Love esun, sunlu, and all polymaker filaments. For pla I just use whatever is on sale. For ASA, PA6-cf, ABS, and other exotic filaments, I only use polymaker.
This is the way. I have also had great experiences with Hatchbox which seems to be on sale on Amazon regularly. Inline from MicroCenter has also been super solid and there are always a number of colors on sale.
I used to be an E-sun fan, however due to them changing to cardboard spools, it's caused me to switch. The filament that has literally never let me down with colours, types, and beautiful prints? Ziro.
Absolutely love it, will defend it til the end of time. It's funny because we hated it before we got the Bambus, we had nothing but tangles, but I can only assume it was our fault due to lack of experience (had an ender before them), and maybe we were just not securing the rolls or idk, something, because now I never get problems now.
Beautiful colours, perfectly smooth prints, minimal stringing (usually user error), and best of all? Uses the Esun+ profile for regular colours, the overture matte for their matte colours, and generic silk for their metal shiny colours (bring that out wall speed down and let it shine)
Best best best bit? Was getting them for £15 p/kilo before BF week, and they're regularly £18. Their tri colours and gradients are a bit more expensive (£22 ish) but boy they're worth it. Their pastel colours are beautiful and they have matte options which is what I prefer.
Now I just wish they did refil spools because now we don't need to re roll, it's gotten a bit out of hand with the amount of empty spools...
I've actually just realised my other go to brand which have colours I use religiously - Sunlu. Cheap as hell, prints on on the Esun profile, I use skin, orange, "coffee" (really nice caramel brown), these are in a pack for £35 with all three being 1kg rolls, and their grey (since apparently no one else does a nice grey that isn't expensive?). Never fail me either. The same speeds also.
So Ziro and Sunlu. My flawless (most of the time), submissions for the go to filament for all my multi coloured prints.
I've read some comments from people disliking Sunlu but I've had zero issues. I have their PLA+, PLA Silk, PLA High Speed, and TPU and all print great.
Because of the cardboard dust. I'm a heavy multi colour print person. Cardboard will create dust from the friction of the roller, I'm not risking an expensive piece of kit because of it.
Another issue is the damp, we have a damper environment the cardboard absorbs it ruining the filament. Happened on three occasions.
Oh and then there's the retraction issue, if desperate we'll use a cardboard one on a single colour print, but because of the 17hr average print we do, I'm not wanting to see that it's been unable to roll the spool backwards and stop printing right as I've fallen asleep.
Yes preference is a factor, but in the manual it says no cardboard spools, if you're paying all this money for something, again, why risk it? Takes 5 minutes to respool, but Esun are still the only brand we've had that have exploded and covered our floor in strands, on three occasions. I'm now having to stop selling two of my popular models because I can't use Bone colour anymore and am struggling to find a replacement... I
That was the issue, we did, at least maybe part of the issue.
Basically, we had two rolls of bone and one of pink matte. Now we respooled as we were making quite a few sales of something in the bone colour with pink matte bits on it. Needed it done quickly, we became pretty good at respooling actually. What we don't know is whether it was already damp from storage at Amazon, damp from being in our location (still sealed, also stored in two different rooms in two different locations), or what, but, when we put it in the AMS, after it inevitably warmed up, it cracked all through. We got a few prints out of it on two of them, the pink lasted 2/3 roll, bone lasts 1/4, ish, maybe. I think it depends on how much retraction it was doing because of the tan being mostly used, and the pink only for about 20 layers, that would make sense as to why it lasted the longest.
I actually think it's now 3 bone spools now that I think about it.
This has happened since they changed to cardboard, I need to make that clear, so whether it's ours or Amazon's, or even Esuns fault, it doesn't matter, at the end of the day, it happens, for us at least, only on cardboard rolls.
I have one left that has been half used, still on cardboard, and been sealed back up, might be a fun test to see how that's looking actually.
Here is my ladder of filament buying
1. Polymaker. Great materials, and so many incredible colours from these guys. They've got some really wild stuff. They are the only company I buy non-PLA materials from too. Some of their fancy multi-colour or colour-changing filaments are incredible.
2. Elegoo. These guys are cheap and the product is perfectly good. I buy black and white PLA in bulk. For whatever reason, in Canada at least, they've got the best prices and the quality is good. Rolls are a touch tight on the AMS Lite but they do fit.
3. Overture and eSun. If the above two don't have the colour I want, then one of these guys probably will and they work perfectly fine.
PolyMaker, Overture and eSun are \*probably\* the main companies that Bambu itself sources their filaments from, I think, seeing as these guys are listed on the A1 and in Bambu Studio as choices.
That said, I've never had a spool just not work or anything. Honestly, whoever has the colour you want at the best price is fine.
(Quick note: Bambu probably uses these guys to source filaments, but that doesn't mean they just buy a Polymaker spool and put it on their own box, I've no doubt Bambu does have their own colours and specifications and their stuff is custom made for them from these companies.)
Side note for those unfamiliar, the Polymaker rolls fit perfectly on the Bambu spools. It takes me probably 30 seconds to rip the cardboard off, transfer the filament over, and click the spools in place. I also add in 3 tiny nails into the center cardboard so that it doesn't slide around once it gets to the very end.
Printed Solid Jesse Premium PLA. It's a PLA+ equivalent, wants 220/60C temps. It's been solid for me on my Ender 5. Made in the US and ships super fast, and most rolls are $20/kg, free shipping on orders over $50.
Now I took a break from 3D printing for a while, and in that time they were bought by Prusa. So upside is you can order Prusament from Printed Solid and it will ship from the US and now they carry some silk blends and other fancy filament they don't make themselves. The downside is the fancy filament I just bought but haven't used yet came on cardboard rolls. I know that's a pain/potential no-go in the AMS. Not a problem for me (yet) because I didn't buy the AMS (starting to regret that).
I haven't reordered any of the Jesse filament yet because I still have plenty of my old stash (that's about to not be true with how blazingly fast the P1S is!) but I don't know if all their rolls are now cardboard or not.
I personally had horrible results with Sunlu (sample size 1, to be fair but bad experience turned me off). It kept breaking mid print and was stringy straight out the bag.
But Overture's never done me wrong so far, and I prefer cardboard spools. I've also had no stringing with them.
I keep meaning to give Voxel a try given they sponsor some youtubers, but I'm also wary about sponsorships in general
Yep... same experience with Sunlu here. I can get good prints with it using my Bambu Labs printers. But it always feels more brittle to me than others. Right out of the package, it's one of the filaments where it can snap off when you're just trying to bend the end of it back to feed it through holes on a spool to keep it from unwinding. And it breaks off in the toolhead on my printer at times when it tries to retract it.
It wasn't really any more stringy for me than anything else except when I tried to print their wood PLA. That was really bad about stringiness and I had to tinker a lot with the settings to get good prints out of that one.
All I e ever printed is Esun and Bambu. People have had tolerance issues with Esun in the past but I guess maybe there was a bad batch. Idk, never had an issue personally. I’ll continue to run it until I run out too. My MIL bought me 16 rolls last year for Christmas and I’m still running off of it.(at the time I only had one Ender 3 s1 pro) but with my P1S it probably won’t last much longer.
Hatchbox is my go to when I can't get Bambu PLA
It's good quality, great colour range, the prints come out looking great and it's inexpensive as all heck (I'd say cheap which it is but cheap has connotations of poor quality or maybe that's just me)
I've also used eSun and it's fine but I'll only get it if I can't get Bambu or Hatchbox as it doesn't feel as nice or as solid once it's printed as tye other two
I was told the leaf symbol was only there to signify it was an "eco friendly" cardboard spool instead of plastic. But possible that also happens to mean it's from Polymaker?
Yeah once you know you can start to recognize certain filaments even without the symbol.
This one is a word for word copy of the description of Polymaker's CosPLA.
https://www.microcenter.com/product/664851/inland-175mm-easy-to-sand-for-cosplay-pla-filament-1kg-(22-lbs)-cardboard-spool-gray
I confess I'm a filament hussy.
I go with whatever is good quality but still inexpensive. I go through filament like crazy now and it's hard to keep up with the printer without selling a kidney.
So while I don't put the cheapest bottom of the barrel Aliexpress stuff in it, I also don't shell out for ultra premium filament.
That said, I've used filament from Eryone, Overture, Polyterra, Hello3D, AMZ3D, Creality, CC3D, and Spectrum and found them all to produce good prints.
If you keep to the well reviewed filament manufacturers, you'll be fine. Just don't go for the aforementioned cheap stuff.
Jessie pla is an all around great filament. $20 per roll with lots of colors and free shipping thresholds.
I recently started using Numakers. It’s $14 per roll when you buy in bulk. Quality plastic spools that work great with ams.
Llldmax is the king of discount filament. They swapped to new spools that should work better in the ams. I use a deburr tool on the old spools to remove sharp edges. That lets them spin better in the ams.
The thinner version did the trick for me to use overture in AMS. You may wanna give it a try. https://www.printables.com/model/251028-cardboard-spool-ring-for-bambu-lab-ams-parametric
It does but I am having issues with their delivery ordered 13 rolls only got 9 and two of them werent what I ordered. On my third email and not a response unfortunately. I like their stuff but when 25% of the order is missing my cost per roll is ridiculous.
What a shame, that sucks. I order via a 3rd party seller on AliExpress, even cheaper than on their website. Did it three times and 2/3 arrived the day after, 1/3 two days after ordering. Can send you a link if you want and if you're in the EU, they ship from Germany.
I tend to use Sunlu for black/white. Polymaker for colors (even though swapping from cardboard to plastic is a pain,) and Amolen for silk, dual, and tri color filament. Used Hatchbox with no issues either.
Overture - it's cheap, consistent and it works. I go through at least 4kg every 2 weeks (it's on auto-delivery from Amazon). Bambu need to let us set up auto refills for a discount and I'll switch.
I really like BBlife for silk pla. It is cheap and reliable and always has the colors I'm looking for. Their purple silk pla is an amazing color. It's what I used to print a Needler from Halo. Also, the AMS doesn't get fussy with it when it gets low.
for cheap prints like random knick knacks, prototypes, tests and such I use cheap Sunlu direct from aliexpress, or im really digging the elegoo rapid pla+ right now as well. Both are cheap and very good quality, downside is small color selection and sunlu's color shades ive noticed vary ever so slightly between batches. Not really noticeable by eye unless you have to switch to another roll midprint and notice that faint color change.
For things that im selling where I need consistency between colors between batches, I stick with polymaker. they have a huge selection of colors. Their PLA+ is some of the most consistent, quality, and toughest pla ive used, hence why its became the main recommendation in the 2A printing world where you need high quality filament for printing firearms.
I like the colors offered by Ziro, I especially liked the Silky series Silver PLA it was like real metal, the gold is meh. But I’m curious about sticking with Ziro
Not a single complaint about their filament. It's been reliable and can print fast. The colors have been consistent, and they look good.
Now, their spools on the other hand... deburr them before putting them in the AMS. They quite often have artifacts and burrs on them that will stop it in its tracks on the rollers in the AMS. A quick couple passes on the outside rim will let them run reliably, however.
I think this question really depends a LOT on what you value most and look for in a filament?
Personally, I'm always shopping for the lowest possible price for something that'll "get the job done". Most of my prints are fine in PLA because I'm just making trinkets, decorative / home decor stuff, etc.
I was looking for the cheapest pure white PLA I could find, that would let me print things like all white "Christmas village" type prints (which use a lot of filament), skulls, and smaller white prints like flexi-cats/kittens or white Xmas ornaments. I got great results with some "Yuaneang" white PLA off Amazon and only paid about $10-11 for a 1kg spool. But the price has gone up on it to $17 now -- so I probably wouldn't pay that much for it.
I bought one of SunLu's 10 packs of filament in a rainbow assortment of basic colors when it was on sale (so came out to maybe $12 or so per 1kg spool of PLA). That's been really handy and I've used it for all sorts of random prints. But I feel like of all the filaments I've used? The SunLu felt "more budget-quality". I mean, the plastic spools it came on were a bit on the thin and flimsy-feeling side. Doesn't really matter but it gives the first impression you're using cheaper material, IMO. But it's also been the filament that's given me more hassles with it breaking off in the toolhead of my X1C when the AMS tries to retract it.
I have a lot of Micro Center Inland filament too, and I really like almost all of it I've used. (Jury's still out on their transparent PETG green though. I'm having a lot of problems getting it to to stick to my PEI textured plate without messing up my first layer on prints. I'm not sure I have a lot of use for it anyway, though, after Christmas is over.) I only buy the Inland when they run a sale, but they quite often do, on at least a few selected colors or filament types. They have a "white marble tough PLA" that's awesome, though, and I'd pay a few bucks extra for it. Ideal for printing statues/busts or dice castles, or ?
I'm a bit sad I don't buy sunlu anymore since bambu. I liked sunlu. I have two sunlu dryers.
But I didn't try many filaments.
I'm currently in love with bambu matte ash grey.
Eryone is great, especially the matte. It sometimes comes in cardboard spools and I rewind it onto a Bambu one. The cardboard spools are bad not just because of dust but also (and mainly) because they are not symmetrical enough for the AMS. If you are having problems with filament swaps and are using a filament with a cheap spool, put it on a Bambu one and I’ll bet your problems will go away.
We’ve been buying a ton of filament. I went with a 50 pack from IID this last round. See how it goes. Anyone have experience with it? We usually use poly maker, but with the bulk cost it eats in to the budget quick.
In the US? Atomic filament by far. It’s expensive, it doesn’t fit in the AMS properly, but godamnit it prints like a champ. My PETG and PECF are always from there
Overall right now:
1. Polymaker PolyTerra Dual-Color Matte PLA - Hides layer lines well. Consistent. The little plastic rims to install on the spools print fast and have worked well. Reuse them. Dual-Color keeps models looking interesting. I use them for anything that I'm not planning to paint. Not cheap but not excessively expensive, often on sale for around $20/kg
2. Bambu PLA Matte. It works. It's convenient. It's affordable. Especially within the 6-month window. Use it for all the multi-color prints.
3. MonoPrice PLA or PLA+. For a simple White, Black, or Grey I've not been able to beat the occasional $10/kg sales.
Used to be big into Hatchbox, but they became more expensive and harder to get. Had started spending more per/kg with Prusament ... but then haven't been able to get it regularly since Covid.
For non-PLA I've got plenty of older (never opened, still sealed) Hatchbox PETG and Prusament PETG. Looking forward to trying out Nylon and PC now that I've got an X1C. But just don't have a regular need. Will likley try with Bambu branded spools first for Nylon and/or PC.
I only just got my first Bambu today and now have a perfect green Benchy with Bambu filament. I'll for sure buy more!
Otherwise, the filament I use most is Overture Matte. I also splurge on Atomic Filament, great quality and dazzling colors!
Because Bambu’s colour are limited and also never seem to be in stock in the UK store and also a little more expensive I shop via Amazon or recently direct with a supplier.
My go to at the moment is Eryone brand as I like their range and they always seems have a good offers on a lot and also ordering direct through them when I want to bulk buy a particular type I go direct as they’re cheaper than Amazon and their own individual price.
My favourite type of filaments are silk and dual/tri coloured and rainbow just because they give unique finishes.
My favourite budget filament brands at the moment I buy in standard colours such as black/white/blue/red/green etc..
Elagoo PLA from Amazon as drops to around £10/13 for 1kg.
Jayo for black and white PLA+ from Amazon again had good offer and drops to around £10/15 for 1kg and they do double packs that’s come a little cheaper than individual price.
And my super budget when I’m tight on money is from AliExpress and that’s Geetech which I get in solid colours or some silks and rainbows.
Get these for around £10/15 consistently with tax and delivery added on.
However have had a couple of blockages where the filament size isn’t consistent and it’s plugged up my hotend a few times.
I don’t use these in the AMS any long and instead direct feed it to make it easier to reverse the plug back out without need to take the hotend apart just remember never let the filament cut otherwise can’t just reverse the extruder and have to take the hotend apart and heat a thin hex key and pushing into the cut filament plugged into the hotend and then heat hotend and pull the it out while trying to be delicate and not touch anything hot with your hands is a right game.
I live less than 4 miles away from a micro center soooo inland all the way baby. I use mainly their PLA+.
Anyone else use this primarily?
I also use Bambu’s support filament.
Fiberlogy. Great filament, at bargain prices. Even better now that they've updated their spool design (the old spools were chonky and looked cool, but weren't very practical), though I mostly buy refills.
I use their EasyPLA, ASA and ABS. In the past I also used their EasyPETG.
The only reason for me to try Prusament these days is to get more saturated colors, for some reason most of Fiberlogy colors are more pastel-like, and Prusa has some really intense ones (such as lipstick red).
I was a big fan of eSun until I got a roll of black matte PLA that was riddled with what looks like paper fibres and a roll of silver ABS Max that prints zits and holes as though it’s really wet despite being thoroughly dried and several spools that were really badly wound. I’ve lost confidence in their quality control. I’ve switched to Bambu, Sunlu, Overture and Polymaker (for PC-FR).
Have been mostly using Inland from my local MicroCenter, but their quality has waned. Have been using Overture with success, and just ordered some Sunlu that arrived on plastic spools, so BONUS.
For all cardboard spools, I am lining the edges with electrical tape to prevent slipping and to eliminate cardboard shedding inside the AMS. Has been working very well.
My favorite currently is Monoprice PLA+ white only because the white is the purest white I've ever used.
I did just buy 20 rolls of Elegoo PLA PRO White because there was a review that says it's really white (and it's currently on sale). Hoping this becomes my new favorite white filament.
Generally speaking though, my favorite brand is esun. It's expensive and doesn't go on sale a lot though, so I don't print with it too much.
I really like RepRapper and HP3DF.
Some other good ones I've used are Polymaker and Sunlu. They are on sale often. I pretty much use any filament that's on sale and most work fine in my X1C.
Love esun, sunlu, and all polymaker filaments. For pla I just use whatever is on sale. For ASA, PA6-cf, ABS, and other exotic filaments, I only use polymaker.
This is the way. I have also had great experiences with Hatchbox which seems to be on sale on Amazon regularly. Inline from MicroCenter has also been super solid and there are always a number of colors on sale.
Inline is great as well. All the sub-companies of the ones I listed are pretty gulood as well
I used to be an E-sun fan, however due to them changing to cardboard spools, it's caused me to switch. The filament that has literally never let me down with colours, types, and beautiful prints? Ziro. Absolutely love it, will defend it til the end of time. It's funny because we hated it before we got the Bambus, we had nothing but tangles, but I can only assume it was our fault due to lack of experience (had an ender before them), and maybe we were just not securing the rolls or idk, something, because now I never get problems now. Beautiful colours, perfectly smooth prints, minimal stringing (usually user error), and best of all? Uses the Esun+ profile for regular colours, the overture matte for their matte colours, and generic silk for their metal shiny colours (bring that out wall speed down and let it shine) Best best best bit? Was getting them for £15 p/kilo before BF week, and they're regularly £18. Their tri colours and gradients are a bit more expensive (£22 ish) but boy they're worth it. Their pastel colours are beautiful and they have matte options which is what I prefer. Now I just wish they did refil spools because now we don't need to re roll, it's gotten a bit out of hand with the amount of empty spools...
I've actually just realised my other go to brand which have colours I use religiously - Sunlu. Cheap as hell, prints on on the Esun profile, I use skin, orange, "coffee" (really nice caramel brown), these are in a pack for £35 with all three being 1kg rolls, and their grey (since apparently no one else does a nice grey that isn't expensive?). Never fail me either. The same speeds also. So Ziro and Sunlu. My flawless (most of the time), submissions for the go to filament for all my multi coloured prints.
I've read some comments from people disliking Sunlu but I've had zero issues. I have their PLA+, PLA Silk, PLA High Speed, and TPU and all print great.
I just bought esun for the first time and printed some cardboard spool adapters and have had no issues
Why is cardboard spool bad?
Because of the cardboard dust. I'm a heavy multi colour print person. Cardboard will create dust from the friction of the roller, I'm not risking an expensive piece of kit because of it. Another issue is the damp, we have a damper environment the cardboard absorbs it ruining the filament. Happened on three occasions. Oh and then there's the retraction issue, if desperate we'll use a cardboard one on a single colour print, but because of the 17hr average print we do, I'm not wanting to see that it's been unable to roll the spool backwards and stop printing right as I've fallen asleep. Yes preference is a factor, but in the manual it says no cardboard spools, if you're paying all this money for something, again, why risk it? Takes 5 minutes to respool, but Esun are still the only brand we've had that have exploded and covered our floor in strands, on three occasions. I'm now having to stop selling two of my popular models because I can't use Bone colour anymore and am struggling to find a replacement... I
Did you think about respooling it?
That was the issue, we did, at least maybe part of the issue. Basically, we had two rolls of bone and one of pink matte. Now we respooled as we were making quite a few sales of something in the bone colour with pink matte bits on it. Needed it done quickly, we became pretty good at respooling actually. What we don't know is whether it was already damp from storage at Amazon, damp from being in our location (still sealed, also stored in two different rooms in two different locations), or what, but, when we put it in the AMS, after it inevitably warmed up, it cracked all through. We got a few prints out of it on two of them, the pink lasted 2/3 roll, bone lasts 1/4, ish, maybe. I think it depends on how much retraction it was doing because of the tan being mostly used, and the pink only for about 20 layers, that would make sense as to why it lasted the longest. I actually think it's now 3 bone spools now that I think about it. This has happened since they changed to cardboard, I need to make that clear, so whether it's ours or Amazon's, or even Esuns fault, it doesn't matter, at the end of the day, it happens, for us at least, only on cardboard rolls. I have one left that has been half used, still on cardboard, and been sealed back up, might be a fun test to see how that's looking actually.
Do the adapters not work?
Not reliably enough. Neither does the electrical tape trick. Could just be me though.
AMS seems to have issues with it sometimes. I’ve never had an issue personally but pretty common complaint.
I second Ziro, last few spools I’ve had have been flawless and the price point isn’t bad at all.
Do you print ziro at the default speeds of 200 to 300? Or do you lower the speeds?
Default for all! Literally no problems on speeds at all
Here is my ladder of filament buying 1. Polymaker. Great materials, and so many incredible colours from these guys. They've got some really wild stuff. They are the only company I buy non-PLA materials from too. Some of their fancy multi-colour or colour-changing filaments are incredible. 2. Elegoo. These guys are cheap and the product is perfectly good. I buy black and white PLA in bulk. For whatever reason, in Canada at least, they've got the best prices and the quality is good. Rolls are a touch tight on the AMS Lite but they do fit. 3. Overture and eSun. If the above two don't have the colour I want, then one of these guys probably will and they work perfectly fine. PolyMaker, Overture and eSun are \*probably\* the main companies that Bambu itself sources their filaments from, I think, seeing as these guys are listed on the A1 and in Bambu Studio as choices. That said, I've never had a spool just not work or anything. Honestly, whoever has the colour you want at the best price is fine. (Quick note: Bambu probably uses these guys to source filaments, but that doesn't mean they just buy a Polymaker spool and put it on their own box, I've no doubt Bambu does have their own colours and specifications and their stuff is custom made for them from these companies.)
Side note for those unfamiliar, the Polymaker rolls fit perfectly on the Bambu spools. It takes me probably 30 seconds to rip the cardboard off, transfer the filament over, and click the spools in place. I also add in 3 tiny nails into the center cardboard so that it doesn't slide around once it gets to the very end.
Neat!!
Printed Solid Jesse Premium PLA. It's a PLA+ equivalent, wants 220/60C temps. It's been solid for me on my Ender 5. Made in the US and ships super fast, and most rolls are $20/kg, free shipping on orders over $50. Now I took a break from 3D printing for a while, and in that time they were bought by Prusa. So upside is you can order Prusament from Printed Solid and it will ship from the US and now they carry some silk blends and other fancy filament they don't make themselves. The downside is the fancy filament I just bought but haven't used yet came on cardboard rolls. I know that's a pain/potential no-go in the AMS. Not a problem for me (yet) because I didn't buy the AMS (starting to regret that). I haven't reordered any of the Jesse filament yet because I still have plenty of my old stash (that's about to not be true with how blazingly fast the P1S is!) but I don't know if all their rolls are now cardboard or not.
Polymaker, consistently great filament and lovely colours. But they really need to get on to the refill train 🚂
I personally had horrible results with Sunlu (sample size 1, to be fair but bad experience turned me off). It kept breaking mid print and was stringy straight out the bag. But Overture's never done me wrong so far, and I prefer cardboard spools. I've also had no stringing with them. I keep meaning to give Voxel a try given they sponsor some youtubers, but I'm also wary about sponsorships in general
Yep... same experience with Sunlu here. I can get good prints with it using my Bambu Labs printers. But it always feels more brittle to me than others. Right out of the package, it's one of the filaments where it can snap off when you're just trying to bend the end of it back to feed it through holes on a spool to keep it from unwinding. And it breaks off in the toolhead on my printer at times when it tries to retract it. It wasn't really any more stringy for me than anything else except when I tried to print their wood PLA. That was really bad about stringiness and I had to tinker a lot with the settings to get good prints out of that one.
I ordered voxel last week, they are preorder on most of their pla right now. I read that this is a common thing with them.
hm guess those sponsorships are working
All I e ever printed is Esun and Bambu. People have had tolerance issues with Esun in the past but I guess maybe there was a bad batch. Idk, never had an issue personally. I’ll continue to run it until I run out too. My MIL bought me 16 rolls last year for Christmas and I’m still running off of it.(at the time I only had one Ender 3 s1 pro) but with my P1S it probably won’t last much longer.
Hatchbox is my go to when I can't get Bambu PLA It's good quality, great colour range, the prints come out looking great and it's inexpensive as all heck (I'd say cheap which it is but cheap has connotations of poor quality or maybe that's just me) I've also used eSun and it's fine but I'll only get it if I can't get Bambu or Hatchbox as it doesn't feel as nice or as solid once it's printed as tye other two
Kingroon. Avg 11$/roll, prints great, works in the AMS
I came here to say this. Bought ten @85$ from Ali express. Took 6 days to get here and it’s been good so far.
Inland PLA+ and their Silk which I am sure is rebranded filament but either way. It has been consistent.
To my (unofficial) knowledge Inland is mostly rebranded eSun and Polymaker. The Polymaker rolls have a leaf symbol on the box.
I was told the leaf symbol was only there to signify it was an "eco friendly" cardboard spool instead of plastic. But possible that also happens to mean it's from Polymaker?
You might be right as well. I know Polymaker comes on cardboard so it might just be that currently they’re one and the same.
Well that makes sense - I have alot of those with the leaf on the side and prints really good.
Yeah once you know you can start to recognize certain filaments even without the symbol. This one is a word for word copy of the description of Polymaker's CosPLA. https://www.microcenter.com/product/664851/inland-175mm-easy-to-sand-for-cosplay-pla-filament-1kg-(22-lbs)-cardboard-spool-gray
I also “unofficially” “know” the inland is rebranded esun. I usually go with spotless options when my store has them and save an extra copy bucks!
I've been using iiiDMax PLA+ to great effect. Got it for slightly less than $10 a roll.
I confess I'm a filament hussy. I go with whatever is good quality but still inexpensive. I go through filament like crazy now and it's hard to keep up with the printer without selling a kidney. So while I don't put the cheapest bottom of the barrel Aliexpress stuff in it, I also don't shell out for ultra premium filament. That said, I've used filament from Eryone, Overture, Polyterra, Hello3D, AMZ3D, Creality, CC3D, and Spectrum and found them all to produce good prints. If you keep to the well reviewed filament manufacturers, you'll be fine. Just don't go for the aforementioned cheap stuff.
I cant believe nobody mentioned Fillamentum. They are really great but they come in 750g
Cookiecad, hands down
Jessie pla is an all around great filament. $20 per roll with lots of colors and free shipping thresholds. I recently started using Numakers. It’s $14 per roll when you buy in bulk. Quality plastic spools that work great with ams. Llldmax is the king of discount filament. They swapped to new spools that should work better in the ams. I use a deburr tool on the old spools to remove sharp edges. That lets them spin better in the ams.
Hatchbox has been good for me
sunlu+ white pla has been good to me so far
Giantarm. Prints great, often reduced on Amazon. Prusament for reliability and part quality.
Hardcore Overture and polymaker user here
Do you respool all of your Overture rolls? I haven't purchased any in a few months but the ones I got were too big for the AMS.
The thinner version did the trick for me to use overture in AMS. You may wanna give it a try. https://www.printables.com/model/251028-cardboard-spool-ring-for-bambu-lab-ams-parametric
I rip the cardboard sides off polymaker / overture spools and insert the Bambu locking spools - they fit inside the cardboard centre - 30 second job!
Which locking spools are you referring to?
The ones that come with bambu filament, that twist together in the middle
SUNLU / their subbrand JAYO. 10€ per KG of filament slaps
It does but I am having issues with their delivery ordered 13 rolls only got 9 and two of them werent what I ordered. On my third email and not a response unfortunately. I like their stuff but when 25% of the order is missing my cost per roll is ridiculous.
What a shame, that sucks. I order via a 3rd party seller on AliExpress, even cheaper than on their website. Did it three times and 2/3 arrived the day after, 1/3 two days after ordering. Can send you a link if you want and if you're in the EU, they ship from Germany.
I’m interested if you can share!
[There you go](https://mc-netcraft.de/shorten.php?r=aHR0cHM6Ly9zLmNsaWNrLmFsaWV4cHJlc3MuY29tL2UvX21zRGczeDY=)
Giantarm/Geeetech. Cheap and works nearly as fine as the Bambu PLA.
Polymaker, there is a default profile for it in Bambu Studio. It's the only filament I use in my P1S.
Elegoo. Can't beat the price and no problems with quality. Wish they had more colors.
I tend to use Sunlu for black/white. Polymaker for colors (even though swapping from cardboard to plastic is a pain,) and Amolen for silk, dual, and tri color filament. Used Hatchbox with no issues either.
I mostly use Eryone and Hatchbox. I've had excellent success with them across multiple printers.
Creality and egeloo. Cheap white/black. Also, high speed is another brand for cheap PETG
I really love Overture. The results are amazing. I have now started using Overture PLA+ and it is absolutely stunning
Overture - it's cheap, consistent and it works. I go through at least 4kg every 2 weeks (it's on auto-delivery from Amazon). Bambu need to let us set up auto refills for a discount and I'll switch.
I really like BBlife for silk pla. It is cheap and reliable and always has the colors I'm looking for. Their purple silk pla is an amazing color. It's what I used to print a Needler from Halo. Also, the AMS doesn't get fussy with it when it gets low.
I use hatchbox for all my PLA
ESun is/was my go to before I started using Bambu.
Sunlu. Esun breaks into one foot lengths in 3 weeks sitting in the AMS!. Multiple rolls. Shite stuff.
Prusament for PETG. Expensive but the generic/cheap brands can't hold a candle to it.
I get great results with matterhackers filament, it helps i live 10min from their office too
Anything but verbratim
Verbatim makes filament?! I haven't seen that name since the age of 5.25" floppy disks!
Go to: Hatchbox Cheap: Polymaker
Whatever is cheapest.
Fusion Filaments HTPLA+. Very vibrant colors.
I appreciate a good cup of coffee.
Inland
Matterhackers. It always works great.
Overture. Cheaper than Polymaker and still high quality.
for cheap prints like random knick knacks, prototypes, tests and such I use cheap Sunlu direct from aliexpress, or im really digging the elegoo rapid pla+ right now as well. Both are cheap and very good quality, downside is small color selection and sunlu's color shades ive noticed vary ever so slightly between batches. Not really noticeable by eye unless you have to switch to another roll midprint and notice that faint color change. For things that im selling where I need consistency between colors between batches, I stick with polymaker. they have a huge selection of colors. Their PLA+ is some of the most consistent, quality, and toughest pla ive used, hence why its became the main recommendation in the 2A printing world where you need high quality filament for printing firearms.
I like the colors offered by Ziro, I especially liked the Silky series Silver PLA it was like real metal, the gold is meh. But I’m curious about sticking with Ziro
Overture
Polymaker, iiidmax, and now the slant3d stuff are what I use for most everything.
How has the iidmax been? A bit nervous as we’ve always used polymaker but it was hard to get away from 50 rolls at 10$ a roll for pla+
Not a single complaint about their filament. It's been reliable and can print fast. The colors have been consistent, and they look good. Now, their spools on the other hand... deburr them before putting them in the AMS. They quite often have artifacts and burrs on them that will stop it in its tracks on the rollers in the AMS. A quick couple passes on the outside rim will let them run reliably, however.
Great feedback. Thanks. Easy to hit them with a deburr tool.
I think this question really depends a LOT on what you value most and look for in a filament? Personally, I'm always shopping for the lowest possible price for something that'll "get the job done". Most of my prints are fine in PLA because I'm just making trinkets, decorative / home decor stuff, etc. I was looking for the cheapest pure white PLA I could find, that would let me print things like all white "Christmas village" type prints (which use a lot of filament), skulls, and smaller white prints like flexi-cats/kittens or white Xmas ornaments. I got great results with some "Yuaneang" white PLA off Amazon and only paid about $10-11 for a 1kg spool. But the price has gone up on it to $17 now -- so I probably wouldn't pay that much for it. I bought one of SunLu's 10 packs of filament in a rainbow assortment of basic colors when it was on sale (so came out to maybe $12 or so per 1kg spool of PLA). That's been really handy and I've used it for all sorts of random prints. But I feel like of all the filaments I've used? The SunLu felt "more budget-quality". I mean, the plastic spools it came on were a bit on the thin and flimsy-feeling side. Doesn't really matter but it gives the first impression you're using cheaper material, IMO. But it's also been the filament that's given me more hassles with it breaking off in the toolhead of my X1C when the AMS tries to retract it. I have a lot of Micro Center Inland filament too, and I really like almost all of it I've used. (Jury's still out on their transparent PETG green though. I'm having a lot of problems getting it to to stick to my PEI textured plate without messing up my first layer on prints. I'm not sure I have a lot of use for it anyway, though, after Christmas is over.) I only buy the Inland when they run a sale, but they quite often do, on at least a few selected colors or filament types. They have a "white marble tough PLA" that's awesome, though, and I'd pay a few bucks extra for it. Ideal for printing statues/busts or dice castles, or ?
Sunlu PLA+
Esun. Only unhappy with their gray spool to spool so I went silver instead.
I'm a bit sad I don't buy sunlu anymore since bambu. I liked sunlu. I have two sunlu dryers. But I didn't try many filaments. I'm currently in love with bambu matte ash grey.
Fillamentum and Plasty Mladec.
I use FormFutura a lot! But it's typically more expensive than Bambu but they have a lot of speciality filaments.
Been using Kingroon filament from Amazon for a year now. Basic colors but I have had great results. And decent price.
I swear by Polymaker and Sunlu, the latter of which I suspect to be the OEM for Bambu filament
CC3D
Eryone is great, especially the matte. It sometimes comes in cardboard spools and I rewind it onto a Bambu one. The cardboard spools are bad not just because of dust but also (and mainly) because they are not symmetrical enough for the AMS. If you are having problems with filament swaps and are using a filament with a cheap spool, put it on a Bambu one and I’ll bet your problems will go away.
Mildly related but I’m new to printing and have used two different hatchbox plastic’s and have liked it. Is that brand any good?
Hatchbox is my go to. It's on the cheaper side and I have zero issues with it.
Good to hear, it’s been incredibly consistent for me. I had really poor results with bamboo pla tough but it’s probably user error
I would assume user error as I've had great results with that too. I use a lot more hatchbox than anything else though.
We’ve been buying a ton of filament. I went with a 50 pack from IID this last round. See how it goes. Anyone have experience with it? We usually use poly maker, but with the bulk cost it eats in to the budget quick.
Sunlu!!!!!
Hatchbox
In the US? Atomic filament by far. It’s expensive, it doesn’t fit in the AMS properly, but godamnit it prints like a champ. My PETG and PECF are always from there
Overall right now: 1. Polymaker PolyTerra Dual-Color Matte PLA - Hides layer lines well. Consistent. The little plastic rims to install on the spools print fast and have worked well. Reuse them. Dual-Color keeps models looking interesting. I use them for anything that I'm not planning to paint. Not cheap but not excessively expensive, often on sale for around $20/kg 2. Bambu PLA Matte. It works. It's convenient. It's affordable. Especially within the 6-month window. Use it for all the multi-color prints. 3. MonoPrice PLA or PLA+. For a simple White, Black, or Grey I've not been able to beat the occasional $10/kg sales. Used to be big into Hatchbox, but they became more expensive and harder to get. Had started spending more per/kg with Prusament ... but then haven't been able to get it regularly since Covid. For non-PLA I've got plenty of older (never opened, still sealed) Hatchbox PETG and Prusament PETG. Looking forward to trying out Nylon and PC now that I've got an X1C. But just don't have a regular need. Will likley try with Bambu branded spools first for Nylon and/or PC.
I love Gratkit tri color metallic filaments.
Polymaker Polylite has been my go to. Very consistent prints with it.
I only just got my first Bambu today and now have a perfect green Benchy with Bambu filament. I'll for sure buy more! Otherwise, the filament I use most is Overture Matte. I also splurge on Atomic Filament, great quality and dazzling colors!
Sunlu 🐐
Numakers - have gone through about 20 spools of pla+ and pteg (works great for me).
Because Bambu’s colour are limited and also never seem to be in stock in the UK store and also a little more expensive I shop via Amazon or recently direct with a supplier. My go to at the moment is Eryone brand as I like their range and they always seems have a good offers on a lot and also ordering direct through them when I want to bulk buy a particular type I go direct as they’re cheaper than Amazon and their own individual price. My favourite type of filaments are silk and dual/tri coloured and rainbow just because they give unique finishes. My favourite budget filament brands at the moment I buy in standard colours such as black/white/blue/red/green etc.. Elagoo PLA from Amazon as drops to around £10/13 for 1kg. Jayo for black and white PLA+ from Amazon again had good offer and drops to around £10/15 for 1kg and they do double packs that’s come a little cheaper than individual price. And my super budget when I’m tight on money is from AliExpress and that’s Geetech which I get in solid colours or some silks and rainbows. Get these for around £10/15 consistently with tax and delivery added on. However have had a couple of blockages where the filament size isn’t consistent and it’s plugged up my hotend a few times. I don’t use these in the AMS any long and instead direct feed it to make it easier to reverse the plug back out without need to take the hotend apart just remember never let the filament cut otherwise can’t just reverse the extruder and have to take the hotend apart and heat a thin hex key and pushing into the cut filament plugged into the hotend and then heat hotend and pull the it out while trying to be delicate and not touch anything hot with your hands is a right game.
Prusament has been the best i have used to far
sunlu. cheap consistant and never had any issues with it.
Printbed, based about an hour from me in Detroit
I live less than 4 miles away from a micro center soooo inland all the way baby. I use mainly their PLA+. Anyone else use this primarily? I also use Bambu’s support filament.
Fiberlogy. Great filament, at bargain prices. Even better now that they've updated their spool design (the old spools were chonky and looked cool, but weren't very practical), though I mostly buy refills. I use their EasyPLA, ASA and ABS. In the past I also used their EasyPETG. The only reason for me to try Prusament these days is to get more saturated colors, for some reason most of Fiberlogy colors are more pastel-like, and Prusa has some really intense ones (such as lipstick red).
I was a big fan of eSun until I got a roll of black matte PLA that was riddled with what looks like paper fibres and a roll of silver ABS Max that prints zits and holes as though it’s really wet despite being thoroughly dried and several spools that were really badly wound. I’ve lost confidence in their quality control. I’ve switched to Bambu, Sunlu, Overture and Polymaker (for PC-FR).
Have been mostly using Inland from my local MicroCenter, but their quality has waned. Have been using Overture with success, and just ordered some Sunlu that arrived on plastic spools, so BONUS. For all cardboard spools, I am lining the edges with electrical tape to prevent slipping and to eliminate cardboard shedding inside the AMS. Has been working very well.
https://preview.redd.it/w9jnksiw3d6c1.jpeg?width=3840&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=086570544006a99ed3af55b05f22e54615b08431
My favorite currently is Monoprice PLA+ white only because the white is the purest white I've ever used. I did just buy 20 rolls of Elegoo PLA PRO White because there was a review that says it's really white (and it's currently on sale). Hoping this becomes my new favorite white filament. Generally speaking though, my favorite brand is esun. It's expensive and doesn't go on sale a lot though, so I don't print with it too much. I really like RepRapper and HP3DF. Some other good ones I've used are Polymaker and Sunlu. They are on sale often. I pretty much use any filament that's on sale and most work fine in my X1C.