This is intended to be a very basic Personal 3D Printer filament buyer’s guide for new 3D Printer users. Every single point presented here is worth a lengthy post, but this should serve as a top-level summary that might help you determine what plastic filaments will best suit your needs.
Additionally, see What Plastic Filament does my 3D Printer Use.
We're always working to find better ways to do things. We feel it's important to report on the things that don't work out as well as on the successes.
A while back we decided to try using Flash Breaker Tape as a print surface material, seeing if it had any advantages over Polyimide Tape (also known by the trademarked name Kapton). Flash Breaker Tape is used in the composite manufacturing and repair industry, particularly in aerospace applications. Ours came from Atacs Products. It is a thin-film polyester tape that uses a silicone adhesive just as Polyimide Tape does. In short, we found that it does not perform as well as Polyimide Tape for print-bed surfacing, though it did work in one application.
Printing with support is required when plastic must be deposited on a layer where there is no or insufficient plastic on the previous layer. This includes steep overhanging surfaces, straight overhangs, and fully suspended islands. Learning to print objects on a 3D Printer that require support structures will dramatically expand the potential of your printer and give you the confidence to undertake printing tasks that perhaps you had previously avoided. It would seem though that nature doesn't like to follow design guidelines like the "45 Rule," the idea that overhanging surfaces should not exceed 45 degrees thus avoiding the need to use support (a guideline Makerbot seems to live by); and many of the most compelling objects to print require the use of support.
Filament Tolerances is a subject that doesn't get much discussion, yet is arguably the most important quality to look for when choosing a plastic supplier.
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