Top 5 Series: Special Filaments for your 3D Printer
Inventions and innovations has started to flood the FDM 3D Printing market almost everyday. Other than your classic PLA and ABS filaments, the 3D Printing community has nowadays provided with more and more choices to experiment from. Ranging from Silk to Wood to Metal, the list goes on and on.
So, here are the top 5 filaments that you would love to try on your 3D Printer.
1.Multicolor / Rainbow Filament:
Aptly named, this filament contains 4–5 colors blended into one spool. The filament comes in as a compromise for all those people who want to print multiple colors in one go using FDM technology. Apart from that it contains the same features as your standard PLA.
2. Glow in the Dark:
You guessed it right! This filament when exposed to light for around 15 minutes reciprocates by glowing in the dark with a eerily blue or green shade. Application wise, the filament can be used for caution signs at your home or office space or can also be a cool conversation piece sitting in your desk.
3. Silk Filament:
Silk filament provides a silky finish and aesthetic appeal to the printed model. Need something to look and feel elite or royal, this is your go to option. The filament is 100% biodegradable and has a gripping texture and feel. The printing technique is similar to your standard PLA filaments.
4. Color Changing Filament:
This filament has quite an interesting property of reacting to the temperature exposed by changing its color. This filament is ideal for your domestic accessories and serves as an amazing visual intrigue. The filament is not considered food safe but is highly durable.
5. Metal Composites:
These filaments provide a majestic metal finish to your print. It comes in many variants like brass, copper, gold and silver. The filament as such consists of 15 % of metal powder and 85 % of PLA. This material requires a temperature of 230–240 degrees and intermediate expertise in desktop 3D Printing.This material is widely used for jewelry prototyping and printing artifacts.
Bonus Content!
Here are three more types of special filaments which may interest you. These filaments can only be printed with 3D Printers that uses direct drive mechanism and requires expert 3D printing skills.
1.Wood:
Wood filaments are very much similar to metal composites. Instead of metal powder, this filament consists of 15% of wood. It provides two shades of wood. High temperature print yields a darker color and low temperature prints yield lighter color.
2. Nylon:
Nylon filament is mainly used its ability to produce functional strong and robust parts in prototyping. It is highly durable and also flexible which makes it a solid choice to be used for functional prototypes. Exemplary results with glossy finish can be achieved with the presence of a heat bed.
3. TPU Flexible:
As the name suggests, the filament provides prints that are extremely flexible and highly durable. These filaments are used to print prototypes for tyres, shoe soles. On a domestic scale, it is used to print mobile cases, home accessories but material is not considered food safe.
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