White Filament Will Destroy Your 3D Printer

[@dieselphiend]

Colorants are one of the most taken for granted technologies we have. This was so interesting to learn.

[@CursedByDesign]

I honestly thought I was going crazy! I have found that white wore down my nozzles more than even [a really rough] glow-in-the-dark or marble filament does and thought that it might have just been a bad batch of nozzles. In my head, white was just the most basic of colours so there was no way it was the filament. Thank you for shedding some light on this! It is amazing how different colours really have such a different impact -- like how orange is impossible to purge to the point of not staining even black prints for a while.

[@rich1051414]

When I change out my red filament with something else, I always get some residual red streaks in my next print, but it's that only filament that does that. I think it's the pigments they use in some filaments.

[@CraftySven]

@@rich1051414 I agree. Red takes so long to purge. If I switch from red to something else I have to purge 3 times more to get it all out.

[@AndrewAHayes]

@@CraftySven I use nozzle cleaning filament that comes free with Ziro filament, you also get a sealable Mylar bag, a sample of their more exotic filament, and a card to write the printing notes on, the Ziro filament is also awesome quality and has the best windings I have ever seen, its also a good price, not expensive but not cheap either.

[@birdness]

@@AndrewAHayes ok ziro salesman

[@pteppig]

@@AndrewAHayes irrelevant, it costs 2-3 times as much as normal filament

[@AdamMclardy]

My best friend studied exactly this when we worked for BHP and they had some titanium mines so I knew exactly where this was going. I worked on a process that would refine it to the stage where it could be used this way. High pressure plus heat plus very acidic on top the how hard it is to pump. Oh boy it was “fun”

[@Titan3DAZ]

And that is why I use a tungsten carbide nozzle on ever single printer. It has a nearly identical heat profile as brass, but man of man is it tough. I have been printing loads of glass filled and carbon fiber filled and it has shown 0 degradation or issues of any kind.

[@adam.gibson]

Same here. Switched to tungsten carbide and so far it has really held up to whatever I put through it. Best $80 I ever spent.

[@Armor3dprinting]

I'm new to 3d printing is a tungsten nozzle a direct swap or is it more involved? I have a sovol sv01 pro and would like to have it last as long as possible

[@Titan3DAZ]

@@Armor3dprinting As long as that takes the M6 thread nozzles then yes. I got mine from Dyze design.

[@AlexanderGee]

I'm using a tungsten metal one and it's similarly had zero wear. Amazing thermals

[@Armor3dprinting]

@@Titan3DAZ awesome thanks

[@nanovia]

An additional bit of info is that, for this reason, white inter layer adhesion, is not as good as other "colours". It's also more difficult to make a pure white compared to any other colour depending on the polymer.

[@slant3d]

True

[@5Lax]

I just spent $500 trying to find the brightest white FDM filament. Now I have to rethink my whole thought process. Learn something new everyday :)

[@marc_frank]

CNC Kitchen just made a video "Filament COLOR matters!" In the layer adhesion test, white was second best in his selection of colors. It also did quite well in the other tests. I suspect the larger pigment size improves mechanical properties. Almost like a CF filament.

[@JohnboyCollins]

@@5Lax fyi I find overture has the deepest/best whites by far, not sure why.

[@JimmyJames420]

I have always hated printing white filament. As soon as I saw this video, I knew that it was a hard material that was used to dye PLA. I forgot it was titanium, but I never put two and two together until I saw this video. Nice job.

[@ska042]

Nitpick: It's not titanium. As in, it's not titanium the metal or any titanium alloy, it's titanium dioxide, which is a very different thing. Think of it like the difference between silicon, a shiny semiconductor, and silicon dioxide, which is sand (well, more specifically it's quartz sand, and sand in nature is mixed with other stuff, but mostly it is silicon dioxide).

[@Iisakki3000]

Weird that I haven't really had any issues and I print probably most of my print in white, with brass nozzle, but definitely good to know this if I even encounter any!

[@twig_gered]

I just spent a whole day going over my whole printer. I switched to my first spool of dove white pla this weekend and my prints started failing. The extruder started skipping and would print some parts of the print but not others. I cleaned everything popped in a new nozzle and same problem. So then I uped the temperature to 220 and boom! It stopped skipping and was printing as usual. Seems 200 was to low for the white and the skipping was caused by the extruder feeding but the filiment not melting fast enough! Atleast my whole printer has been serviced lol.

[@matthewprince6157]

3 years of printing primarily white filaments I’ve never needed to replace a nozzle.

[@mrfoameruk]

I was making a lot of white drawer inserts. This video seems to point out the problems I had that I didn't have with other filament colours. I was getting poor prints, chalky, and the nozzle had to keep being replaced along with the brass gears that push the filament through the Bowden tube. Ended up putting a steel gear on it. Ended up using other colours as the white kept having failed prints.

[@marksandlin8376]

Also why you will have more problems with bed adhesion with white and glow in the dark filament. Kind of the same effect as flour in dough. I almost always use glue stick when I'm printing any of the matt finished filaments. Thanks for the reminder that I should probably order some new nozzles since I've been been printing a lot of white.

[@dr_dr]

Titanium dioxide is used in toothpaste for colour BTW. Not sure if it's the actual abrasive though. Good info in the video. I love printing in white, but will now have to factor in the additional wear when choosing to use it.

[@theglowcloud2215]

Spending a little more on a tungsten or hardened steel nozzle is worth it. Just run a hardened nozzle all the time--don't waste your time on brass. Fewer nozzle changes is only a good thing, in the event you want to print white, glow in the dark, wood/metal-filled, etc.

[@TheJacklwilliams]

I’ve got to switch to white today or tomorrow on a new printer. I printed up a batch of about 20 parts on my other unit and it was a bear, quickly. Thankfully I’ve got a spare nozzlle for the new printer so I can switch back to it when changing back to the black I’m using. I agree wholeheartedly with you. I’ve had this on my mind for awhile. Considering the cost of nozzles, and hardened steel isn’t that expensive, I’ve asked myself for some time, why continue using brass considering all the filament types that destroy it?

[@BaioWithMayo]

Thought this was going to be clickbait but no, anyone who has printed with white immediately notices the finish looks "off" with white, and if you print long enough the wear makes total sense. Cool, concise, and applicable video to a question I didn't even know I needed to ask, thanks man!

[@ChazBword]

I wish I knew this info last year. I was wondering why my printer just was having SO many problems. Thank you for all this information.

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@volodymyrusarskyy6987]

Very interesting info! I knew about TiO2 but didn't know that it damages nozzles so much. What "color" is less damaging? Except transparent, of course

[@Scott4271]

I’m just a hobbiest; but white is my favorite color for 3D printing and is mostly all I use. I went through about 7 rolls of white PLA last year with no noticeable problems.

[@shaunxthexmod777]

well that's good news, I've only started my self, enjoying it so far. im using the esun filament , biodegradable plastic,

[@raidwerks]

thanks for the video, i didnt know this fact about 3d printing but i came across white injection moulded plastic (it was PA6 or PP, not sure) wich wasnt as durable for mechanical stresses compared to black parts. white plastics dont bond together that good compared to other colored particles. at least thats my experience. thanks for the video again, you gained a new follower here!

[@morbus5726]

Thats why i use tungsten for all my nozzles. I haven't touched the toolhead in like 6 months

[@Sembazuru]

Tungsten carbide (WC) FTW! Unfortunately, I only know of 3 makers of WC nozzles. Dyze Design makes one that is hardened steel with a WC insert tip. 3D Maker Engineering and Spool 3D both have single piece WC nozzles. (I use a Spool 3D nozzle and have no complaints. Remember, they are Canadian so the price on their website is in Canadian Dollars.) I've printed glow in the dark, carbon fiber, and metal filled filaments (PLAs and PETGs) and my nozzle is as good today as it was when I got it in the mail. I have no personal experience with either Dyze or 3DME.

[@warmesuppe]

@@Sembazuru Phaetus nozzles?

[@Sembazuru]

@@warmesuppe Thank you. I was unaware of the Phaetus WC nozzle. Now my awareness of WC nozzles is up to 4 manufacturers.

[@3DMakerNoob]

Nicely done! will definitely be referencing this video

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@Kimchi_Studios]

This is why my white filament prints were coming out gloopy and not adhering to the build plate like the other filaments. Recently bought hardened steel nozzles. Awesome video 🏆

[@PaulBarton]

Thank you so much. I was having huge problems printing white filament.

[@kkuenzel56]

Thank you for that explanation! I've wondered why white filament just doesn't print as nice as other colors.

[@taylor943]

So does Black use the smallest particle? Or would there be another color that would give you even smoother results?

[@riccaregio]

The carbon in the black is just waaay softer

[@pinakoza]

Subscribed to your channel. Well, Great Info! Never knew that. Thanks for sharing this. Titanium is really a hard metal. But I have printed lots of things in white, esp. about 50-60 3d scanned statues of friends and family, most of the parts (large 24 inch gear, and another 10" gear) of my DIY 12" ONSTEP Dobsonian telescope, and many other models (4-5 white reels) since 2016 on my Tronxy P802MA with a brass nozzle, and have replaced my nozzle just once due to the odd filament (Marble PETG) that clogged my nozzle badly. Actually it was my mistake of not using the recommended larger nozzle. I also use space grey and black, apart from few other colors.

[@TOMA21207]

So eventually I'm not crazy that all my white prints are going worse and worse, I never thought about it as filament problem, wow, thanks you for this explanation, now my frustration has sense...

[@slant3d]

Hapy to help

[@eliasb8]

This was great information! This is something that would never have crossed my mind. I am blown away! Thank you so much!

[@slant3d]

Glad it was helpful!

[@carlosrosario9237]

Completely agree.I have been making lithophanes and have been getting stringing on travel moves no matter what I do.Material is precisely calibrated and since I do not have any infill to comb through I can't get rid of the strings.

[@TheJacklwilliams]

Hi Carlos. I’m getting ready to attempt a few lithopanes. I’ve never sliced/printed any. Other than what we got here, aka for white filament, are there any other tips you’d offer for setup/slicing that produce a good lithopane?

[@carlosrosario9237]

@@TheJacklwilliams I mainly use a max lithophane width of 2.4mm.Make sure your picture is walls only no infill.Add walls as needed.If it is a tall model(150mm) or more,consider making an arc lithophane It is way more stable than flat and just works better.There is a lithophane calibration print in Cura that helps to dial in the filament.Let me know if I can help some more ok.good luck

[@TheJacklwilliams]

@@carlosrosario9237 Thanks so much Carlos. I saved your comment as a note so I have somewhere to start. I've got a lot of printing to do ahead of me to finish Christmas projects however, I'm going to attempt my first lithopane somewhere here soon. THANKS AGAIN!

[@TheDannyMcGee]

This is interesting to hear, because my subjective experience has been exactly the opposite. I haven't been printing for very long, and I only use one brand of filament, but I've found that my black filaments consistently give me headaches - that's been true for PLA, "matte" PLA, PETG, and ABS so far. I haven't noticed my whites behaving any differently than the other main color I use, which is a mint green. But every time I have to print a part in black I dread the experience and put it off for as long as possible. I even made a separate printer profile for one of my black filaments because it behaves so differently than the white and mint green of the same material.

[@FairlyOldGit]

My experience too! Printing for 3-4 years now , I use PLA exclusively and find white produces much cleaner prints than black. Nozzle wear has not been a problem either!

[@nicksutton2964]

I don't think I heard him mention but are there any other substances that are used to make white? I am thinking that manufacturers must be aware of this is issue too.

[@TheDannyMcGee]

So after some more experience I've settled on a few observations: 1) Hatchbox makes exceptionally clean-printing white filament. I'm not sure how they do it, but I suspect they just use less dye - their ABS white is noticeably more egg-shell-colored than their PETG or PLA white. 2) I had some bad early experiences with black PETG and black "Matte PLA". But I'm pretty sure these are just terrible materials in general - and my black PETG roll may have arrived already water-logged. 3) My white filaments _do_ seem to print thicker and gloopier than my black. So if I calibrate for the white, I tend to have some issues with the black under-extruding or having a too-high first layer. But if I calibrate for the black, _all_ of my filaments print a bit nicer in general, and the black prints exceptionally well.

[@kalicacao]

@@TheDannyMcGee I had similar experiences. White filament seems to be even benefocial for the nozzle. It has sligtly abrasive properties and it is quite qood for cleaning the clogged nozzles. On the other hand, black filaments are quite often to cause nozzle clogs.

[@johannesritz8006]

Eye opening! Thanks for keeping the video informative and short. Perfect! Maybe the "pasty" flow dynamics explain why one of my white PLA barely sticks to the print plate. The black filament from the same manufacturer worked flawlessly.

[@marioxerxescastelancastro8019]

It is true that TiO2 is hard and abrasive, but that is unrelated to titanium metal being a strong material. Compounds do not inherit the properties from the elements in them. E.g.: Rust (iron oxide) is very weak and flakes off surfaces.

[@speedracer9132]

I’m new to 3d printing and have been going absolutely mad trying to figure out what’s wrong with my printer, and this whole time I’ve been using a cheap brand white PLA 🤦‍♂️

[@Hydraks81]

Good to know, i didn't had that much issues when printing but i noticed i have to replace the nozzle, could be because of the white filament (i often change from a color to an other so i can't be sure) I'll avoid white when i can

[@aeppikx]

i always wondered why my white prints always looked crappy compared to most other colors thx

[@crossthreadaeroindustries8554]

Hmmm, small world, titanium dioxide is used in the mineral (good) sunscreen, the stuff that stays white on your skin.

[@slant3d]

It is a very commonly used colorant

[@theredstonehive]

I've noticed that natural PLA (no colour) is more brittle, stiff, and you can sometimes see stress marks in the form of white disks inside the filament.

[@nucleochemist]

You can make titanium dioxide particles smaller using advanced milling processes like jet milling. However the down side is cost. A good jet mill installation costs millions of dollars. I bet if we were to calcine a bunch of different brands of white filament and did some particle sizing on the pigment inside there would be some smaller sizes on some of the expensive filaments.

[@PhilippBlum]

That's really interesting. I don't have to print with white, so I now know to avoid it.

[@dfloyd888]

I have noticed when people deal with Blobs of Death™ on their printers, it is almost always white filament that has broken free and engulfed the hotend. This is not always the case, but it seems that white filament seems to do this more than other colors. Being made from titanium dioxide, this makes sense.

[@AndrewBoraas]

It'd be interesting to hear how long nozzle usually last

[@Bubu567]

I have run over 100 spools of white through a hardened nozzle, and it showed no wear, so if you ever HAVE to run white, get a hardened nozzle. You also have to run ~5 degrees hotter, and change your retraction to reduce stringing.

[@KimHarderFog]

Very interesting - What colours besides black that you mentioned, is preferred for keeping the tear on the machine down?

[@slant3d]

Darker colors are better

[@nikmirza6811]

Thank you, my 3d printer had been spilling and I need to replace the nozzle regularly (3 times already without even finishing a single print). Didn't occur to me the reason was because I'm using white filament.

[@t1mmy13]

Well this is random. The other day I was just thinking about how I've had much less clogs now that I'm printing less white PLA and more different colors. Before I had to rebuild my ptfe lined hotend every 4~5 kilograms, now it's been fine for a much longer time, but I don't have a lot of data to compare it to.

[@michaelbishop619]

thank you for this info, I print mostly in white and you figured out why sometimes I have problems, thanks!

[@ianvanzyl2551]

This is great info thanks! I went through 100kg of White for an order once, what a frustration...... This is great to know, makes me feel less crazy haha.

[@adscomics]

Are there nozzles that can better withstand that type of wear? Is there a reason brass is more or less the gold standard?

[@curbynet]

Do filemanet colors other than white ever use titanium dioxide? For example, light gray and pastel colors?

[@pyurentertainment]

Great. All I’ve used since getting my Ender 5 Plus is white filament. Makes sense, I came into this video like yeah right, but I stand corrected. Thanks for this.

[@matt-alencar]

I think optics play a big role too, since white material highlight minor fabrication defects, especially 3D printed parts, the layers get more visible.

[@aayushsapra3982]

logical but , white also looks uneven due to light and how it reflects, also i exclusively use white pla for all of my machines and i get 7-8 kgs of pla through standard brass nozzles without any issue and then i change the nozzle as monthly maintainance procedure when i level the bed . also i like to run by printer hot than usual to make sure prints dont fail at 210 nd 70. but i have observed, other colors look much better.

[@victor.stiles]

I recently bought white filament. it worked great in the beginning but after a few days it suddenly does not print well (keeps flaking apart/not printing) I've done literally everything to assure it is not a mechanical issue. I have a few projects to finish with the white and cannot find any information on how to adjust for this. any help is greatly appreciated 🙏 ❤

[@MisterkeTube]

Weird... This totally makes sense, but just yesterday I was thinking "that white Polyterra prints much better than their charcoal black" ..

[@DLSDKING]

i observed greyish color soot forming and clogging my 3d printer when used with white pla from one specific brand off amazon.

[@starcrashr]

Can this be mitigated by using my hardened steel nozzles with white filament? Titanium dioxide is 5.5 to 6.5. Brass is only about 3.0. Hardened steel is 7.0 to 8.0. I'm starting to think I should just leave my hardened nozzle in at all times because there are just so many things that damage brass.

[@shawnmichaelis1609]

roughly how many spools of white filament will it take to start noticing a difference? i figure 1 or two should be ok

[@ClassicLes]

started this hobby in June, and allready had to replace the nozzle after 2 rolls of filament. (the first one was white and the second purple) this explains a lot.. I thought the flaw was the purple roll wich had a heating temp of 200 - 230 instead of 190 - 230. And I last month I bought extra white and grey...

[@supergiantbubbles]

Easy fix, buy a hardened nozzle and never worry about wearing it out no matter the filament you print.

[@douglasdippold8235]

Are you going to give credit to Stefan for the close-up shots of nozzles that you lifted from CNC Kitchen?

[@mouserr]

titanium white pigments in acrylic and oil paint have different texture as compared to other pigments, its not as noticeable unless you have spent considerable time mixing your own paints but when you have the texture becomes obvious and you spend more time making white smooth than any other paint paint mix in my exp

[@jwfox54]

Very helpful explanation of the issues with white filament.

[@kiwihuman]

It would have been good to see this video before I started a 7h print in white PLA.

[@3DBearnicorn]

You mentioned some other colors that were troublesome but didn’t say what they were. Can you shed some light on them too?

[@slant3d]

The lighter the color the worse for the machine because the lightness is created by adding white

[@aluminumandcopper9840]

A possible upside is that titanium dioxide used in white filaments would make it UV resistant. It's used in sunscreens. One thing we should investigate is which colours block UV rays. I use black PLA on my bike, and even after two years, it feels as durable. Even indoors, UV exposure may be more common than you think, so it may be relevant when you're designing for longevity, such as a cellphone holder in your car. UV rays pass through glass windows, and fluorescent lamps emit it.

[@FAT64]

Thank you! I've been having clogging and under extrusion issues with just that... white pla. The other colors work fine with my Wanhao Duplicator i3 modded with all metal hotend.

[@DejitaruJin]

Are there any actual side-by-side comparison experiments regarding this? It "makes sense", for sure, but anecdotally I've not experienced any of the troubles other commentors are describing; nozzle wear, bed adhesion, part strength. I generally prefer to print in white, because it's so much easier to visually examine, especially compared to the awful "I can't believe it's not silk" black PLA I have.

[@slant3d]

The wear will always be present. It really depends on how much you print.

[@DEtchells]

Wow, good to know about, I never would have thought to be wary of white filament. Thanks!

[@slant3d]

Glad to help

[@MrButuz]

This wears out the cheapo 10 for 20 buck brass nozzles right but what about the like 3 for 20 buck plated copper?

[@jshanks]

That is interesting to learn. So black is easier on the nozzle. Are grey filaments harder on the nozzle than black? I don't normally like printing black due to it being harder to see finer details. But then I did just order a whole bunch of black filament. 😊

[@knifeboygamer1200]

I thought I was loosing my mind I noticed a clear difference and I did absolutely nothing different to have the quality drop 20-30%

[@kevinjones9586]

What about gray? Is that carbon combined with titanium dioxide? If it has titanium dioxide, how much compare to white filament?

[@TentoesMe]

Interesting. Wears out the nozzle?

[@riccaregio]

Btw nice that you used toothpaste as example. All the white toothpastes use tio2 as colorant

[@Sembazuru]

Pretty much everything now uses TiO2 as the white portion of colorant and to add opacity. Lead white used to be used, but that has fallen out of favor because of... well... lead.

[@pistolao_vr]

I was expecting the white colors to be more fragile, considering that you must add more pigment to get arround the actual color of the pure material... Am i right?

[@kevinjones9586]

Thanks, Now I know why my extruder gear wore out so quickly when my printer was new. (My first roll of filament was white)

[@alexecheverria]

I started to print with black PLA and some layers separate! I increased from 200c to 210c and same results, what else can I do to have a solid result? Thanks!

[@rob7439]

I wonder what the market is for titanium tips.

[@dominicbaines5947]

Does this mean there might be a reintroduction of white lead based pigments? A tougher nozzle (albeit usually more expensive tan basic brass) is usually the answer though.

[@ruftime]

Hi Dominic! Hopefully not as PLA is inherently bio-degradable😳

[@dominicbaines5947]

@@ruftime It is not the PLA that destroys the nozzle it is the pigment... I think there is lead in the environment.

[@sean00172]

honestly just get a tungsten carbide nozzle and never worry about wear again best part of it is you can literally blowtorch it clean if its ever clogged beyond what a cold pull can fix

[@yodaiam1000]

What are the optimum colours in the different materials for reducing wear?

[@riks8123]

i have this white fillament which i swear is so good, im currently printing something with black and it is just not the same quality as my white fillament, dont know why but its not necessarily bad to print with white

[@JewelPorter]

Is there any down side to just using hardened tips for printing everything?

[@RobytheFlorentine]

I am glad you said this as I have noticed the same but was unsure about. Thanks a lot

[@slant3d]

Happy to help

[@baljazz]

Well I just started a 15 hour print with white pla and than I came across this video 3 hours later lol.

[@aramisjdd6387]

i buyed 3 kg of white filament because it was cheaper than the default pearl white filament i was using before, the quality of the print immediatly got way worse than before but i still have 2 kilo remaining. i'm stuck lol

[@crazybird199]

interesting, I usually choose grey over white since its more interesting, this does explain why my white prints are a bit different than the others. I am curious, why are supports on my black prints harder to remove than others?

[@supergiantbubbles]

You can likely print your black filament cooler than the other colors. If they use carbon black for the pigment it will increase the thermal conductivity of the filament, making it easier to heat.

[@crazybird199]

@@supergiantbubbles I see, thank you

[@johnnyhellfire6]

Love that there's a white ghost just behind him the whole video lol

[@chikokishi7030]

Had no idea. Is this genericly true across the board or a special case?

[@thatonesnowboarde]

@Slant 3D, what about clear PLA+ from Esun? Does clear have toxic titanium in it?

[@alan198310]

What colors are least problematic for a newbie?

[@Rachelcenter1]

I haven’t watched the whole video yet but I have a plastic milk cartoon, it’s hdpe #2 white plastic (see: lactaid milk). Will this white destroy my 3D printer?

[@Perennial_Curiosity]

Is there a reason why you don't just upgrade all your printers to hardened nozzles so this isn't an issue?

[@Rachelcenter1]

What nozzle do you suggest?

[@Perennial_Curiosity]

@@Rachelcenter1 sorry, I don't know enough to recommend a specific one. There are a ton of educational 3d printing influencers here though so if you search "best hardened 3d printer nozzle" and watch a few results that already have lots of views you should get much better answers than I could give you.

[@RussellWilliams736]

Interesting video.... where can I get that black bust over your right shoulder?

[@SchwaAlien]

I really noticed this phenomenon with one particular brand of filament that must have had large crystals because it was shimmery after printing and was extremely hard to print with due to it not flowing properly, had to go super slow... I made sure to give it an appropriate Amazon review, but most other white filament has been ok, but makes sense why cheaper stuff would be worse, not processing the particle size small enough would save money.

[@dncsmedia]

Awesome video! Happy to be subscribed! Thanks. 🙌🏼🤙🏼✌🏼❤️

[@slant3d]

Awesome! Thank you!

[@hopelessdecoy]

So what would be the best colorant color for a test print filament to reduce wear?

[@slant3d]

Colors other than white.

[@edwardidema]

Would a light grey filament have titanium dioxide in it, or will it be better?

[@slant3d]

The lighter the color the more the white that is in it

[@ChriFux]

2:33 the chart says .2 um and not nm...

[@LemberTheMember]

I knew it but I still love White Filament 😭

[@timhofstetter5654]

Titanium dioxide is only about 20 Vickers, which makes it really pretty soft. Even if it was diamond, though, it wouldn't "destroy your printer". That's just silly. It might wear your nozzle and maybe even your Bowden tube a little if you have a Bowden printer. It won't hurt anything else significantly. Of far greater concern is the use of aluminum gun cleaning rods, since the aluminum rods are always coated with aluminum oxide... a primary, and very hard, abrasive material.

[@michaeliliff2779]

My question would be. What would be some of the better colors to get to get then. I know you said black but what are some others. Thank you so much for thai info it helps so much with some of the problems I have bin having.

[@TheJacklwilliams]

In my opinion that’s something you need to dig into. Consider the base information given here. Every colorant/pigment in plastics, paints, etc… is made up of different compounds or single elements to get the color the finished product puts out. Given that, you’ll find signicantly different performance characteristics based on the colorants hardness, particle size, etc…. I worked in injection and blow molding years back. Setting molds, setting up the presses/extruders, etc… I can tell you that I learned then that a color change was a big deal and it was often frustrating to get a part dialed in after changing color. This would be with the same mold and press, same setup. Often you had to change temps/pressures, etc… to account for the change in flow characteristics. Anyway, my advice is, if you are choosing a color for a particular part, do the investigation, find out what it’s made up of and what the flow characteristics are prior to committing to the color/material.

[@paint4pain]

Is Barium Sulfate or Zinc Sulfide/Zinc Oxide smaller? They might cost a bit more than Ti dioxide but they are readily available.

[@supergiantbubbles]

Zinc oxide has a Mohs hardness of 4.5, brass is 3.0. Seems like zinc oxide would likely still wear brass. Barium sulfate seems to have the same hardness as brass. If people are printing anything abrasive, or think they might someday, they should just get a hardened nozzle of some sort. They're easy to get and work as well as brass.