Things you should know about PLA

Everyone can print PLA, it's super easy, right? Well, only because everyone else is printing it, too! PLA comes with its own set of pitfalls, but it can be incredibly rewarding to get it right.

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[davves]

"let your tool cool off between holes" - didn't expect to get the best advice I've ever heard from a european man in a flower shirt.

[DPrintingNerd]

I absolutely LOVE that you said, "Some people have only printed in PLA, and that's okay."

[littleraptor]

"it is absolutely no shame dropping to 40mm/s"


me, at 30mm/s: why you bully me?

[pauligrossinoz]

As a purely practical issue, *I recommend marking ever PLA filament spool with the temperature that you have find most suits it, * so that your slicer profile can be matched to the roll you select to print with.

Most people will end up with many partial spools of PLA, and it gets hard to remember the temperature that suits each spool.

I have a black spool that prints best at 190, a white spool that prints best at 235, a pink spool at 220, blue at 205, etc, etc, all marked on the spool itself so that a I don't have to remember anything other than to slice at a temperature that matches that spool.

[byteborg]

Thanks for the valuable hints on printing and finishing PLA. As for the drilling, I use "friction drilling" with PLA very often. Just run the drill in the opposite direction, ccw. The tip of the drill bit will heat up the contact area in front and melt a hole through the material. With the right speed and pressure the drilled hole will have solid sides and be much more stable than when drilled normally.

[cawright]

Just got my first printer a monoprice select mini v2 and been watching videos to get started. By far one of the best production quality video on how to work with PLA. THANK YOU

[bravojr]

This man casually savages his prints.
Respect

[MartianDanTheMartianMan]

2:23 "Printing temerature" Must be a quality product

[MiggyManMike]

Oh Tom, that shirt, and a roll of screaming pink, a match made in heaven :D

[Bakamoichigei]

When I got my printer like three years ago, I started out using mostly ABS... And while I really loved that stuff, I eventually turned to PLA for the ease of use. Though there was a while where I printed everything I could in PETG...which I still do whenever I need something with suitable mechanical properties. PETG is a great compromise between good finish, outstanding mechanical properties, and ease of printing. :D

[deanstick]

I've been using Esun PLA Plus and it is much stronger and less brittle than standard PLA. The layer adhesion is also incredibly good.

[infinitepower]

5:08 "simply let your tool cool off between holes"

[statorworksrobotics]

I've ordered my first few parts online and I'm just blown away by how good and resilient PLA is.
I thought it would be flimsy plastic like the PE on milk jar caps. Nothing further from the truth, this thing approaches Nylon in toughness! I just can't break the small parts with my hands, definitely functional for many applications.
The low price of the parts also blew me away!!

[MarkWheadon]

"You can never go wrong with a screaming pink, right?" 😂

[OriginalUsername]

When i first started printing i thought PLA was save the whales garbage but i realized that it's good enough even for functional prints. It's super cheap too. Great video as usual!

[just_cayte]

@4:17 add: And sometimes your 3d printer decides that just because it printed one part of your project perfectly, that doesn't mean it has to print the other part the exact same. Noooo, why would you expect that?!? Because nothing had changed? Too bad! Same PLA filament, same temps, same setup, same everything! Yep. Sometimes using PLA, consistency is not. grrr!!

Except for this one missing part--great vid. Thanks!

[AlexKenis]

NICE! I would have liked to have seen a blurb on friction welding, since that works pretty well for PLA's low melting temp. I have been using that qiote a bit lately. Glad you mentioned acetone bonding but left out the more toxic solvent bonding agents.

[VladOnEarth]

I actually love PLA+ for it’s matte finish. I can’t print any PLA with matte finish at all. PHA/PLA prints very nicely with matte finish.

[brocktechnology]

Just finished building my interpretation of Dolly and I am currently Tuning it for PLA, perfectly serendipitous timing.

[foamformbeats]

Also if you are using a larger drill bit on a thinner wall the horizontal layers can split apart