3Dom USA is a US based company that is making their name in environmentally friendly filaments. Many are made from commercial waste products. They recently made waves when they announced their newest Buzzed filament.
They were kind enough to send me samples of Buzzed, Wound Up (coffee-based), and Glass Filled PLA filaments. I printed all the samples pictured at 215 C on 70 C bed, 0.2 mm resolution.
Buzzed
Of all the filaments, this is one that everyone wants to print with. It has a golden-honey tone, with brown specks dispersed through it.
When you open the bag you are hit with a rich malty smell. As you print you may notice a yeasty – bread smell, but it was slight while I printed, and it quickly faded.
According to the company, Buzzed is made with waste products from the beer making process.
While no beer was wasted in the making of the filament, it is a great concept to use the waste products of a brewery for filament.
Until recently, the State of Colorado was known more for breweries like Coors, as well as micro brewery’s like Left Hand Brewing and Dry Dock. 3Dom does have a hemp-based filament that I wanted to try, but the company was out of stock.
All brewery’s should consider producing beer-based PLA filaments as a second review stream for their beers. In this way waste products that in the past have been sold as low-cost as cattle feed can be sold at a premium to 3D printers.
Imagine going to the local liquor store, and getting a sample of filament as a premium along with your 6 pack of beer (filament – 6 pack, patent pending), or getting bar swag printed in beer! Or having design contest with their filament! College 3D printing labs could run beer-based filament !
In a previous blog I discussed using 3D printing for advertising. With companies like Heinkin producing 3D printable bar items, breweries should consider the business prospects of producing filament and bar items as well.
Imagine building a brand loyalty to not only the beer but to the filament made from it. As 3D printing expands into homes, breweries have a unique opportunity to place their products into the home.
In another blog I developed a rating system for filament. Under this scale it rated the following.
1. Flexibility: Snapped at 110 degrees . The Buzzed filament is brittle, 6.6 pts.
2. Color: Print and filament match in golden honey color, and brown specks are interesting. 3 pts
3. Starting Quality: Started well. 2 pts
4. Warping: No warping. 3 pts
5. End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
6. Environmental: Yeast – bread smell as you print. Does not smell like any beer. 1 pt
7. Special consideration: 3Dom published the tolerances for their filament on the spool, which is unique in the filament industry. You can check the spool and make sure your settings are correct to the micron in your slicer. 1 pt.
8. Processing / finishing the print: PLA can be chemically or mechanically treated, but I think the unique blend and color of this filament will not justify it. 2 pts
FINAL SCORE: 21.6 / 28
Glass Filled PLA
This is another exotic filament, and the first that I have seen that uses fiberglass in the filament matrix. It has fiberglass embedded in the PLA, giving it more strength than normal PLA. Glass Filled PLA is advertised as a higher strength version of standard PLA. According to the company, it is
• 1.4 times stronger
• 1.3 times tougher
• 1.9 times more flexible
Out of the bag it has a greenish tinge to it. And like other exotic PLA blends, it does feel abrasive. It is also very stiff and brittle off the spool. It did print smooth off the spool, and when it finished it did feel just as abrasive as before.
1. Flexibility: Snapped at 90 degrees. 6 pts
2. Color: Print and filament match in greenish tinged white. 3 pts
3. Starting Quality: Started well. 2 pts
4. Warping: No warping. 3 pts
5. End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
6. Environmental: No smell. 2 pt
7. Special consideration: 3Dom published the tolerances for their filament on the spool, which is unique in the filament industry. You can check the spool and make sure your settings are correct to the micron in your slicer.
Being glass filled, it is more abrasive on your print head than standard PLA. Have a spare nozzle on hand if you plan extended prints with this material. 0.75 pt.
8. Processing / finishing the print: PLA can be chemically or mechanically treated, but for this chemical processes may not work on the glass. This may be better off left plain. 2 pts
FINAL SCORE: 21.75 / 28
Wound UP
This is another coffee based filament, like the Proto Pasta Aromatic Coffee in my previous blog.
Off of the spool it was darker than Proto Pasta’s and looked more like root beer. In looking closer it looked like the filament had lots of bubbles in it. That made me initially suspicious that this test print may not work.
Despite my trepidation’s, the filament printed fine with a brilliant golden – bronze iridescence. I was surprised by the golden hues that it produced in the print.
I was also surprised by the lack of coffee smell; Unlike Proto Pasta, this had little too no coffee smell to it.
I can see other filament brands using coffee as a future product line for filaments. In both brands, the products have rich bronze tones and may smell like coffee as they print.
- Flexibility: Snapped at 140 degrees . The filament is brittle, 8.3 pts.
- Color: Print and filament match in amber – dark honey color, and gold-bronze tones are interesting. 3 pts
- Starting Quality: Started well. 2 pts
- Warping: No warping. 3 pts
- End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
- Environmental: Slight coffee smell at start of print. 1 pt
- Special consideration: 3Dom published the tolerances for their filament on the spool, which is unique in the filament industry. You can check the spool and make sure your settings are correct to the micron in your slicer. 1 pt.
- Processing / finishing the print: PLA can be chemically or mechanically treated, but I think the unique blend and color of this filament will not justify it. 2 pts
FINAL SCORE: 23.3 / 28
Final Thoughts
3Dom USA’s lines of PLA filaments are innovative and unique. They are all designed to be sustainable and environmentally friendly. I enjoyed printing with all the filaments, and I look forward to other filaments from 3Dom USA.
My only concern was the flexibility of the filaments. All of them were very stiff and brittle compared to other PLA blends.
Despite this brittleness, I enjoyed the warm colors that they produced.
DISCLAIMER: 3Dom USA provided the samples for testing at their own expense, with no expectations given as part of this review. Stan Baldwin also has a week sense of smell, so your olfactory experience may differ. Buzzed filament contains no alcohol.
