinformation around the point of stiffness vs strength. I have the Young’s modulus of PLA at 3.3 or slightly higher, and ABS at 2.4; also a density of 1.23 for PLA and 1.12 for ABS. That puts the ‘specific stiffness’ (Young’s/density) of PLA around ~2.7 and ABS at ~2.2, but there sems to be a decent amount of variation between spools PETG and HDPE are both substantially lower than either, and Nylon is close to PLA. To put that into perspective, MDF is around 3.5, aluminum/steel/multi-lam hardwood in the mid 20’s, and carbon fiber over 100 (depending on composition). Viscosity / viscoelasticity is another parameter that is important for printing speed, temperature, and flow at smaller nozzle diameters, but that is another can of worms. Hopefully I can get around to running some tests in the near future if I don't find it covered elsewhere.

[@ReneJurack]

Nice studio upgrade :) Finally better white-balance :P Nice sum-up and deep enough information for me, I like it!

[@anythinggadgets]

I didn't know MKBHD was into 3d printing. 😆

[@arturszczeparski1351]

O boy, that move of camera at the beggining- good job, something new and unexpected :D

[@machielvanderschoot5180]

Everybody is looking at that shelf with fillaments.....I'm just obsessed with the shelf with Panasonic Lumix camera gear :-)

[@johnvanhoozer]

Thanks, Thomas. I hadn't considered the fact that a spool by weight isn't a good indicator of how much filament you get on a roll since the density changes so much. I'm really looking forward to the more esoteric filaments, having used ASA and ninjatek products. I'd like to see what you have to say about them.

[@ussrover]

Thank you great info

[@movax20h]

A tip to make viewer more happy - please use digital calipers next time so we can read dimensions easily.

[@MicheleHjorleifsson]

Great info btw

[@ChristopherKlepel]

The MKBHD reference was awesome!!! I would say it turned my sub but I was already subscribed

[@michaelschalk4718]

Tom, would you be interested in testing some parts printed in PPSF? The stuff is insane, it prints at almost 400C into a 200C heated build chamber and has great mechanical properties. Can't print it on hobby printers but it might still be interesting.

[@AntonMakesStuff]

Really interesting! One thing I've wondered is if filament color impacts print quality. Because my prints always seem to come out worse in white compared to darker colors. Maybe darker filaments cool more quickly?

[@hightde13]

I like the segment on mass. I wish they'd sell filament by length heh.

[@darkogrozdanovski]

Looking forward to the series! So i didn't quite get how you dispose of your 3d printed waste plastic. Maybe thats an interesting educational video you can actually do in german and share with us how exactly it is done in Germany.

[@danielazbell2412]

Tom, have you seen replay3d? Their model is quite interesting, but it requires users to sort their own scrap. You buy recycled filament from them and send your scraps back sorted to be recycled into industrial products.

[@JimWatters]

Wish this video showed up before the individual types of filaments in your large playlist.

[@Milks808]

Thanks for highlighting the not-so-environmental properties of PLA, it is nice to hear someone else confirm my long held suspicions. I've actually just finished making a home PLA digester - it was really easy: a thick walled expanded polystyrene box, an inner container, 25W heat rope, a thermostat keeping everything at 65C and a little soil from the garden. Two weeks on and the PLA shows significant decomposition.

[@orbitalair2103]

I agree this needs more investigation. I hate throwing fails away.

[@GothBoyUK]

A 'hot composter' like the Green Johanna may be a suitable option. Such composers will also handle raw meat & other things that must never be put in a normal one. This is due to the high heat reached inside. However, they're nothing compared to the industrial processes like anaerobic digestion & the like. PLA's biggest selling point is that it's a bioplastic from entirely renewable resources, rather than it being easily compostable.

[@Milks808]

I'll formalise my results and post an instructables on the PLA digester; likely a couple of weeks from now. I'll post a link here when I do. A hot composter will almost certainly do the job, in fact an ordinary compost heap can see temperatures of around 60C under certain circumstances from biological activity alone. At 60C most pathogens are killed/denatured leaving only thermophilic bacteria which is why hot composters are safe for meat.

[@Ziplock9000]

Two weeks using 25w.. wow 8.4kwH that's more than a day's worth of electricity use for an entire household in the UK

[@Shabazza84]

That squishy Benchy got me good. XD

[@Rubdos]

I love how you did your sponsored message here. lol.

[@patprop74]

Well done Tom.

[@Sambonator]

Great video except.... The comment about tangled rolls! I have seen spools where you can literally see the tangle beneath the unopened plastic. Why can this happen? Well Tom is right the machine can't do it, however spools are completed by operators in many factories, and if they let go of an end after it's been severed from the winder, boom => tangled spool.

[@MadeWithLayers]

If the spool is wound slightly loose, it may look like the spool is tangled, but this will pull itself out after a few windings. But you're right, if they actually let go of the end during production it's very possible you could get a pre-tangled spool.

[@MScholtz]

I’ve also done a video that I shows respooling a roll and why it’s not possible. I use a lathe and turn one spool onto another there’s no way it can cross over.

[@DavyLandman]

I've also had it happen during shipping, the box had an clear dent on the side, and indeed, the spool was quite messed-up. The seller quickly send me a new version, as they agreed that this wasn't what you want to use.

[@jeevesme]

Exactly. His statement was wildly inaccurate. It's impossible for the machine to tangle it, but there is always human intervention. And we mere humans are vulnerable to mistakes.

[@LazerLord10]

My price point for standard PLA filament is $20. I don't think my machine is good enough to benefit from ultra high-end filament, and I don't think I've really had filament issues even trying out the $15 stuff just to see how bad it was. 3D solutech is my latest go-to, and hatchbox is now my 'higher end' material (the price went up!).

[@Mosbror]

Do you have a floor on your wall?

[@TheMacroSlacker]

It's an antigravity room and that is the floor

[@calebdrake3544]

yea...so what?

[@ELValenin]

Hahaha yeah lol

[@John3K21]

I'm not an expert, but I'm pretty sure that's a vertical floor behind him. Don't quote me in that. I'm also open to explanations that involve that being the true wall behind him and that him and all his belongings are mounted to the wall right now, giving him ungodly core and leg strength.

[@lunchbox1341]

I think if you want to find a good but cheap filament its good to choose from different sellers or brands, I found an amazing local manufacturer of the most common materials, that sells pla for 12 dollars, shipped if you have an allegro subscribtion (its like a polish version of amazon).

[@SinanAkkoyun]

What PLA brands do you recommend for fine good quality prints?

[@matthewdavidson8920]

What type of clear fillament would you recommend for using if you are trying to make a replacement rear turn signal for a car?

[@philippthiele4478]

As you have a bazillion of spools. Do you know of a supplier for Dark green ASA? Colourwise somewhere around your 2.gen grass starter that was on the desk ;)

[@kevin_delaney]

Just for the record, I am a CNC machinist in the US and I also study engineering, I know POM as Acetal or more commonly as Delrin. The term POM is not used very often in my country unless by engineers and usually the machinists call it Delrin. I know this, not every viewer in my country will know this. In the future, when mentioning POM, just use a couple of its names otherwise many people might now know what you are holding (and also to save them from a Google Search). Delrin is a great engineering material for machining, needs really sharp tools just like most plastics. I have seen it as a 3D printing filament, have yet to use it. You have a lot of filaments...Is your room humidity controlled? I keep mine in Ziploc Weathershield storage containers, they have a pretty decent seal on them and I throw a few reusable Eva-Dry...well dryer..things in the containers, works pretty well. I am planning on using them as custom filament racks in the future. I love your videos! You sound like such a geek, built your own PC, into machining, background in engineering, 3d printing nerd, German XD haha oh and the awesome sweaters great (specifically high-quality and extremely educational, as well as entertaining) content, and you are a car nerd too. I watch JayzTwoCents not only for his content but because he has the car I want haha a Nismo 370z (I believe, I know it is a Nismo Z) and I have a regular '07 Z33. He is a tech geek and a car geek and looks like someone I would actually be able to hang out with. With you it is no different, I have been subscribed to you since probably late 2014 or early 2015. I have made a LOT of the same or similar mistakes you made but you got into 3D printing well before I did. You also got had a background in engineering and was considerably better funded than I haha Although I am not a Patreon supporter yet, I do intend to help you as much as you have helped me. I am working on a few things I am planning on sending you. I need a bigger build volume and waiting for my M3D Promega to arrive before that happens. Keey doing what you are doing!

[@chucklamb3496]

What’s the best filament for printing fantasy figures for painting?

[@NoseyNick]

5:40 part reappears between Millennium falcon and the clear vase-thing :-D

[@aliniazi2002]

Have you ever tried eSun PLA Pro+? I find it to be perfect with a heated glass bed. It's so consistently good that I feel comfy leaving it as soon as it starts. First layer needs no supervision. I find it prints good at 210C Extruder and 60C bed.

[@flippantb]

I also like esun Pro filament, but i usually use 205C. It is definitely more stringy than normal PLA but is much less brittle and closer to ABS in part strength. So far i have used white and gray, i find both to be stringy. Have you tried the darker colors? Do you also have any stringing problems?

[@aliniazi2002]

flippantb actually I have zero stringing with this filament. Do you have a part cooling fan? I've had pine green and gold so far. The green is a pretty dark green and print quality is the exact same as the gold.

[@MarksGoneWicked]

During this series, can you compile a list of filament tests? Perhaps a Thingiverse collection for testing a new roll of PLA, etc...

[@MarksGoneWicked]

Yes, and even though I'm just starting out, I'm already looking at recycling.

[@amirsamir302]

"As MKBHD likes to say 'Good filaments are getting cheap and cheap filaments are getting good' "

[@HigherPrime8]

Ive always used Hatchbox or Overture from amazon.. Should I be buying filament somewhere else? Ive noticed the prices have went up on Hatchbox and Overture lately... Covid maybe?

[@bryanmontijo8144]

What is the best material to use for a 3D ashtray?,

[@wordreet]

More great info Tom, thanx. Are you doing a Filog series? ;¬)

[@CapuletPoeChannel]

where do we find the rest of this material series in order?

[@HosonZes]

Even if I stamp the recycling logo and a hint that the material is PLA, ABS, PETG etc, how would actually look at that?

[@laurentiusjudhianto6631]

@thomas sanladerer I enjoyed your video yet please add 1 more filament to test, Hobbyking Grafylon fillament (graphene enhanced)!

[@baumgaming4934]

hey if you have some extra 1.75 mm ABS or pla I'll use it

[@CajunGreenMan]

Would it be possible to add G-code automatically to every print that printed the correct recycle symbol on the object?

[@Neuntoter58]

Hello. You do a flexible filament review?

[@Johncoffee2002]

Thomas - could you elaborate in one sentence about your black workbench behind you?(where the Prusa printers sit) it looks awesome. Selfmade or where did you get it from?

[@StephenBoyd21]

I am pretty sure that such benches are available at most DIY type shops.

[@MadeWithLayers]

Jup, literally and off-the-shelf... well, shelf! www.bauhaus.info/schwerlastregale/regalux-schwerlast-stufenregal-r-200-multi/p/25364736

[@jankarsch4935]

Have you tried printing POM? it seems than im almost the only one trying it.

[@andre267]

Did you changed you're Filaween Site? Cause i cann't anymore easy compare what Filament is more easy to use and so on. (For example PETG)

[@danewilkins4885]

Could you make a graph of all these materials and put it on a google sheet?

[@blammers]

I just want to know what has a good quality PLA filament that I can buy in America without paying overseas shipping.

[@sketchtech133]

Proto pastas got some good stuff and paramount is pretty good for a more budget friendly option

[@ProfessorM]

what bio material are you using there?

[@elliotk73]

Great video!! Can you show us your benchy collection?

[@potatojz38]

What are thoughts about weed wacker trimmer line as a cheap nylon filament? I've had great results after drying it out for several hours

[@MadeWithLayers]

I'm a bit concerned about weedwacker line releasing nasty fumes and all, so I've not tried it.

[@potatojz38]

True as it isn't pure nylon, personally the smell isn't anyworse than ABS. Nylon is really expensive here in Canada but I know in other countries it's nearly the same cost as most filaments.

[@IdanMoshe86]

What about some upgrading videos? Or some upgrade videos for your MK2? Or building a desktop delta?

[@MadeWithLayers]

Waaaaaah, so many videos to shoot!

[@IdanMoshe86]

Thomas Sanladerer I really like your videos and big appreciate from Israel. I really want to see upgrade videos.

[@fisheye3d1727]

Im just now watching this but i have 4 rolls of inline filament that are tangled on the roll.. 3 of them arnt even open and you can see there tangled so idk what its your fault stuff is about.

[@NicuIrimia]

I do wonder if you have Devil design petg in there

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

£16 Excelvan is pretty reliable and comes with Amazon Prime delivery. Been using it for years now. Some variation but overall very good.

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

Good point on the Glass Transition Temp Point! Been using PLA nozzle clamps and surrounds for a long time now without any issues, contrary to the GTT purists’ preaching.

[@AcrimoniousMirth]

Also, yes, from my research PLA needs exposure to chlorine (if memory serves) to speed up degradation.

[@GothBoyUK]

Acrimonious Mirth That's interesting to know & very helpful for me. I have things, like the glass bed clamps, that I need to produce but everywhere claims I need ABS or PETg (at least). I have no experience with ABS & I'm just starting with PETg but it's clear to me that my printer would benefit from the upgrades *before* going down the ABS route, which leaves a catch-22 situation of needing ABS mods before printing in ABS. Your post has given me hope that PLA will be good enough for most of the essential mods first!

[@GothBoyUK]

Acrimonious Mirth Does the Excelvan still exist? I can't find it on Amazon UK anymore. What I use is whatever is cheapest & then it allows me to mess about without feeling guilty. Amazon UK is very fluid with pricing & it's worth checking frequently, even daily, what prices are. It's not unusual to get 1kg of ABS for ~£9 or PLA for ~£12. The real bargains are on 3mm filament, so much so that I even considered a multi-filament extruder but being a novice I decided against too much messing. XD

[@RonnieSoak]

Looking forward to the series, even liking the more dynamic style and editing but those zoom jump cuts are so irritating. Also: would be great to get some best practice on how to 'calibrate' for a new spool of dubious quality. Seen some advice in the comments here already.

[@Alexs321432]

"almost obscene amount of pla" he says... while im sniffing my bacon filament on top of a wooden filament table.

[@deeareus9886]

i sort the waste print's burning a little bit of the part, the smell tells the tipe

[@Allenbass7]

3:09 my life right now! XD

[@quesocat42069]

is there another name for that pong engineering plastic? @7:16

[@mommydbl]

What kind of filament is flexible?

[@TheMJGamers]

Are you able to talk about the different emissions produced by 3D printing different filaments?

[@bloogaming8827]

No he is unable

[@GothBoyUK]

There has been good a study into this that a Google search should provide access to. I don't know if Tom has access to the equipment needed to do one himself, or if it would be worth it.

[@MadeWithLayers]

Don't really have the proper equipment to measure emitted substances and particles, so my knowledge stems from reading the various scientific studies on the topic.

[@TheMJGamers]

Thomas Sanladerer Oh okay thanks anyway!

[@danieldc8841]

Could you do a video about the greenest good filament? Perhaps you'll be able to buy metal stamps that authorities recognise that you can heat up and melt into waste prints.

[@DragonslayerBob]

I purchased some Priline PLA filament from china. Seems to be ok, but i have such little experience i can't really say it's good or not. lol.

[@DragonslayerBob]

at the time, it was ~16USD/kg roll.

[@devalopr]

i clicked the like button when there was 999 likes! as always, video quality is through the roof, one of the best on youtube :)

[@elmariachi5133]

I like the video, but I have to say the I would like it much more if it went further into detail. It's rather superficial and short. Also there's one thing I (and probably many other people) are curious for a long time now, is: How do SLA/DLP printed parts compare to FDM parts regarding rigidity?

[@hughsgarbagetrucks]

♻️ 7 PLA

[@fhuber7507]

Learning to use the printer... so essentially wasting the cheapest filament I could find. Its actually making nice lithophanes. Very brittle though and thus not so good for gaming "minis" Its working best with pushing the high end of its labeled temperature range.

[@philipps.1477]

do you have a cameraman now? :D

[@ColdFuse96]

I like how he just casually has hundreds of spools just lying out without a bag or desiccant, totally exposed to moisture, and im over here struggling to get just one spool, and it had moisture damage 😂😂😂😐

[@catsnekos5002]

True i don’t know how he does to keep all these spool without moisture

[@LinuxGalore]

well there is a project, an all in one recycler that converts waste plastic back into filament. If they can make an all in one bread maker why not an all in one filament recycler. People will just have to get into the habit of labelling their projects so they can sort it for their recycler. That or use a hand held laser material sampler like they did with the mars lander Supercam to identify different materials.

[@lunchbox1341]

There are all in one filament extruders for consumers, the issue is that to recycle parts you need a pretty powerful shredder for anything thats is bigger than flakes, and those extruders can cost a lot of money.

[@stevec5000]

Question, I'm trying to print an item from Thingiverse called the Screwdriver Stand on my Monoprice Maker Select 3D Printer and it just refused to print! At first I thought it was because the size was too big at 200mm so I reduced it to 95% but it still refused to do anything. How can I find out what the problem is? www.thingiverse.com/thing:1701814/

[@bentarr17]

Tom, what’s your favorite budget line of PLA for all-around use?

[@AmusementLabs]

I know I'm not him, but DigiStruct (on Amazon) works REALLY well and costs like $13/kg

[@bentarr17]

Coaster Labs thanks! I’ll check it out.

[@Mannedavid]

ColorFabb economy PLA (insanely good quality, only in 2.2kg spool for around 35 Euro)

[@GothBoyUK]

Mannedavid | SecondFaceTV Interesting. ColorFabb has always been one of the ridiculously priced filaments whenever I've looked but not yet encountered their 'economy' version. At €35 for 2.2kg that's quite a good price for a premium brand which will likely be 99% as good as their premium products.

[@Mannedavid]

GothBoy UK well I can't tell a lot about their prices xD I got some kind of deal with them :) But generaly they got cheaper, but you need to buy in bulk.

[@bug5654]

8:24

[@nxxxxzn]

ASA ftw

[@yvan2563]

Another way of lowering your environmental impact may be to buy locally-manufactured filament when possible.

[@BrainSlugs83]

What are you saying @ 8:24 ? -- I can't make it out, and the subtitles missed it entirely... -- "vowie"?

[@greyemrednus]

11:42 "OOOuhh...". _crack.._ _inhales_ "sshit." _in&exhales_

[@ThrottleScotty]

I think the first priority should be to test all the flame retardant filaments. Preferably not IN the studio tho ;)