#what is filament in 3d printing

[snapmaker-store]

What is 3D Printer Filament?

3D printer filament is a crucial material used in additive manufacturing, powering 3D printers to create physical objects layer by layer. It comes in spools and is available in various materials, such as PLA, ABS, PETG, etc. These thermoplastic polymers are heated and extruded through the Printer's nozzle, solidifying rapidly to build intricate 3D models. Each filament type possesses unique characteristics like strength, flexibility, and temperature resistance, making them suitable for diverse applications. As an essential component of the 3D printing process, selecting the suitable filament is essential to achieve optimal results in creating custom prototypes, functional parts, and artistic creations. Visit eu.snapmaker.com and explore various options for 3D filament printers.

[madisans-oregano]

THEY ARE IN THE 3RD DIMENSION >:D I 3D printed Kris from Deltarune!

[solradguy]

I am very aware of the comical situation I've ended up in where I've both spent an absurd amount of money on a custom red leather jacket and how I have become "guy that makes absurd weapons using technology that borders on insane magic." I know. Daisuke Ishiwatari lovingly hand carved this niche within which I have crawled and made my home

[thebluestbluewords]

“I made it with my 3D printer” — Carlos accurately representing printer nerds everywhere

(I hate the ship name, but I actually think they’re the most normal high school couple in this movie- not everyone can come out in high school! Some people take longer! It’s all fine!)

[joosss]

That's what polyester is, so unless that's phased out this is not worse. If it stops people throwing away clothes while using the same materials, it might even be better.

"3D printing clothes so they can be custom made to fit you" TAILORS THEYRE FUCKING CALLED TAILORS AND THEY DON'T NEED TO WORK WITH MELTED PLASTIC

[dieinct]

I was just talking about this "mass handmade cookie cutter product" phenomenon, I was just at a con with four discreet 3d printer booths all of whom had the exact same articulated dragon with roses on it's back? and I literally own one of these at a small scale it's adorable i like the model quite a lot, but like. it's a $4 STL file online, the filaments are $20 each on amazon, once you buy the printer you can just print them in any size forever and charge whatever people will buy because they don't realize the seller has don't like. none of the design or labor involved in producing this item, despite the fact that they did factually make it themselves on a small enough scale that it's not out of place at a handmade maker con. it's odd.

IT MAKES ME FEEL LIKE I AM INSANE. IT MAKES ME FEEL OUT OF TOUCH WITH CONSENSUS REALITY!!!! like it's not the same as dropshipped items bc i think those should just flatout not be allowed without VERY clear signposting - like if you are selling mass produced notions for other people's creative products you should be legally required to state who your supplier is so ppl can look up how much you're upmarking shit, bc like. there IS a market for "the factory sells those buttons in batches of 100 and i only need 5, so i'll pay a little more for a middleman to have purchased the batch of 100 and handle all the inventory" like that is a service that makes sense. to have exist. but ohhhhh my fucking god.

but what you're describing is really true, i think there's a mix between like... i know small artists who sell stuff at markets and cons and stuff pay a table fee, so they want to make back what they spent on that, and so it makes sense to want to be sure that some of what you're making is going to sell, and maybe it even makes sense to do what you describe - buy an STL file, print off some proven winners.

but from the buyers' perspective, it means that half the art markets i go to are full of enamel pins that say CAT MOM and stickers about liking avocados and pride flag keychains, bc that's what sells, and anything that's original sits unsold - or it's more expensive bc it wasn't mass-produced and had higher labor costs, so it takes longer to move... so ppl stop stocking or bringing it... and it's like if all of this is the same why am i even here. T_T

[charmsponies]

🩷💚 Custom Fizzy Takara Doll 💚🩷

Created using the 3d model made by Otteroflore!

Wip description and pics below the cut ^^

So I am a COMPLETE AND TOTAL NOOB when it comes to technology. and I made a lot of mistakes trying to print this Fizzy due to my own incompetence and also everyone online assuming you already kinda know something about 3d printing if you own a printer. We recieved a 3d printer as a gift and I knew Nothing about it so I reallly struggled trying to figure it out. Also my computer is ancient and had to download a like 5 year old out of date version of a 3d printing program (cura) to even get it to work. took an entire week and several failed tries T-T

FINALLY we got an attempt that was salvageable! And had to rip out all of the support beams from it. But even then there were some major mistakes:

It did not print hollow. Nobody online explained that if you want it to be hollow it wasn’t enough that the model itself had hollow parts, you have to turn off a hole setting in cura and mess with the infill or something

For some reason the bodies were Very Fucked Up? The middle and sides printed Weirdly to where, once the supports were all removed, They had no sides/shoulders. Wuh oh.

The way I combatted this was by taking extra filament plastic and a soldering iron gun to weald it on and do literal plastic surgery.

(A before and after) it looks like complete ass and is a little janky but. please be kind to her it was a major operation 😭😭😭

Then sanded things down a bit more. I know people say to sand it down until you can’t see the lines anymore but im an impatient motherfucker and only had a little bit of sandpaper so :P

Then it was painting time! Used my own fizzy to color match, painted her green with a white nose and a milkshake cutiemark. I also glued stick on gems into her eye sockets

Then the hairing! Used a sewing needle heated up with a lighter to easily poke holes into her skull! The lovely user minticat on Mlptp provided great reference images of what a takara’s hair length and hair holes look like, so I did my best to mimic that

Her hair is the closest color matches for fizzy that Shimmerlocks had: Cotton Candy pink, Angel white, Heart Throb 2.0 pink and Gusty green. Now the head isnt actually all that hollow (I hollowed it out best I could with my soldering iron but still not the best) so I couldn’t use the usual hairing method where you punch the hair in and then glue it from inside. I realized I needed to attach glue to the hair itself and then get it into the holes.

At first I was too much of a scardey cat to use my actual hairing needle in fear it would break on the plastic, so I tried a very infuriating method of putting glue on hair strands and painstakingly trying to push them into the holes with a pin. This was awful. I quickly gave up, braved up and grabbed my rehairing needle. Punched the hair in after applying glue to the hair, and it worked out surprisingly well!

All that was left was to 1) String the doll using elastic bands to tie the legs and arms into place but still make sure they were moveable. 2) GENTLY trim, wash and style the hair (using buggys special method of getting tiny curly curls. 3) Figure out the head

I originally wanted to make a neckplug for her out of clay as you see here but it didnt work too well. The plastic of the doll is much harder than the clay and it kept breaking after trying to put the head on. So I accepted I would have to glue the head on in place (It cant turn, unlike the arms and legs 😔) You can also see i used some clay to patch up a crack in the plastic that formed (which I had to paint over again)

FINAL STEP was making the dress!!! I forgot to take ANY pictures of that ùwú Not that pictures would be useful to you guys as I kinds fuckin winged it and made up a pattern as I went. I think its adorable, but in the future I would make it a little bigger (the back doesnt fit quite right). Maybe if theres interest I’ll fix up the pattern so its better and share another doll dress tutorial with the class? 😳 sound off in the comments below haha

[heavysplatlingyaoi]

INTEREST CHECK

i have been cooking up these golden egg "snow" globes for about a year now. they consist of two 3d printed parts (the fish and the float) and a plastic globe filled with glitter. the eggs can be removed from the float to be shaken up.

the one thing keeping me from putting these in my shop is... i've never sold anything like this before. i don't know a good price for them... while 3d printer filament is cheap, they take about a total of 6 hours to print both the float and the fish. as well as multiple hours of sanding, and waiting for paint/glue to dry. it takes me a few weeks to make just one.

i plan on offering different float colors in the future and maybe a little flag on the side, like the liferings in-game. but as for now, the only options i'd offer are net or no net.

to those who are interested, what price would you buy these for? (in $USD)

[chromatophorium]

I finished making new gear for a hypothetical Agent 4 storymode!

(Text on the back of the hypothetical box): As the head of security of Project Memverse, Agent 4 has been tasked to track down the Octolings still on the loose in the Deepsea Metro! Together with a recently reformed C.Q. Cumber, they will have to explore behind the scenes of Kamabo Co. to find and secure the victims of sanitization!

Using the Caught Shot, Agent 4 will have to subdue the Octolings that are still under Tartar's hostile programing! After that, they will have to transport their quarry to the goal using Containment Tank! Said goal is the Memverse entry room, housed in a modified train car. The SeaCURE.ity gear set will help them stand up against the immense pressure; both of the responsibility on their shoulders and the offensive launched against them by what remains of Kamabo Co! And of course the literal pressure, as they travel deeper and deeper into unknown waters...

(design notes under the cut)

C.Q. Cumber: The last two story modes have had a companion I thought it would be cool to use C.Q. Cumber! (Did you know it’s not just one individual?) C.Q. is one of the only characters with dialogue not to return in Splatoon 3, and he looks throwable! So, l would maybe make him be a portable bounce-pad, who returns to you when you jump on him. You could also make him the thing used for Broken-Armor Jump, if that’s a mechanic you’d want to return. He is wearing the hat from a plush zapfish!

Containment Tank: Based on a coffee machine, since the Spawners in Splatoon 3 are based on expresso machines! The jug that contains the octoling “ghost” is also based on a snow globe, since Octavio was contained by one in Splatoon 1 and 2!

Caught Shot: Based on a retro coffee grinder, to fit in with the tank’s theme! (Like the Splatoon 3 Hero Shot was based on a 3D printer (the fully upgraded one has a filament reel) and there were 3D printed monuments in Alterna.) The name is a play on their task, catching octolings, and hotshot, since Agent 4 is rumored to be the strongest in the squidbreak splatoon, and it's apparently also the name of an alcoholic coffee drink (I don't drink coffee or alchohol, so I didn't know that). Also following the naming convention of single-player shooters; Hero Shot, Octo Shot and Order Shot.

Earmuggs: Did you know the handles of mugs are called ears? Now you do! I included a cup-handle motif by the ears, and the springy thing is inspired by the edge of coffee presses.

Baristanorak: This is based of a coffee barista look, with an apron! The reflectors on the green part is meant to mimic the straps. I also kept the collar the same as Agent 4's canon outfit, since I think it's a big part of why I like their design. The wrist sweatbands are there to tie into the texture of the socks, and cuz I thought It gives the outfit a more recognizable silhouette.

Step-it-cups: They're actually just Luminous Delta Straps with the branding removed, don't tell anyone! Well, I guess it is keeping in tradition, since Agent 4's canon jacket is super similar to the Olive Ski Jacket, which was present in Splat 1 (and my favorite gear in that game).

[artwithteggy]

Introducing Delilah, my latest 3D printed project just in time for Halloween. 🦆🎃 She's a customisable duck with interchangeable accessories like a witch’s hat, pumpkin hat, gravestone, candy basket, and ghost costume. I had a blast exploring different filament colours to give her personality, and I’m really proud of how she turned out.

What excites me most is the potential for Delilah to evolve beyond just Halloween. I'll be designing seasonal accessories (like Christmas, Easter, and even Valentine’s Day) so she can be a year-round creative piece.

This project has been a great exploration of modular design and I’m looking forward to seeing how I can push these concepts further. Let me know your thoughts 💀✨

If you're interested in my models, you can check them out here at my Cults3d online store.

[britcision]

So it’s weird to come back a couple years after you leave a place and see how it’s changed, right?

In my first year of college, a group of friends and I were the first iteration of our college’s Makers Club. The tech teachers helped us get set up, taught us to apply for funding, got us a room for meetings

And, y’know, for most of the year what we in the club had access to was the room, a projector, and the xbox one of the members brought in for our weekly Smash Bros tournament

(Before the xbox came in the Makers Club did vitally important and scientific activities like taping a member to a chair with painter’s tape to see how easily he could break out)

And as we did the budget request, we all made jokes about stupid things we could buy, because we needed to have an itinerary of everything we wanted to submit with the budget, and the teachers advised us to ask at least double what we actually wanted

(So, 10’ diamond coated charger cables, better tape, a 3D printer to print a trophy for the winner of the tournament each week, etc.)

It was basically a lunch club, almost entirely of people from our software development classes, where we all hung out and dicked around

I graduated a couple years later, and the year after that snuck back to the Maker’s Club because we’d finally gotten a 3D printer the year I graduated and I wanted to get a sneaky print cuz we charged for the filament and not much else

And gang

I saw this club when we had A Room

We didn’t even claim it full time for two years there were still other classes in it

I saw it when we had one printer, when the coolest thing we could buy was a programmable robot kit for one of those cute lil guys you can program to move his cube around and we all had to share one

The goddamn budget request must have gone through as we all fucking left, because the next year they had not just the room permanently set aside, but the closet next door set up with TWO 3D printers and a laser cutter

I booped in and out over the next year too, mostly for curiosity (and to use the printers cuz the people now running the club were members when I’d been a founder and so long as none of us admitted I wasn’t paying tuition anymore it was fair game)

The last time I saw it, they had FOUR 3D printers, two laser cutters, three more craft machines I didn’t recognize, a working fume hood, and one guy had used club resources to build a working robot hand and was teaching it to pick locks

It was. It was amazing. It was a proper, actual piece of school infrastructure, providing benefits to the whole student body

And I was there when we just played Smash and helped each other with our homework

[hewkii]

Acht (Dedf1sh) Cosplay Rundown

feel free to copy or take inspiration :]

assembly instructions and print settings/materials for 3d printed parts are on thingiverse (headphones) (other parts)

models designed by me are in brackets in the materials list

Hat/Tentacles

black trucker hat with blank white front panel

[dedstencil.stl]

fabric paint

shiny indigo fabric

less shiny white fabric

glow-in-the-dark pigment powder

polyfill

metal marbles (to weight the ends so they hang properly)

two of [octosucc.obj] in different sizes

acrylic paint

conveniently enough i've had this hat hanging on my door for years. i got it with N from pokemon in mind but i never actually did that cosplay ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

here are the sketches i based my patterns on (1 square=1 cm). don't forget to add seam tolerances

Headphones

full details on thingiverse (mudmouth not included)

Arms

mesh bolero with built-in gloves

rit dye

fabric paint

10 of [finger_claw_vase.stl] in varying sizes

i wear claws under the gloves, but sometimes i'll wind up taking them off after a while since they can get uncomfortable and they make it hard to use my phone :/

Bracelet

[acht_bangle_vase.stl]

acrylic paint

glow-in-the-dark pigment powder

glossy clear coat

a cut up mello yello bottle

packing tape

eva foam

Misc. Doodads

red mirror shades

color chips

necklace chain

[acht_tag_jelleton.stl]

[acht_tag_ident.stl]

[acht_tag_hook.obj]

did you know that acht gives eight a mobility chip in the trailer but a power chip in the actual game? bc i didn't notice until after i'd already finished making the mobility one. so i've got a spare chip i guess

the dogtags were kind of a spur-of-the-moment creative liberty. i had the jelleton one sitting around from some experiments with composite filaments, and while i was brainstorming a way to incorporate acht's cool fish hook into the cosplay without needing to actually get my ears pierced it all sorta clicked together. i made the ident tag shortly afterwards and swiftly forgot what the text says :P

the rest of it

dress tunic thingy

metal eyelets

red string

camo pants

combat boots

i skimped on accuracy in favor of comfort for the lower half ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ the dress is more of a shirt, i added comfy pants bc i hate wearing colored tights (or god forbid painting my thighs green), and shorter boots bc more accurate ones are expensive as hell. plus any heel higher than this makes walking feel like playing qwop (skill issue). speaking of which does it bug anybody else how long acht's feet are on their in-game model or is that just me

idk if it counts as part of the cosplay but i also add a leather jacket when my arms get cold. i think it goes hard

To-Do:

ink the shaved streaks onto the hairnet

swap out the red leather cord for something less stiff

see if beans would work better than marbles

hand bandages?

single pointy tooth?

make a pre-sanitized version so i don't have to scrub off face paint every time

[dangerous-ladies]

By now, you probably know that 3D printed cosplay props are made from plastic, which produces quite a bit of waste. So, if you are an environmentally conscious cosplayer, it's only fair to ask what steps Dangerous Ladies is taking as a business to cut down on plastic waste, and what materials we are choosing in order to lessen our impact on the environment.

Here at Dangerous Ladies, we primarily print with Polylactic Acid (PLA) filament. PLA is a thermoplastic polyester that is derived from renewable resources. In our case, eSun PLA+ (our preferred filament) is manufactured with corn starch! This means it is biodegradable and recyclable.

You read that right. PLA is recyclable… but it has a catch!

Take a look at our blog on sustainability and cosplay on our website!

[therobotmonster]

Sculpt as Play Feature

While the last several weeks have been very bad for my pain levels and general state, I've lucked out in that the hand pain has been minimal and my brain has decided sculpting is its preferred stim for the moment. So lets hit some previews of stuff I've got in the pipe.

Turtles of Grayskull Mekanek is... baffling. I mean, what's the reference? Is it some kind of snapping turtle armor? But part of being a toy customizer-enabler is fixing mis-steps by the official companies.

So I'm making bits to turn Mek-a-Nek into a mutant giraffe like I mis-predicted here, because c'mon!

This sculpt is in-process. I already have a neural-expression version sculpted, so this is the playmates-style variant. One thing I love about playmates' TMNT work (esp in the old days) is the classic assymetrical face sculpt, because especially on characters with long muzzles, it can get you three expressions in one head sculpt depending on how you look at the toy.

I'm going to add the tongue, possibly lolling out the left side of the muzzle, and a lot of other mods I'm sure. The current plan is to offer a pack with several variant heads (basic giraffe, wearing Mek-A-Nek helmet & goggles, and Halfcourt, with neck-extensions and a basketball hoop collar-piece for Halfcourt builds.

Minor variants are pretty easy to implement in 3d sculpts, so if I have a good idea for one I tend to include it as a bonus.

The Mutant Cringer/Panthor set, for instance, is going to have a bunch of variant options. Here we've got (Cringer/Panthor/TigerMan), BattleCat, TigerClaw/Old Hob (flip left to right), Ninja Cringer (a be-hatted Scratch is likely to follow) and I might do a Dupli-cat/Manx. Of course, since these are basic cat/tiger heads, once colored the options are endless.

On to the Big Stuff:

The Modular Sky-Sled/Doom Buggy Pack is entering final testing.

The Sky Sled was the most commonly used vehicle of the original series, being basic transport for both sides. As such, it makes sense to me that they would be heavily customized and adapted for individual users. Since 3d printing requires assembling the toy anyway, why not make that part of the fun, and provide options?

The pack includes 1 chassis design, 2 each of side guns, hood gun, control yoke, side panels, thruster assemblies, and removable engines. The initial pack also comes with six gargoyles, and at least 3 control panels.

This modular system is going to spawn a lot of vehicles and creatures, with cross-compatibility wherever it works for the release. The control panels, for instance, work with the newly revised (and currently in testing) Verminus Rex:

Who now no longer requires flex filament and has working mandibles that move in unison and numerous sculpt improvements.

Sprin-Tor (very early in development) takes full advantage of the modular system. Sprin-Tor assembles around a wild-west variant sky-skiff, and you can use the base Skysled chassis (and most of the other parts) with the Sprin-Tor parts to make your own variation, and as other vehicles in the series come out, the options expand with each.

He's even got a jingle.

You like this stuff or my general vibe?

My Cults 3d Store, my Patreon, wishlist of stuff I'll make add-ons for, my paypal.me.

[bogleech]

We've had a 3d printer for a year now and only printed a couple things because the possibilities are too vast. How are you supposed to narrow it down and decide what to turn your filaments into. Especially when it can go wrong sometimes. And some things can take like day!

[polychaeteworm]

So I work with a lot of thermoplastic (I don't have a 3d printer yet, I use a heat gun and pellets) and I want everyone who's on the plastic hate train to know and understand a bit o' nuance.

Thermoplastics are generally extremely reusable and recyclable. The thermo plastic I work with is Techleo poly morph and it comes in meltable pellet form, but 3D printing filament uses a similar substance in the thermoplastics family. Other thermoplastic materials include: Worbla products, Polly plastics, and Instamorph.

There's a chemistry part of this I won't bore you with, but the lower the melt temp, usually the weaker the plastic. Worbla requires a higher temp than polymorph for instance. Cold, cured polymorph is softer and more scratchable, where as Worbla isn't.

Anyway-

Please stop getting mad at people with 3D printers because the waste from these printers is absolutely reusable and more importantly: it's easy for a layman to recycle and reuse a thermoplastic at home, now more than ever because of the rise of 3D printers.

Having a recycling plan if you own a 3D printer is a better message to rally behind. Use your 3D printer to recycle what companies won't. Buy recycled filament, create a demand for recycling.

3d printing brings recycling right into your home. Look up how to process bottles into filament and you'll see what I mean. You could make homewares out of your trash easily with just a few extra steps before the print process. A bottle that was cut into a continuous strip, melted into filament and then printed into a knick knack for your shelf is a bottle not in the ocean.

Recycling plastic has now become waaaay more accessible to regular people because of 3d printers. It changes the attitude people have towards recycling as a whole too.

Environmental conversation when it comes to plastic is not entirely an individual responsibility thing as we know and 3d printers are not an enemy. We are having so many more conversations about how to recycle plastic and I know 3d printers are teaching regular people about plastic production and that sets us up with an expectation that companies can do better about waste so they should.

Plastic isn't going away. It is unfortunately a curse of an extremely useful substance with no comparable alternative. Don't hate on plastic indiscriminately, hate on plastic that is not used to its fullest potential. Demand systems of recycling that make sense. Heck, bacteria that can break down plastic is the future right now so maybe artists that create beautiful things with plastic aren't your enemy