Here’s A Twist On “Specialty 3D Printer Filaments”

By on April 26th, 2016 in materials

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 Some of Philae Mignon's wide-diameter filaments
Some of Philae Mignon’s wide-diameter filaments

The market is getting very crowded for 3D print filament marketers and one way to get noticed is to specialize. 

There seems to be more sources for 3D printer filament appearing every week. From the long-time vendors we’re all familiar with, there have been many new entrants into the market, ranging from regional plastics companies that wish to introduce a new product line, to huge multi-national chemical corporations that want in on the increasing 3D printer market. 

It’s thus a very tough market, and the players are battling for visibility. One way to do this is to specialize in some way, setting a noticeable expectation for clients and prospective clients.  

Some companies focus on ultra-high quality, while others may be known for very low-priced product, or perhaps excellent customer service. Others may boast of holding large collections of unusual 3D print material. 

But one approach we recently saw was new. Philae Mignon is a new supplier of 3D printer filament but their specialization is curating only wide-diameter filaments. 

They sell only filaments having diameters near 3.00mm, specifically 3.00, 2.90 and 2.85mm formats. There are no 1.75mm filaments available from Philae Mignon, only the large diameters. 

These larger-diameter filaments are typically used in older desktop 3D printers or Bowden extruder-equipped models. The reasoning for this is that the thicker filament is stiffer and more able to withstand lengthy pushes from the Bowden extruder towards the distant hot end, whereas 1.75mm filament is more likely to bend or twist under such forces.  

Thus, Philae Mignon hopes to be your source for high quality large diameter 3D printer filament. Their selection is actually pretty decent, with offerings from BotFeeder, ColorFabb, NinjaTek, Proto-Pasta, Taulman3D and Voxel Factory a wide variety of materials, including: ABS, Composite PLA, Glow-in-the-dark, HIPS, Amphora AM3300 Co-polyester, PC-ABS, PLA-PHA, TPE and PETT. 

This specialization seems like a simple thing, but believe me, it is incredibly easy to mistakenly order the wrong diameter filament when you’re quickly browsing through a series of identical-appearing filament images without reading the fine print. Oops! 

With a site like Philae Mignon, such problems go away. 

Via Philae Mignon

By Kerry Stevenson

Kerry Stevenson, aka "General Fabb" has written over 8,000 stories on 3D printing at Fabbaloo since he launched the venture in 2007, with an intention to promote and grow the incredible technology of 3D printing across the world. So far, it seems to be working!