Today, one of the leading suppliers of desktop 3D printers, Afinia, has announced the addition of their own premium PLA filament to their online store.
I must admit that the Afinia H-Series printers are some of the best consumer level 3D printers on the market. The resolution and print quality is right up there with the best of them. While the build volume is smaller than most devices, Afinia’s printers can produce objects with very little in terms of noticeable layer differentiation.
Afinia has already been selling premium ABS filament for over a year, but this latest addition now provides their customers even more choices, when it comes to materials to use for 3D printing.
“Afiniacs are an enthusiastic and creative bunch, and they have asked us to add PLA filament to our line-up,” explained Afinia’s Vice President, John Westrum. “In our experience, 3rd party manufactured PLA filaments do not print consistently and have issues with brittleness, nozzle clogging, and bridging or spider webbing that can leave users disappointed with the results. Our Premium PLA filament was engineered to mitigate these common issues and to give a great printing experience. One of the biggest problems with PLA is the removal of raft and support material from the model. The new Afinia Premium PLA comes away clean leaving the user with a beautiful, glossy model.”
It’s nice to see more and more companies creating their own filament, and standing by its quality. The new PLA filament is fully-supported by their 3D printers (The H480 as well as the H479), and there is a software update for these machines, in order to support printing with the new material. Currently there are 3 colors available – green, blue and gray. Coming this fall, however, 3 more colors will be added to the store – black, white and natural. While the size of the spools are not mentioned specifically in the store, we have been informed that they are 700 grams (0.7 KG) each, which is the standard for Afinia printers. They are priced at a reasonable $29.99 per spool.
Do you have an Afinia 3D printer? Have you ever tried a 3rd party PLA filament on it? What were your results? Discuss in the Afinia PLA filament thread on 3DPB.com
