Biome3D filament was released by 3Dom USA on Tuesday and we’ve been testing it ourselves, as well as having other outside testing done. We’ve been printing on nearly every machine we can, LulzBot, Makerbot, Flashforge and SeeMeCNC. Numerous test prints later, we’ve got a few observations:
- Surface finish is not shiny per se, as much as a “pearl” or sheen.
- Very tough – it can take a beating.
- Very strong layer-to-layer adhesion. In fact, if you’re printing a raft with Biome3D, you’ll have to increase the distance between your raft and your part, otherwise separating the two will be difficult.
- Biome3D is a bio-based plastic, so there is not nearly the odor that there is with ABS, it even has less of an odor than standard PLA.
- We bumped our print temperatures down at least 10 degrees from where we print with PLA when printing with Biome3D because it has good melt flow characteristics.
- It is a great plastic to work with, but also has real beneficial mechanical properties. There is a Technical Data Sheet you can download from the 3Dom USA website here.
Extra: Our in-house engineer has developed a Makerbot 5th Gen spool holder that allows you to much more easily use non-Makerbot spools. Find it on our Thingiverse page or if you can’t print it yourself but would still like one, we’ll print it for you! Find it here.
In this week’s podcast, we go into a lot more detail about Biome3D, new 3D printing filament materials and as always, have a few tips to share.