Disappearing sources for 2.85

Filament
1

I am wondering where folks are going to get 2.85 filament as more manufacturers are leaving that market.

Most of the filaments in the Lulzbot store are Polymaker, and are fairly expensive.

Polymaker has said they are no longer going to make 2.85 TPU95. What are your experiences with 1.75 TPU95 in a Taz 6? Any special settings needed?

How easy is it to use the NinjaFlex 85A in a Taz 6 with an SE tool head? Does it really require an Aerostruder or Flexystruder tool head? It doesn’t seem to be available in black, anyway.

Polymaker also seems to have stopped making PetG in 2.85. I haven’t purchased PetG for a few years, but printing whistles for folks in Minneapolis has depleted my supply, and again the IC3D on the Lulzbot store seems expensive.

Would it be less expensive in the long run to get a 1.75 tool head for my Taz 6’s?

Thanks for advice and your experiences.

2

I keep an eye on various places for clearance 2.85mm filament. Matterhackers, aliexpress, and a few others.

There’s plenty of reason to move on to 1.75mm, but TPU (and other flexibles in general) works better the thicker it is, so that is one that I wished would stick around at 2.85mm. For everything else, it’s well worth it to move on to 1.75mm.

The SE toolhead is the aerostruder (e3d Titan Aero-based). Same extruder and hotend, just different orientation.

There’s cheap ways to go 1.75mm with the wade extruder on the Taz6, but I would go with the Biqu H2 on a budget to gain the dual-geared extruder.

3

Thanks.

I have run some 1.75 through my Taz 6’s. Usually with good results, but sometimes not.

4

There’s plenty of places to get 2.85 to this day.

Push Plastic

Coex3D

Gizmo Dorks

3D Fuel (appears to be on clearance if you want some deals)

If you absolutely must have Polymaker 2.85, check B&H Photo them seem to be able to order it from Polymaker still.

Atomic Filament and Polar Filament have limited selection of 2.85 but they do have it.

Check eBay for people dumping Ultimaker filament.

Wrathernaut seems skilled at finding 2.85 cheaply on clearance but I usually have no luck apart from the odd spool here and there on eBay or Craigslist. Most of the time it’s “I know what I got” insanity going to more than it’s worth, or its partial spools or spools over a decade old.

My recommendation is Push Plastic, they have a very wide selection of very inexpensive US made 2.85 filament that is freshly made.

Last resort is Lulzbot themselves, they stock a lot of 2.85 but warning - it’s all new old stock.

5

I have getting Polymaker ABS at 2.85mm on Amazon. Much cheaper than other sources.