Where does faberdashery get their PLA?

Hello,

I spoke to them on the phone a while back... and then they said it was from the biggest supplier in the UK and it wasn't KDI polymers, however that's all they would tell me. I'm not sure if what they said was true or designed to put me off digging.

I love the quality from these guys... however it's overpriced and I want it on a spool!

Does anyone have any ideas?

cheers

Yes, not supplying it on a spool is a big PITA. I sent them an email suggesting spools and I was ignored.

Andy

I spent a painful amount of time coming up with liitle tricks to print with cheap, moist, Chinese PLA and things are working out

I am still eager for market demand to pick up so we all can have the good stuff cheap though.

I highly doubt fasberdashery would leak their source as they (in my experience) have the best PLA in the UK, if not EU.
Sure if they could drop the price and offer spools, bare in mind this would increase the postage cost by a fair bit, it would be amazing.
However doing so would eat into their profits and run the risk of losing such a great supplier.

I'd much rather spend £30 on 100m good quality without a spool then £20 for 100m cheap and nasty with spool.

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My Reprap blog

jds-reprap.blogspot.com

Hi, I know the won't tell where the get it from - they're making a killing, but there can't be that many manufacturers? The prices are double or more of other places when you work it out per kg.

I agree they're good quality but I think they biggest draw if the variety of colours, I know at least one other manufacturer which does put in the R&D to make good filament with the right characteristics.

The cheapest I could see on their site is £18 per 100m (300g) for Clear pla which works out at £90.00 per 1.5kg. Now add postage this is £100 for a spools worth of the cheapest type of filament... the glow in the dark stuff is £150 per 1.5kg (per 100m).

JoeDaStudd Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sure if they could drop the price and offer
> spools, bare in mind this would increase the
> postage cost by a fair bit, it would be amazing.
> However doing so would eat into their profits and
> run the risk of losing such a great supplier.
>
> I'd much rather spend £30 on 100m good quality
> without a spool then £20 for 100m cheap and nasty
> with spool.

The other suppliers all seem to sell 1kg at a time on spools. Faberdashery sells 100m at a time not on spools for the equivalent of £60+ per kg. So you pay more and you have to spool it yourself.

What seems to me to be missing in the market is someone selling Faberdashery-quality and range on 1kg spools. Not for a bargain basement price, but for a price that is commensurate with the quality.

You might make less profit per kg, but you might sell a lot more kg...

Andy

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2012 08:24AM by ajayre.

I think you are working it out wrong. Arctic white say is £24 for 100m x 3mm, which is 880g, so ~£27 per Kg. Expensive but not ridiculous.

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[www.hydraraptor.blogspot.com]

nophead Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I think you are working it out wrong. Arctic white
> say is £24 for 100m x 3mm, which is 880g, so
> ~£27 per Kg. Expensive but not ridiculous.

My amounts are for the 1.75mm PLA. 100m = 300g according to their website.

Arctic White 1.75mm is £19 per 300g which is £63 per kg.

Andy

Quote
Nophead
I think you are working it out wrong. Arctic white say is £24 for 100m x 3mm, which is 880g, so ~£27 per Kg. Expensive but not ridiculous.

Sorry... I didnt specify filament size, I was referring to 1.75.

I used their 'Crystal Clear' as an example as its the cheapest at £18.00 per 100m which they state is approx 300g...
so £60.00 per 1kg or £90.00 for 1.5kg.

ajayre Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> What seems to me to be missing in the market is
> someone selling Faberdashery-quality and range on
> 1kg spools. Not for a bargain basement price, but
> for a price that is commensurate with the
> quality.

I can recommend Diamond Age Solutions / Vik Olliver in NZ. Shipping is expensive to EU/US, but you get good bulk pricing and superb quality.

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-Nudel
Blog with RepRap Comic

Faberdashery filament is amazing stuff for printing. Actually, it is the best filament I have printed with...

But it Is still just plastic!

Faberdashery filament does not heal mortal wounds, or make wishes come come. It costs TOO MUCH!

Check out a seller like [www.repraper.com]

They sell cheap Chinese PLA. Before shipping, they have $14-$16 per kilogram spools!

It is medium quality stuff, but it totally works! I have to use blue tape or kapton to help first layer adhesion; but hey it works!

3D printing is a tough hobby, and it is nice to use the best plastic... I just can't afford Faberdashery prices and continue to print as I do!

Hey Idolcrasher,

I've bought from Chinese suppliers before, the price was unbeatable but the quality varied... one time I found woodchip in the filament, most of the time the thickness varies, etc. I've got a few 2kg reels I won't touch unless i'm really desperate. They will continue to innovate however... especially when people are making so much money from selling the good quality stuff.

Thank you for the link, i'll request a sample. Any comment on how brittle the plastic is? did you get solid colour?

I got 5 different colors from them.

The yellow is extremely neon bright; which is pretty cool.

All the coloring is nice and consistent in the prints.

The filament was not brittle, but soft.

I found it can be tough to get it to stick to plain glass (use blue tape or kapton) and it seems to have a slightly higher glassing temp than you would expect PLA to have.

It might not be completely pure PLA?

Give it a shot if you dare

i have no problem with it not being on a spool when ordering 100M bag.

i just printed a spool form thingiverse and i wind it on when i get it and have no problems at all.

i think they got it 100% when you can buy per Meter + free samples

Quote
idolcrasher
It might not be completely pure PLA?

I think its the opposite mate, I think Chinese is pure PLA + dyes, I emailed KDI about their filament:

"Our filaments are 94% PLA and also contain an additive to improve the
flexibility & stabilisation which is unique formulation to KDI and
will aid help to reduce brittleness and increase shelf life due to
the improved strength of the filaments"

*** the reason I want the same source as faberdashery is because the colours and range and much better

Quote
Enlightx
i think they got it 100% when you can buy per Meter + free samples

I've found it tangles and I need to constantly watch it... the spool is only part of the issue, the price is prohibitive. One other thing I found is the zip ties can warp the plastic, perhaps I don't take enough care when cutting them off. Your right about the samples though, they're the best bit

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2012 12:35PM by michaelc.

The Tangled Filament Monster is my age old nemesis.

Him and Dr. Exploding Bowden extruder

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/11/2012 01:44PM by Idolcrasher.

i never get any tangles with my filament on a spool

i do wind it turn by turn onto the spool and get all the tangles out of it though doesn't take long if you put the pla on the and then hold the spool parallel to the floor and put it on wind my wind while always keeping it parallel.

but i do agree that faberdashery should get a cardboard spool designed ideally flat packed and offer it as an addon when buying your filament and also offer if you want it pre wound or not etc.

I'm not too bothered about the lack of spools - when I've used faberdashery I've liked the constant radius far more than repraper's uneven tension when coiling spools. That said, repraper is for me far better value for money now I've solved all the sticking problems by using hot glass with a pva coating.

I am *very* happy with my cheap chinese PLA. Doing overhangs and such. I would guess more than 50% of the "PLA" that comes around for the next pass is truly and strongly bonded to the previous layer, and thats better than lukewarm for ABS.

[www.dropbox.com]

I still think the cheap chinese PLA is adjulterated by 20% or more ABS - 1) I smell it 2) the properties are WEIRD. Its too high Tm to be PLA.

Guess we don't often read product safety data!
Supplier: NatureWorks LLC, 15305 Minntonka Blvd, Minnetonka, MN 55345 USA
[www.natureworksllc.com] but that didn't get me any further....

A good amount for the high end plastic used in filament comes from raw material from these guys. [www.chimeicorp.com] Village Plastics in the US uses them as the base for the finished product. If some think that the price point is too high and they could do better, I'd see that as a great business opportunity. The fact is though, it's a low margin business compared to other items unless you are buying in quantity. There can be minimums for each color, size and type of package so that to stock a wide variety of colors and sizes in a high quality plastic the initial order is several thousand dollars. There are imported finished plastics but once shipping is factored into the equation it starts to make less sense with the more you buy unless you put it on the water where the lead times are much greater. Unless you know the source, it can be pretty dodgy.