As any 3D Maker will know, choosing which 3D Filaments to use for the next upcoming project is not always an easy task. 3D Printing is quickly growing in popularity across the world with new makers jumping onboard and searching for fun filaments to experiment with. PLA (Polylactic Acid) is a biodegradable thermoplastic which is derived from renewable organic resources such as sugarcane and corn starch. This makes PLA Filament a surprisingly eco-friendly plastic to print with when compared to other petrochemical-based filament options, and the wide range of colours and additives makes it one of the most versatile ranges too. PLA Filament is by far the most commonly used by beginners.
These 1kg spools of SA Filament PLA Filament are extruded and spooled right here in South Africa, making them a great option if you want to support locally made. While they don’t have quite the same colour choice as many other brands do (yet!), SA Filament has created an affordable and decent alternative to many of the other PLA filament options we stock. Easy printing and a bright range of colours are what make PLA filament ranges a fantastic choice for all makers with whacky prints in mind.
While there are a lot of different colours to choose from in 3D Printing, black has always been one of our favourites due to its neutral nature and ability to fit almost any print or model you can imagine. In addition to just looking damn good, black filaments also help to pronounce features and show off all the fine edges and angles to really emphasise on some of the intricacies of various designs. This makes it a solid choice for any kinds of technical prints, in which you want viewers to be able to really appreciate the details, while also being just as good for practical prints that you simply want to blend in with various environments. So, whether you’re planning on printing brackets for motors, cable runners for behind the TV cabinet, or high detailed designs with fine details that are sure to Pop when printed in black, SA Filament Black PLA is a great choice for both aesthetic and functional prints, depending of course on the actual design files themselves.
SA Filament PLA Filament - Technical Specifications: |
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– Polylactic Acid (PLA) |
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– N/A |
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– 1.75mm |
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– 1kg |
SA Filament PLA Filament - Suggested Print Settings: |
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– 190 to 210 |
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– Brass / Any |
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– Standard: 0.4mm |
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– No Heat / 50 to 70 |
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– BuildTak / Magigoo / Painters Tape / PEI |
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– 30 to 60 |
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– On 100% from Layer 2+ |
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– Not Necessary |
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– N/A |
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– N/A |
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– Heating / Sanding / XTC Coating / Painting |
Helpful Tips for Printing with SA Filament PLA:
Although 3D Printing at first glance can seem extremely complicated, with a crazy amount of different polymers and plastics available, PLA is polymerised in such a way that even a beginner can enjoy awesome results without ever needing any training or formal education on the topic. This is why it is arguably the most popular filament in the world, and as long as you aren’t requiring the printed models or parts to be very strong, it can handle a wide range of applications from decorative art to functional door handles and similar types of objects.
However, even though it is very easy to print with compared to other polymers, there are still some handy tips to help you get to a good level of quality from your PLA Prints, and this is why we’ve taken the time to provide what we feel are the Top Three Tips for 3D Printing with PLA:
- PLA Printing Tips – First Layer Adhesion: When 3D Printing with PLA, or pretty much any other polymer for that matter, First-Layer-Adhesion is arguably the most important factor to get right, as it acts as the foundation for the entire print, allowing the print to be printed tall or wide (or both) without any major problems. However, this factor also happens to be one of the more difficult parts to get right for beginners, so we’re here to help you out with our three top tips for first-layer-adhesion, which can also be used on other polymers as well, and they are as follows:
- The first step to a great first layer is to ensure that the bed, the X-Axis and the Y-Axis on your machine are all perfectly aligned, and this can be achieved by ensuring that all four sides of your crossbars are angled at exactly 90° from the base, while simultaneously ensuring that the gantry is exactly perpendicular to both side bars too. This is relatively easy to identify with a simple right-angle tool, and dramatically improves your chances of levelling your bed perfectly, as the nozzle should now be the same Z-height at all points on or above the bed.
- The second step is to drop the z-height down so that the nozzle is ALMOST touching the bed, with a tiny air-gap below the point that’s just barely visible. Then, take a piece of standard (2D) printer paper and slide it gently beneath the nozzle. If the paper slides through without causing any scraping or tugging, you need to drop the nozzle by the smallest amount possible on your machine, before sliding the paper and testing it again. Conversely, if the paper grips too hard, and you struggle to actually move the paper or even slide it under the nozzle initially, then the nozzle is too far down, and you want to raise the nozzle by the smallest increment possible, until you can slide the paper beneath the nozzle with some light “scratching” or grip between the nozzle and bed.
- The third and final step is then to move the nozzle to different points on the bed, with a primary focus on the four corners and the middle of the bed. And once you’ve gotten that perfect grip on the paper in all of the points you’re checking, you will then have your bed levelled and are pretty much ready for printing!
- The first step to a great first layer is to ensure that the bed, the X-Axis and the Y-Axis on your machine are all perfectly aligned, and this can be achieved by ensuring that all four sides of your crossbars are angled at exactly 90° from the base, while simultaneously ensuring that the gantry is exactly perpendicular to both side bars too. This is relatively easy to identify with a simple right-angle tool, and dramatically improves your chances of levelling your bed perfectly, as the nozzle should now be the same Z-height at all points on or above the bed.
- PLA Printing Tips – Becoming One with Your Slicer: Although it may not seem obvious at first, after starting with 3D Printing you will soon come to realize that a good print actually begins before the filament is even loaded. In fact, a good print really starts within the software that you use to slice the model, as the slicer is essentially a translator that turns a three-dimensional model into what is known as “G-Code” (No, not the Gangster-Code, the Geometric-Code), which the 3D Printer can then read as instructions on how to build the object. With this in mind, learning the in’s and out’s of whatever slicer software you’re using is fundamental, and the more you get to know the fine details in your software, the better you will be able to translate models into G-Code for awesome results. So, regardless of what Slicer you choose to use, whether it be Cura, Simplify3D or even lesser popular options like MatterControl, you need to master and become one with your slicer, so that nothing will hold you back from turning great designs into effective G-Code for your 3D Printer.
- PLA Printing Tips – Practice & Patience Leads to Perfection: Although there are certainly a lot of things you can do to help enjoy great success with 3D Printing, it’s important to realize that 3D Printing is not easy, and will require a fair amount of patience, practice and learning to get just right. So don’t be scared to experiment if you’re struggling (or if you’re not) so that you can learn even more about your particular 3D Printer, as well as 3D Printing in general, and while not every print will come out perfectly each and every time, remember that each failure is just another step towards success, and every success is another notch in your Maker’s toolbelt of experience.
Additional Resources for 3D Printing PLA:
Although we like to believe that we are masters of 3D Printing, after spending a good many years enveloped in the industry, we have to admit that even we learn something new from time to time, and as such we always recommend getting out there and doing your own research to develop your own opinion and grow your knowledge from multiple sources!
As such, in addition to the above PLA Printing Tips, we’ve also gathered an awesome collection of what we feel are great resources to start with when getting into 3D Printing, so be sure to check these out if you’re looking for more insights and information on PLA Printing, or if you’re just curious and eager to see more opinions on one of the many facets of this still-fresh industry:
- This is a relatively general Guide on PLA Printing by Simplify3D, world-renowned experts in 3D modelling and Computer Aided Design. It offers so great tips for troubleshooting minor problems, while giving some good general guidelines on how to “dial in” your 3D Printer one step at a time.
- The next awesome resource we have to share is the Awesome Rigid Ink PLA Guide, which offers a mountain-load of insights into the chemical and material composition of PLA, with a slew of great tips and tricks on how to get your PLA looking good (and behaving properly) for every print.
- Because first-layer-adhesion is one of the trickiest factors to get right for beginners (and also veterans sometimes), we feel that this 3D Printer Bed Levelling Guide is a good addition to this collection of resources. It does a great job at explaining why bed levelling is important, what you can expect from a well or poorly levelled bed, as well as some tips on how to make the entire process much easier.
- Finally, this is just a great General 3D Printing Quality Guide, that is designed to help users troubleshoot various quality-related problems, while giving some great tips on what to do when certain problems arise. If you’re struggling with an issue, this is a great place to find out what is actually going wrong, as well as how you can remedy it, with good explanations of why certain remedies work to fix certain problems.
- Special
- Normal
- Plastic Type
- PLA
- Plastic Diameter
- 1.75mm
- Plastic Weight
- 1kg
- Colour
- Black
As Makers, we often can't help but try to fix the problems we see, whether it be at home, in our local environments, or pretty much anywhere else that we can reach, and this is essentially what has driven the SA Filament team to bring locally produced filaments to the South African Market. After experiencing one of the roughest and most challenging years that South Africans have faced in recent times, the team at SA Filament started seeing a severe shortage of filaments throughout the country, and although many local 3D Makers wanted to get involved in assisting with 3D Printed face masks and other PPE, there simply wasn't enough filament to go around for everyone. So, with a relatively simple idea driven by a passion for the SA 3D Maker community, the SA Filament team decided to take on the challenge and open up a manufacturing plant to begin extruding filaments locally - so that supplies could be not only available to as many South Africans as possible, but also as affordable as possible for everyone who wants to get involved in 3D Printing.
As 3D Makers who are passionate about not only their SA community's wellbeing, but also for ensuring that all SA 3D Makers have open access to affordable yet good quality filament, SA Filament have been true Makers in the fact that they saw a problem, created a solution, and followed through until the task was completed. We look forward to working with them to help boost the local 3D Filament industry, and we're excited to see just how big they can grow as they utilise their strong passion to drive the brand forward and deliver a Local, Lekker Filament for all SA Makers.
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