Filament for Sale Online in South Africa | DIY Geek

There are many types of filament available with different properties, requiring different temperatures to print. It is commonly available in the two standard diameters of 1.75 mm and 2.85 mm.

2.85 mm is sometimes erroneously referred to as “3 mm”, but should not be confused with the less common size that actually measures 3 mm in diameter.

The plastic nurdles are always white or clear. Pigments or other additives are added to the material before it is melted to create coloured ones or ones with special properties, e.g. increased strength or magnetic properties. Before it is extruded the nurdles are heated to 80°C to dry it and reduce water content.

It’s size should not be confused with the nozzle size, and several different combinations of nozzle and filament sizes may be used. One of the most common nozzle sizes is 0.4 mm, while examples of other common sizes includes 0.35 mm and 0.25 mm.

It’s production machines use the same method as FDM 3D printers of pushing it through the extruder to create the correct diameter. There are several of these machines available as both open source plans and commercially available machines, these include Recyclable, Filastruder and Multistruder.

The process of transforming 3D printing filament into a 3D model

1. The filament is fed into the FDM 3D printer.
2. The thermoplastic is heated past their glass transition temperature inside the hotend.
3. The filament is extruded and deposited by an extrusion head onto a build platform where it cools.
4. The process is continuous, building up layers to create the model.