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.
Dec 5, 2012 : Please note that this post contains out of date information and is in need of revision. May we suggest these other fine links?
The Differences Between ABS and PLA
3D Printer Filament Buyers Guide
These days there are a number of personal 3D Printers to choose from. Personal, hobby, open-source, accessible, desktop, or whatever else you want to call them; they are a new breed of 3D Printers. A 3D Printer you can own and operate in your own home, producing before your eyes anything you can imagine with materials an order of magnitude cheaper than previous commercial 3D Printers.
Below are some statistics and descriptions of currently available or soon to be released personal 3D printers.
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