Other sources for plastic?

I'm curious if anybody has tried plastic from places other than makergear or ultimachine. I have great experiences with both, but it is hard to get what the colors I want as they are out of stock alot. Some of us will be getting PLA from Faberdashery this week, but that is only feasible if we make a group order to split international shipping costs.

I'm looking at trying http://www.buy3dink.com/. Their prices are cheaper than others, but I don't know if their plastic is up to snuff. Has anybody tried them? I have an email out to them and may make a trial order to test their plastic.

A full list of suppliers is here: http://reprap.org/wiki/Printing_Material_Suppliers

-Andy P.

I am ordering 5lbs of PLA from www.thefutureis3d.com. They can get any color within a week and charge $65 for 5lbs. www.thefutureis3d.com. They are a based in Montana and seem legit based on their website and forums. They are selling Mendels with a 16"x16" build platform as well for a reasonable $2300.



I will try www.buy3dink.com later as they seem less reputable right now, although I believe he is working hard on improving things.

I have used 20+ lbs of the 3dink Black stuff in the last 6 months. Since it is the only ABS I have used I have nothing to compare it with. I have had about 4-5 extruder clogs in that time, using a MG .5mm hotend. I get good prints but there are a few issues.

1) The filament is kinda oval so one measurement will be 2.85mm then 90deg shifted measurement will be 2.95mm (this is from a 12lb spool). I just use an average of the 2 measurements as my filament diameter and things come out well. [note: I do not remember the filament from the initial 5lb spools being oval, it is on the 12lb spool for sure]

2) They had some very bad initial batches I have been told...supposedly some whiteish stuff that seemed to be contamination in the filament that would cause clogs. [note: I have never had this issue but it was reported.]

3) Big rolls not on spools and is a bit dusty...had to wipe off the filament while rolling it onto my smaller spool.

What can you say...the stuff is cheap...if you know the possible problems and are willing to deal with them for the price (which is very good) then buy a roll of it. I have not been disappointed honestly. I have a small roll of their orange ABS also and it seems to print well (I have only used a small amount of it though). Shipping times were reasonable in my case also.

---

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
www.Robosprout.com RepRap Mendel parts and accessories.
Message if there is anything you need...I have more than what is listed on my site.
Located in the Spokane, WA / Coeur d'Alene, ID area.
Contact: Robosprout@gmail.com Flickr: [www.flickr.com]

So have you got the PLA yet? How is it? I am also looking at them as a potential supplier.

BobFA, I should get my PLA from thefutureis3d within the ten days. I bit the bullet and am getting 17.5lbs in 7 colors. My correspondence with them so far has been positive and they have kept me informed of when to expect material.

So.... how is the plastic? I ask now because UltiMachine raised there prices and I feel that I should buy while its cheap.

I am happy with the plastic and would recommend www.thefutureis3d.com. The filament diameter was close to 1.66mm and pretty consistent. I had 7 spools of 2.5lbs each; black, orange, white, neon yellow, green,red,and blue.

The 2.5lbs spools came on a plastic core with paper cardboard sides. The winding is not tight and I found I had to go from a vertical spool mount to a horizontal mount. In a vertical configuration the plastic would lurch and the filament would twist off and get tangled. The horizontal mount works awesome as there is very little force needed to pull it off, and it doesn't twist. I'll post my configuration and spool holder to thingiverse soon.

There was a little bit of dust that I had to blow off the few outer layers.

I will order from them again in the future.

-Andy P.

Hi All,

I am bringing in PLA now in a variety of colors. I have both 3mm and 1.75 coming in and will be posting variety packs for now.

$45 + 10.35 shipping for 100m in ten colors.

I only have 5 colors of 1.75 so I'll be making variety packs of five colors with a total length of 100m for $45

You can PM me here or visit the site, store.handmadecircuits.com if you are interested.

Thanks,
David