There’s nothing super special about this print in particular compared to what people usually post here, just a simple Santa figurine requested by a makerspace patron. However, it’s made from 100% pure PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate), a natural polyester byproduct of common soil bacteria. Unlike PLA, it is fully home compostable. It can break down in any biome, in a very reasonable timeframe. Also unlike PLA, you can make it by feeding the bacteria stuff like old fast food fryer oil, and other waste products. The print settings are pretty similar to PLA, but it has some significant differences in material properties, like being less brittle.

There aren’t a whole lot of people making 100% PHA filaments, but if you can find it, definitely give it a shot! It’s our staple filament at the makerspace I work in. Hopefully this doesn’t sound too much like an ad or something, I just really like this stuff and want it to catch on.

Oh also! The flexible version looks and feels really neat if you run it through a vibratory tumbler: A rubbery black object, some kind of gasket, that looks like it's been coarsely sanded

  • Remy Rose@piefed.socialOPEnglish
    20·
    17 days ago

    The thing about the warping is, while most settings are nearly exactly the same as with PLA, there’s a few things that have to be the exact opposite. Once you get done fiddling with it, it actually prints like a dream. We even use it as our default material unless somebody requests otherwise. If it was unprintable, we wouldn’t be able to do that. Some stuff we’ve learned:

    • Bed temp turned completely off!
    • Use a fresh layer of a good 3d printing adhesive. (If your adhesive is heat activated, 35C should roughly be enough to activate without messing with the PHA)
    • If you have an enclosure, open it up as much as possible. I noticed I have a lot more warping in my enclosed printer than my unenclosed one.
    • Try out a few different fan settings. I personally have better luck with less fan.
    • Put a big giant brim on it. Maybe even one made out of a different material than the object itself, if you’ve got dual extrusion.
    • The higher the infill percentage and the more solid bottom layers there are, the more it will warp. So avoid that where possible.
    • Most slicers probably already print the first layer at a chunkier line width than the nozzle size, but feel free to jack up the line width even more.
    • Set the first layer pattern to concentric or Hilbert curve, evens out the distribution of forces that cause warping.
    • Finally, if all else fails… Rotate the object until it’s sitting on a really impractical edge, then print it in sort of a “cradle” of support material. BVOH or PVA if you’ve got it. Basically make as little of it touch the build plate as possible? I don’t like this option because it requires dual extrusion and is pretty wasteful.

    That all probably sounds pretty extreme but honestly these are worst case scenarios? Normally it just works. Maybe part of this also comes down to the fact that all the people making it have been refining their product for a while now to deal with the notorious warpy-ness, so it’s just not as bad as it used to be. We’ve used every brand we can find, Colorfabb’s AllPHA, Beyond Plastic’s BioPHA, Bosk’s Regen, they’re all pretty comparable. Here’s a vid of another PHA print in progress right now, one where we really didn’t even follow most of those tips above, and it’s going fine. It’s the second one of these.

    • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
      81·
      17 days ago

      Yeah you’re right, that really doesn’t sound like it’s anywhere remotely close to as easy as printing as PLA.

      • Remy Rose@piefed.socialOPEnglish
        51·
        17 days ago

        I disagree, but sometimes… difficult things are worth doing? It’s not like we randomly decided to use it for no reason afterall.

        • ExcessShiv@lemmy.dbzer0.comEnglish
          71·
          17 days ago

          Compared to just selecting a printing temp around roughly 200C, setting plate to 60C and putting cooling on full blast, which is what almost all PLA prints well with IME, PHA seems much more finicky from what you’re describing. I’m not saying it’s not worth it, but it sounds like it requires much more tuning before you get decent results.

          • Remy Rose@piefed.socialOPEnglish
            5·
            17 days ago

            Ohhh sure yeah, up front it does! There’s definitely some work to get it figured out the first time, that’s very true. It took us a while to iron out the settings. Once you get that stuff worked out though, from then on it’s pretty smooooooth.

    • Remy Rose@piefed.socialOPEnglish
      5·
      17 days ago

      Oh, I should also have mentioned in the original post! Most of these pics/vids are of stuff printed on a low end printer with 0.6mm nozzle, not using high resolution settings. It’s all just stuff our patrons have requested, who are more interested in getting it soon than it looking SUPER nice. It can absolutely be printed with super high detail in mind instead.