I have been testing a new filament with the library 3D printer. Our Dremel 3D45 is designed for proprietary spools, so I needed to first print an adapter to use standard 2kg spools, and then acknowledge I was voiding a (long-expired) warranty before it would let me select custom settings.
Fortunately, the OVV3D tri-color PLA I used included suggested nozzle and bed temperatures, and everything basically worked right out of the box. Yay! No troubleshooting! The result was this iridescent model of a tentacled monstrosity I can use in my Dungeons & Dragons campaign. I might use it with an Aboleth stat block or some other creepy-crawly big bad for this story arc. It has a 0.2mm layer height and 2 perimeters. I can't recall whether I used 15% or 20% infill.
Silk PLA is interesting stuff. The presentation is amazing, much better in person than what I can show with my cell phone photography skills. This has a blend of blue, green, and orange that takes on a coppery hue. I like it. This also seems a bit more flexible and resilient to bending than the more brittle Dremel-branded PLA, so that may offer some benefits. The spool was also very well wound, and I had zero binding or tangling issues despite the jury-rigged feed system I had to use.
However, I am unimpressed with its behavior for anything functional. I've had some issues with layers not adhering and models splitting despite looking like a solid print. It also swells almost to the original 1.75mm diameter shortly after extruding from the 0.4mm hot end nozzle whenever I change filament or clear a clog. It doesn't seem to affect the printed model, but I wouldn't trust it for anything requiring dimensional precision. Finally, it just feels more fragile, though I haven't done anything scientific to actually test its resistance to being crushed.
Have you used "silk PLA" or other PLA-adjacent filaments? What did you like, and what did you hate?
I've been having trouble getting back in the swing of writing serious posts, and tackling controversial topics while trying to be fair and balanced is no easy thing. You get a soft topic as filler (15% or 20%?) while I try to hash out tough topics behind the scenes and wrestle them into a coherent essay.
