I’ll start off by saying I don’t use pla. I’m just not familiar with enough to use it and it’s a bit pricy .
I have 4 printers. 2 vorons (v2.4v2, v0.1), bambu p1s and a prusa xl. I don’t care at all about having a hands off printer. And that’s a good thing… my bambu has tried to destroy itself on a few occasions. Reminds me of lot of ender when it comes to rebuilding it. Not complicated, cheap parts and less than 30 minutes to get back up and running. Most issues are generally less than 2 minutes. Filament breaking in the tube for example.
No stringing, it prints a bit faster than the Prusa with no tool changes. But it just doesn’t look as good as the other printers. These aren’t complicated prints. I’ve giving up on it with ASA but it seems to do PETG pretty well.
I want to see your best non PLA prints coming out of this machine. Right now I have the XL and the bambu printing the same box. My friends love the prints coming out of this printer and see no issues at all with it. Maybe it’s just me?
PLA is actually the least expensive of pretty much all the filament types. It’s also the easiest to print and probably comes in more colors and “surface finish” types than anything else.
It’s not the best filament for functional parts, but for purely decorative prints, toys, things that won’t have to handle a lot of mechanical stress or environmental effects, it’s arguably the best choice there is.
That being said, I really like the surface finish you get with PA-CF.
PETG prints almost as easily as PLA, just slower. And it is frequently cheaper than PLA, especially for transparent colors.
TPU… takes a bit of research and fiddling, but prints fairly easily.
PETG is slower? First I’ve heard of that. I am usually going 300 on infill with petg. Faster than that and the quality drops on me. I’m sure others can push it more. I’m not a bencher.
I honestly haven’t tried carbon fiber. But I own some from Prusa and Polymaker. That came out beautifully.
ASA on a voron is by far my fastest cleanest prints with nothing coming close. With an enclosure hitting 80c. The stress unfortunately makes it not my most reliable machines. That and their constant updates. All prices USD.
Price wise petg runs me 9 to 14 a spool. ABS 14 to 18 and ASA 18 to 26. I just wait for the sales and get 40 to 50 rolls at a time. All prices USD.
Just buying 5-10 at a time, I can get good PETG for $9 per spool. I’ve seen it advertised cheaper, but from brands I’ve never heard of (aliexpress).
I can also get cheap PLA for that price, but not good PLA.
I haven’t tried ASA yet - have a few rolls, but never the right time or project.
I promise the issue is on me. I’m just not sure what all went wrong here. New pei bed, first use. Cleaned with dish soap. Specialized glue applied. 85c on the bed. Elegoo petg.
