I picked a random roll, dried it overnight, then did a 6 hour flexi test print on an A1 mini, went fine. Next day hit reprint, mostly fine, lost adhesion on one tiny part. Tried a different model today and it is having trouble sticking to the plate, when then head pulls back it takes the filament with it. I removed it and stuck it into my drybox and could cycle it again through the dryer tomorrow, anyone else have experience with it yet?
No experience with Bambu PLA Wood (thanks missing stock when I wanted to order!) however I do have experience with Sunlu’s brand and I do find them very moisture-absorbing. Freshly dried - totally fine, day later already problems starting, so I pack mine back in the vacuum bag with fresh dessicant after prints 
I am interested in using wood PLA, I don’t want the stress of dealing with wet filament.
I decided that getting a Sunlu S4 should reduce my frustration.
I will watch this thread.
I dried mine more, switched plate types and switched to different model, it’s printing fine but I changed everything so no data.
It’s nice looking, sort of PLA-CF but without the mesothelioma.
just finished printing a couple of components with the black walnut, quite like it, printing now a couple other pieces in the classic birch, i think it will be a good colour combo
as expected, i don’t believe there’s a significant wood portion in it, you notice a very slight smell during printing, but the texture is very much like matte pla, the colours are nice though, and there are some gradations that can be seen in curves, but nothing dramatic.
so far so good, i like it, still some colours to test thought, but overall they all look pretty nice
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Just printed a puzzle box from MakerWorld with the black walnut and white oak, really happy with how it turned out. Read somewhere it’s 15% wood powder.
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Kinda mixed feelings here. The “Classic Birch” is very grey, has a green tint and the color is not uniform (significant color banding on the first layer). Definitely very far from the photo on the website. Making another comparison print with Creality Wood PLA… Got very good “wood-like” results with Matte Latte Brown (11800) filament, feels almost better than this latest “wood” creation…
…oh and one more thing - don’t use the “Support for PLA” filament, it sticks to it too much. Next print without the interface filament…
Thanks for all the observations. I bought all of the colors but have only tried one so far (a rope bowl) and I was reasonable happy with it.
Next project is going to be a gingerbread dragon using the wood.
I printed Groot without any issue and it looks great right out of the printer.Only thing I have to do is paint some green moss on his head.
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I got two spools, Walnut and Birch. Dried them for 8-12 hrs each. Lost almost 5g of moisture from the Walnut and a bit over 4g or moisture from the Birch. Printed a chess set with no issues Dubrovnik 1960 Bobby Fischer Chess Set by ezee.one - MakerWorld. They turned out great. I would agree that the Birch has a bit of a greenish cast to it and the Walnut is not nearly as dark as some OVV3D Walnut I had tried before. The OVV3D PLA+Wood kept clogging my 0.4mm nozzle but I had no clogs with the Bambu PLA+Wood.
Good looking prints
Yeah it has no issues with .4 nozzle, it has a very low amount of wood particles, I’ve used other brands that you could only use .6 at least, and the texture and smell was much more pronounced.
It’s still pretty nice though, I got all colours and I like all of them
Sorry for your loss!
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I’ve been doing a lot of Wood PLA printing & finishing and have a few tips to share. Have found all brands I’ve tested (Bambu, Isanmate, Lovoon, ZylTech) have all printed well with a 0.4 Hardened Nozzle on my A1 Combo. I have over 80 hrs of printing time and not one clog so far. Have also printed with 0.6 & 0.8 Hardened nozzles with no issues. All Wood filaments I’ve tested have between 20-30% wood particles. Bambu says a standard steel nozzle should work fine with their filament but I’d recommend using Hardened nozzles with all brands to help protect it from degradation due to the included wood particles. YMMV.
Here are my base profile settings for each brand (note I’m using an A1):
** I used the generic Bambu Wood filament profile as the starting point for each of these. And, of course, results are printer dependent so you may need to make adjustments on each individual printer but this should give you a reasonable starting point. Just a note, I haven’t modified the Bambu Wood profile settings for fan speed since the generic settings have worked well for me. However, some wood filaments may have more stringent fan requirements, so please verify cooling needs with the manufacturer.
BAMBU:
NOZZLE TEMP: 225 First, 220 Others
BED TEMP (Textured PEI): 70 First, 65 Others
MAX VOLUMETRIC SPEED: 20
NO COOLING FOR FIRST 3 LAYERS
ISANMATE:
NOZZLE TEMP: 215 First, 210 Others
BED TEMP (Textured PEI): 60 First, 55 Others
MAX VOLUMETRIC SPEED: 14
NO COOLING FOR FIRST 3 LAYERS
LOVOON:
NOZZLE TEMP: 215 First, 205 Others
BED TEMP (Textured PEI): 65 First, 60 Others
MAX VOLUMETRIC SPEED: 10
NO COOLING FOR FIRST 3 LAYERS
ZYLTECH WOOD:
NOZZLE TEMP: 220 First, 215 Others
BED TEMP: 70 First, 60 Others
MAX VOLUMETRIC SPEED: 10
NO COOLING FOR FIRST 3 LAYERS
ZYLTECH WOOD+:
NOZZLE TEMP: 215 First, 210 Others
BED TEMP: 60 First, 55 Others
MAX VOLUMETRIC SPEED: 10
NO COOLING FOR FIRST 3 LAYERS
Regarding finishing methods. I’ve tried several different techniques with varying success. I’ve tried a few different oil-based wood stains (water-based stains not recommended, needs more penetration ability) and have really not found these to give great results. I have seen some color change but not as dramatic as I would like. The basic issue I’ve found with straight Wood filament prints is that they tend to look dull and somewhat lifeless. Adding stain can help but it’s highly dependent on the stain used, time left on the model and specific model. Minwax Wood Finish oil-based stain gives reasonable results but they don’t offer a sample set and they have many available colors and it’s somewhat expensive. Another brand I found on US Amazon that worked pretty well is Woodrich Brand. They have a sample set available for $10 that gives 2oz samples for 5 of their colors. This is an oil-based Deep Penetrating Stain for Wood Decks, Wood Fences, Wood Siding, and Log Cabins and it does a good job.
Use a cloth or acid brush to apply and let set for at least 20 minutes and then wipe off excess. I’ve found a stiff brush to work the best. I found the Warm Honey Gold & Brown Sugar to add a decent look to some of my prints.
Some recommend sanding with finer levels of grit (generally 220 to 400) before staining and I’ve tried that approach. It does make the surface smoother but I’m not 100% sure it gives a better look than leaving it as is off the printer. Your results may vary.
Many have suggested adding a Polyurethane overcoat at the end which does work but I’m not convinced it enhances the look that much and generally don’t apply.
The one issue with all of this is the required prep time. I certainly would do it if I could really see a difference in the final result. But truthfully I haven’t noticed that much difference. It does look a bit less dull but not radically different and I’ve done the same print multiple times and finished one and not another and after a few days don’t notice that much difference between the results in normal viewing.
So I looked for some OTHER FINISHING APPROACHES that could give some reasonable results with less work & effort. I decided to skip the sanding step. IMO, it just doesn’t add enough of an enhanced look in the end to warrant the work involved. YMMV.
First I tried Howard Butcher Block Conditioner, which is a food grade mineral oil conditioner used for wooden cutting boards. It’s cheap, available almost everywhere (including Home Depot) and is easy to apply. It does help liven up the wood look a bit but I wasn’t overly impressed.
Next I tried Old English Wood Conditioner & Cleaner which is another mineral oil conditioner.
I found this to work quite well and is also inexpensive and easy to apply & find. Apply with a lint-free cloth, let sit for at least 15 minutes and then wipe dry with another lint-free cloth. At least on my prints it deepened the wood look & color and gave a slight sheen to the prints. I’ll have to see how this holds up over time but at least for now this is my recommendation.
Hopefully all of this is helpful for others. If you have any methods or processes that you have found to work well with Wood PLA prints, please share.
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Thank you for sharing so much detail about your experience. I’ve started referring to it as I try to achieve a wood-like appearance with some small wood PLA animals that I’m making. I’m still in the experimenting phases. But just wanted to express my gratitude for your in-depth comment.
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Sounds like a low temp issue. Pla wood is also known for stringing. When it comes to PLA Wood, Murphy’s law applies.