DHL just delivered the four 1 kg spools of filament that I ordered from Repraper.com. That's not a typo. It's a Chinese company, and they actually selected the name RepRaper. I guess they meant to choose RepRapper, but something was lost in the translation. Maybe Bart should have called the ORD Bot the RepRaper.
The stickers on the bags say RepRapper, so I guess they've been told about their domain name. The same stickers also advertise a new domain name - RepRap-WalMart.com. They traded violent sexual assault for an intellectual property violation. I'd call that a major improvement.
They have good prices. (June 1st, 2012)
3.00 mm ABS is $14/kg
1.75 mm ABS is $15/kg
3.00 mm PLA is $15/kg
1.75 mm PLA is $16/kg
It's shipped from China by DHL, so shipping runs up the cost a bit, I bought three kg spools of ABS and one of PLA, all 1.75mm, and the total was $118.14. The filament cost was $61, so the shipping was $57.14. Even at that, the delivered cost was better than the other sources I had seen. As the order size increases, the cost per kg goes down and the deal gets better.
I have no 3D printer yet (soon!), but I had read that "some of the Chinese manufacturers" wrap the filament on the spool when it's still warm and that causes it to be oval or some other shape that isn't round, so I measured it. All of mine have a nominal 1.75 mm diameter.
Black ABS
1.68 - 1.78 = 1.730 avg
Black PLA
1.63 - 1.86 = 1.745 avg
1.65 - 1.88 = 1.765 avg
White PLA
1.67 - 1.76 = 1.715 avg
Natural (clear) PLA
1.65 - 1.69 = 1.670 avg
There was a length of tail from the start of the spool poking through the side of the reel on the black PLA, so I was able to measure both ends of that reel, and that one data point suggests that the cross sectional area is similar within a reel, although it is just one data point. As I get more experience, I'll focus on gathering more hard data to determine the overall quality of the filament.
There is a significant difference in diameter from one spool to another. I suspect that in order to optimize the print quality, I'll need to measure the filament and adjust the settings for each spool.
I wrote the average diameter on the outside of each reel to aid in setting up the printer parameters if needed. I also wrote ABS or PLA on the reel so I could determine which was which at a glance.
TIP: Make a sharp bend in the filament and ABS will turn white at the bend, although good luck differentiating between white PLA and white ABS.
The filament arrived very quickly from the other side of the planet. I ordered it on Sunday evening, 27MAY12, and it arrived in Kentucky Friday afternoon, 1JUN12, less than five days later.
I thought I ordered 3 kg of ABS and 1 kg of PLA, but I received 1 kg of ABS and 3 kg of PLA. I'd like to check my online order, but the PayPal invoice only shows the total including shipping. I never got an itemized order summary via email, and I apparently didn't create an account and simply made a one-time online order, so I can't log in to check my order. As it works out, I got the black ABS and black PLA, so only the white and natural ABS were swapped for PLA. Not that big of a deal and it may be for the best, as I'll probably print the PLA getting my 3D printer set up rather than stinking up the house printing ABS. I may have ordered the PLA on purpose with this in mind, but I'd still like an itemized invoice sent by email when the order is placed so I can confirm my order prior to shipping.
I've also read that some of the Chinese PLA can be hard to the point of being brittle. That probably won't bother me as I'd use ABS for structural applications that require impact resistance or resistance to flexing or bending, but I'll be on the lookout for hard PLA once my printer is operational. For the 3D printed
objets d'art that I'll probably print in the Getting To Know You phase of my new printer, harder PLA might make better prints.
I bent the various filaments to gauge how tough they were, and was surprised that PLA seemed tougher than ABS, at least in this non-scientific test.
I have an assortment of chemicals that I'll use to test PLA and ABS for chemical compatibility for my intended use. Both look like reasonable candidates based on the internet research I was able to do, but some of these solvents and lubricants are complex, and nothing beats a real world test. One of my sayings: "One good test is worth 9,678 expert opinions."