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Filament for 3D Printers

We sell plastic filaments for RepRap, RapMan, UP! Printer, Makerbot and similar 3D printers. Our standard filament is made from PLA, a plastic sourced from biomass rather than from oil. It is biodegradable, recyclable and non-toxic.

A range of 3D printer filaments in a variety of colours...

...for 3mm, 1.75mm and other diameters, in PLA and ABS, in rolls and spools.

STD Natural PLA - clear. No artificial colourings. Printed objects look like spun sugar. Used for making mould cores as it will completely vapourise on strong heating.

STD Pure White. The whitener (and our other opaque pigments) makes the plastic slightly stiffer, resulting in better defined output.

STD Black, gloss finish.

STD Luminous. Glows for a while after exposure to visible or UV light.

STD Honda Red

STD Kawasaki Green

STD Yellow

STD Kawasaki Lime

Sky Blue

Purple

Pink

Dark Brown

Note: Standard (STD) colours are colour matched across batches. Non-standard and custom colours are done as a best-effort match unless a colour matching service is paid for.

We usually supply filament in loose, bagged coils of approximately 100 metres in length (325 feet) and weighing roughly between 0.75 - 0.9kg (1 3/4 - 2lb) depending on the composition. The nominal diameter is 2.9mm, and it is designed to pass down a 3.0 - 3.2 mm extruder barrel. Each roll is approximately 380mm in diameter and 40mm thick.

We can also provide 500m and 750m spools on request. We stock 1.75mm diameter filament, and can supply filament in ABS. Our standard prices in New Zealand dollars, exclusive of shipping, packaging and GST are:

3mm Luminous PLA is NZ$63 for 100m. Special colours and effects can be catered for in batches of 5 rolls or more. Please ask for a quote.

We ship world-wide from New Zealand. For non-Kiwis, this usually means using slowboat mail (up to 30 working days) with no tracking to keep the costs down. Please ask us to price your order on an individual basis but postage for orders outside the Pacific cost roughly NZ$150-200 for 10 off 100m x 3mm rolls.

When using it in your extruder, note that PLA softens at a relatively low temperature, below the boiling point of water. We generally extrude it at between 180^oC (320^oF) and 190^oC (340^oF). Clear PLA is suitable as the core for investment castings, as the plastic vapourises leaving no char. It will not biodegrade unless properly composted.

PLA has a relatively low viscosity, requiring less extrusion force than, say ABS. Please ensure that your extruder sections are clamped together tightly to avoid leakage and expansion issues.

For more details on PLA see Wikipedia. We suggest PLA be considered first as it is much kinder to the environment.