Two international companies have approached 3D-PT to review their filament. Chinese company Wenotion sent me samples of their PLA and PETG which I’ll test here. In the future I’ll test the PVA and HIPS they sent. Canadian startup Filaments3DQubec sent me two samples of their PLA.
Wentontion PEGT 3.0 mm
Wenotion sent me two samples of PEGT, one blue and the other in natural (a frosty translucent-clear). PEGT prints at 240 C; For this I printed a couple of bar coasters that I’m working on for a client. The first blue coaster had some curling around the first layer, and some stringing during the print. The second print with the natural went better, with clean layers and no stringing.
Both stuck well to the build plate despite being large flat prints, and came off with some effort.
Using my grading system here is the score for PEGT.
- Flexibility: Flexed through all 180 degrees. 12 pts
- Color: The blue filament lightened a bit. 2 pts
- Starting Quality: Started well. 2 pts
- Warping: No warping. 3 pts
- End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
- Environmental: No smell. 2 pt
- Special consideration: No concerns. 1 pt
- Processing / finishing the print: PEGT cannot be chemically treated, so you are left with mechanical finishing. 2 pts
FINAL SCORE: 27 / 28
Filaments3DQubec PLA 1.75
This Canadian start-up contacted me to test their PLA filament. When I got it, I was pleasantly surprised that their samples were vacuum – sealed in the bag. All the other samples I have ever gotten have just been thrown into a bag.
They sent me samples in lime green and blue PLA. I started with the lime green filament, and got through about half of my print before I ran low and switched to the blue filament. The PLA did warp a bit at the start, leaving some rough spots in the test print.
Using my grading system here is the score for Filaments3DQubec PLA.
- Flexibility: Flexed through all 180 degrees. 12 pts
- Color: Both the lime green and blue kept their color through the print. 3 pts
- Starting Quality: Rough start and some problems sticking to blue tape. 1 pt
- Warping: Noticeable warping at the start. 2 pts
- End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
- Environmental: No smell. 2 pt
- Special consideration: No concerns. 1 pt
- Processing / finishing the print: PLA can be chemically or mechanically finished. 1 pt
FINAL SCORE: 25 / 28
Wenotion 3.00 mm PLA
This PLA blend did turn out better than expected. I have seen in some forums that Chinese made filaments were as problematic as their cloned 3D printers. In spite of my hesitations, I found that this PLA did print well. There was no warping and the prints came clean off the build plate.
- Flexibility: Flexed through all 180 degrees. 12 pts
- Color: The blue was a nice semi-translucent color. 3 pts
- Starting Quality: Clean start. 2 pts
- Warping: No warping. 3 pts
- End of Print: Came clean off build plate. 3 pts
- Environmental: No smell. 2 pt
- Special consideration: No concerns. 1 pt
- Processing / finishing the print: PLA can be chemically or mechanically finished. 1 pt
FINAL SCORE: 27 / 28
Wrap Up
Among the two PLA sets printed, Wenotion printed better than Filaments3DQubec. The warping in Filaments3DQubec PLA puts it behind Wenotion PLA. In future test I’ll see if the remaining blue Filaments3DQubec PLA is less prone to warping.
Among the filaments, Wenotion feels like it would be a good general purpose PLA filament for test prints and general printing.
DISCLAMER: Nether Wenotion or Filaments3DQuebec paid for this review. Filaments3DQuebec sent the samples at their own expense.
