SunLu WoodFill PLA Filament – 1kg

We are awed everytime by the new wonderful ways of Exotic Filaments. Using the base plastic of PLA Filament, ingenious suppliers throw in additives that can change the whole look and feel of your 3D Printing and SunLu’s WoodFill Filament has taken our breath away. Whereas in the past you would have to find a quality piece of wood to carve, nowadays you can simply acquire this filament for around the same price as a high-quality piece of lumber, and then simply 3D Print your parts, models or other objects with ease. Made from a non-toxic plastic that doesn’t send out bad aromas during the printing process, this filament is both easy to use and completely safe for Making toys, ornaments or other decorative pieces.

This awesome SunLu WoodFill Filament is manufactured to the standard 1.75mm 1kg spool size. Because it is created from a base polymer of PLA, this filament is relatively easy to print as long as you take note of some simple tweeks. SunLu WoodFill Filament is infused with around 30% wood particles that gives you a very novel surface finish, but also means smaller nozzles can partially clog over time. If you’d consider getting a slightly bigger 0.5mm nozzle, we’d also recommend a hardier nozzle to further ensure no problems. Of course, it is also important to remember that 3D Printed PLA, whether it contains wood, copper or a mixture of additives, is not technically food safe due to the way that items are produced – lots of micro particles created during the 3D Printing process. However, despite not being food safe, it is a great filament to print natural looking kitchen ornaments with, such as cutlery holders and ladle spoon rests, with the wood adding a touch of finesse to almost any environment, blending technology with nature for exquisite results.

Another aspect that we find incredibly interesting with most WoodFill Filaments such as SunLu WoodFill Filament, is that you can tweak the final printed colours, patterns and even textures by modifying the print speed and outer shell settings with clever scripts. Check out these amazing Wood Filament Resources on Thingiverse, as this fantastic Maker’s scripts have now been added to the stock collection of Cura plug-ins, allowing you to simply select the plug-in from the drop-down menu in Cura, and immediately begin producing beautiful wood sculptures, ornaments and more – without ever needing to cut, saw, hammer or whittle!

Please Note: This factor is very unique to this particular filament, but it’s recommended to leave the print on the bed for half an hour to a full hour after printing. This will ensure enough time for the polymers to settle and the binding agents to take full effect and will help prevent any unexpected warping or other effects that could ruin a perfectly good print.

Additional Note: The wood particle additives used in this filament may be abrasive. Although wood is a softer material than the likes of metal or carbon fibre additives, we do recommend to equip your 3D Printer with a more durable nozzle like a Hardened Steel Nozzle, a Plated Brass Nozzle or an A2 Tool Steel Nozzle, as well as the ultimate in durability, the Vanadium Nozzles, which will all be able to handle this filament with ease, while offering slightly improved printing qualities for other filaments too.

Typical Applications for SunLu WoodFill PLA Filament:

This unique filament is most often used for applications in which one would typically have to carve or shape wood, but can also be a unique choice of material for almost any standard print. As such, this filament has been used for a wide range of different projects, including:

• Creating a wood-textured phone case to stand out from the typical plastic cases.
• Designing toys that are light, durable and have the same tactile feel as old wooden toys.
• Crafting unique art pieces that would usually require at least a few days of carving – designed and printed within a few hours in some cases.
• Making your own decorative ornaments for your home, which are often unnecessarily expensive due to the time and effort that goes into sourcing quality wood and carving it into shape.

These of course are just a few examples of what you can do with SunLu WoodFill PLA, and often even works out less expensive than usual – especially when considering the price of quality lumber and hours of labour required to produce great carvings. So, get yourself a spool today and see what you can make with it. With so many great features and a relatively low price, this is one of the most unique and exciting filaments on the market.

Additional Resources for 3D Printing Wood Filament:

Of course, with wood filament being such an awesome material to work with – both during a print and afterwards, it’s not surprising that there is a wealth of information available online on how to get your prints looking good. However, from all of the resources we’ve found over time, we feel that the following are the most valuable and beneficial for both beginner and veteran wood printers alike:

• This is a basic but valuable Wood Filament Resource Guide from Simplify3D, which gives a brief overview of what makes wood filament different, what you might need to change or modify to print it effectively, tips and tricks on improving print quality, as well as some sample prints that look great when produced in wood filaments.
• The next resource is the amazing Wood Filament Post-Processing Guide from MatterHackers, which offers a good range of different post-processing tips, tricks and techniques for wood filament, with each of these giving a different look, feel or structural benefit. If you love post-processing your prints, then wood filament, coupled with this guide, is one of the most enjoyable materials that you can get.
• And to top it all off, the following is just a great General Wood Filament Guide from All3DP, that covers all of the basics of wood filaments, what kinds of settings to focus on, how to troubleshoot your prints, and then touching on some post-processing at the end.

Although it may not be a popular brand here in SA (yet!), many 3D Makers will recognise the name SunLu, as these fantastic 3D Filament Makers have been involved in 3D Printing since as far back as 2013, specialising in affordability & accessibility, but placing a strong focus on R&D & bringing new materials to the market for 3D Makers to enjoy.

From the classic PLA & ABS range through to the more exotic styles like PETG & TPU, as well as what we like to call Semi-Exotics like Marble & Twinkling Filament, SunLu has garnered a lot of experience in the world of 3D Filaments, & have one of the most comprehensive catalogues that the Hobbyist 3D Printing world has ever seen. This gives them a good spot amongst the leaders in 3D Filaments, & while they may not quite match the premium quality of Fillamentum & other high class brands, the affordability & range of options that SunLu offers is simply unbeatable even for the major players.

If you’re looking for a good brand to use for all kinds of different prints & applications, but don’t want to pay a premium, SunLu is the ideal brand that is ready to become your next new favourite. So get out there & start testing out the range that SunLu has to offer! With so many options available & a price that is low enough to simply take a chance with, there’s absolutely no reason why you shouldn’t give SunLu a chance & test this awesome brand out, to see if it’s a good fit for your 3D Printing fun.