Reeltoreel Filament review

Just printed off a couple of test pieces using filament from Sandbrooks (http://reeltoreal.co.nz)

PLA @ 1.75mm (hobby pack..100gm =~ 33m)
So maths says a 1Kg pack =~ 330m(?)
Measured at a consistent 1.72mm throughout the sample. My slic3r settings are geared for the PLA filament from DiamondAge which measures 1.65-1.67mm, so I changed the extrusion multiplier to 0.93 (turned out to be a really good guess)...perfect for the slightly larger filament.

No other slic3r changes required...185deg for the hotend, 60deg for the heatbed, printed direct to clean glass.

I also have a sample of their flexi filament, and I reckon it's about as close to ninjaflex as we'll get without importing ninjaflex. I've had a bit of trouble dealing with the flexibility of it doubling back in the wades extruder, but that's an extruder setup issue, not a filament problem.

So...
A 300m reel from DA @ $95 + 13.80 shipping to Wgtn and GST, total $123.74
vs 1kg pack from reeltoreel @ $42.00 (see maths above) + $6.50 flat rate courier, total $48.50

Not bagging anyone..just using simple math...but it ain't rocket science.

Happy printing.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/21/2014 02:11AM by ShaneH.

I like the idea of the hobby packs.Allows you to have a large range of colours without investing a fortune.

Hold onto your old reels though, the hobby packs are loose spools, so you'll need something to wind them onto unless you want to babysit your print. And yes...absolutely agree with you on that point.

competition is good, at least for the consumer

But did you try the black PLA?
has anyone worked with the 3mm?
I may order a roll and see how that goes, the 3mm only comes in the 1KG rolls Hobby is only listed as 1.75mm

Funny you mention the black pla...had a hell blockage with it yesterday. The infill started to get thinner and perimeters getting scruffy, nek minit....air printing.

Ended up having to replace the ptfe in the hotend, heated it up to ABS temp to cook the blockage out and shove some blue pla through it. Re-ran the print with the blue, no problems.

Flick them an email and see if they'll do a 3mm hobby pack for you. They didn't do the flexi in a hobby pack until I asked if they could...then they did.

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2014 01:21AM by ShaneH.

Hello ShaneH
Strange that the Black filament always tends to give blockage problems.
I had the same problem with the 1.75mm Black filament from Jaycar Electronics but never had a blockage from DiamondAge filament.
Have you had any blockage problems with any of the other colours from reeltoreal?

not strange at all..

Black is nearly all ways all the scraps remelted and died black, like when they transition from one colour to another. not sell-able, unless you remelt and sell as black.

this is why DA has virgin black, its not all the crap but clean black filament

Only tested the blue and black, but planning on getting some more hobby packs over the next few weeks. I've only been in the 3d printing game since Feb this year, so not experienced enough to speculate why I got the blockage, but it's the first I've had to date. For all I know, could have been an error between the seat and the keyboard :-)

Interesting... not much choice in colour, but nice to be able to get 1.75mm locally at currently competative rates.
I don't see any nylon there yet though...
I'm working on a struder, May pay the local plastic factory a visit during my holidays. Currently looking at getting a stiff bristled tooth brush to joggle the pellets away from the part where the auger bit shears against the last of the entry, then I can spin it with a stepper instead of a geared DC motor. Can't see why a single struder can't feed multiple output nozzles... Vik has had time to figure this out I assume.

Anyone tried reeltoreal ABS filament is any good?

I have used the Flexi and PLA from sandbrooks with no issues , but did not have much success with their ABS, anyone else tried their ABS?

So just how "flexi" is the flexi?

How long is a piece of string ?

how would you like me to measure the flexiness of it .. I don't have an hardness gauge

I'm printing with their white 3mm ABS at the moment, haven't had any problems at all (240C on kapton @ 100C). Diameter is close to constant @ 2.9mm

Comparing the elasticity of flexi filament could be as simple as suspending a length of filament from something solid, putting two marks on it say 300mm apart, then suspending a weight or using spring scales (say 1kg) to extend it then measuring the extended length between the two marks. I have some Fenner Drives ninjaflex and their new semiflex filament that I'd be happy to test this way if anyone else wants to compare with their filament. The only other variable to measure is the diameter. With this information we can calculate the elasticity of the material.

---

My Prusa Mendel i2 inspired Repstrap with welded steel frame: [youtu.be]
And my Smartrap derived Briefcase 3D printer: [youtu.be]

ok to make this easy for every one to test.

1kg on a length approx. 200mm long with 2 marks 150mm apart

for those with out a 1Kg weight just fill a plastic bag with 1litre of water

Any comments ?

3mm Ninja red extends from 150mm to 159mm with a 1kg load suspended. Actual diameter (un-stretched) is 2.9mm so Young's Modulus is close to 25 N/mm². See the attached spreadsheet for the calculation and a link to describe it.

Anyone else able to do these measurements on other filament?

---

My Prusa Mendel i2 inspired Repstrap with welded steel frame: [youtu.be]
And my Smartrap derived Briefcase 3D printer: [youtu.be]

the 1.75mm (Actual 1.57 upstretched ) from Sandbrooks (http://reeltoreal.co.nz)

1KG load 150 to 179mm

Young's Modulus is close to 26.21 N/mm².

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 03/15/2015 09:17PM by moth4017.

Model crafts and hobbies in Wellington selling filament for a while now. PLA mostly but also ninjaflex. 3mm and 1.75mm. Ninja flex price per kg cheaper for the 3mm.
Taulman selling a good variety, would be good if someone could import in quantity to NZ. their new 910 filament supposed to be high tensile, high impact strength and shrink rivaling t-glass. I've printed in t-glass (very low shrink, high viscosity though), 618 nylon- quite soft, high shrink, poor interlayer adhesion on my prints so far. I may need to up the temp even higher. Hobbyking nylon, better adhesion, still have to get it very hot though. T-glass will soften like PLA though, it also has a low glass transition temp.
New filaments and suppliers all the time, loving the change from 6 years ago when I'd made a controller board design, printer hardware but couldn't find filament!

Their 1.75mm filament has awesome tensile strength.Pulls out to around 3 x original length from memory, but will try to cut into fingers and overstretch before snapping. Still need to modify my bowden drive to use, I want to print one of my designs to see what happens when I print in NF and fill with water: [www.thingiverse.com]
The multifluted ones should bulge massively when loaded up with water! I did some 300mm high prints in clear PLA.

Not specifically brand related,but I found that the slightly translucent colours seem to be reluctant to stick to the bed.
In particular the unbranded chinese grass green,bought off trade me.
Any thoughts?
(PLA on blue tape with hair spray,185 degrees,bed 50 degrees.)

Try a bit of diluted PVA wiped over the glass.