# Good translucent/clear plastic for the mini

**URL:** <https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793>\
**Category:** Filament\
**Created:** [January 17, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793 "2016-01-17T14:32:24Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Electron752](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Electron752](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Electron752)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 2:32pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793/1 "2016-01-17T14:32:24Z")

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I was wondering if anybody has any opinions on what a good translucent/clear plastic to 3D print on the mini is. I’ve tried T-Glass and more recently polycarbonate. I’m a bit disappointed in both of them. Neither one is very clear(they have a very milky color when printed). The T-Glass isn’t very strong although the polycarbonate appears to be stronger. The polycarbonate tends to twist easily and spring off the roll while printing.

I’ve had my mini for about a year now and have had success with ABS. Just haven’t found anything good that’s clear yet…

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**Author:** ![CoParaTech](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/forum.lulzbot.com/coparatech/32/82_2.png) [@CoParaTech](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/CoParaTech)\
**Post date:** [January 17, 2016, 11:15pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793/2 "2016-01-17T23:15:03Z")

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I have been using a translucent blue PETG from eSun. It’s not very clear but comes out very strong and has a nice look to it, but I’m not trying to make clear objects. I have’t tried their clear yet. ScottW posted a .pdf with his settings for different filaments including T-Glase, which is similar to PETG, for use in Simplify3D but maybe it will be useful to you. It has different settings under T-Glase for strength and for clarity. Hopefully he doesn’t mind me sharing this, I found them very useful.

[http://www.lastband.com/Lulzbot\_Mini\_v2\_Universal\_S3D\_Profile.pdf](http://www.lastband.com/Lulzbot_Mini_v2_Universal_S3D_Profile.pdf)

Also, here is more specific info about printing clarity of T-Glase from the manufacturer website:

[http://taulman3d.com/t-glase-features.html](http://taulman3d.com/t-glase-features.html)

Hope that helps a bit.

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**Author:** ![kcchen\_00](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9dc877/32.png) [@kcchen\_00](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/kcchen_00)\
**Post date:** [January 18, 2016, 4:49am UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793/3 "2016-01-18T04:49:47Z")

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Given the nature of FDM printers, I doubt you’ll get clear parts… the layer after layer of extruded filament will create the cloudiness, unfortunately.

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**Author:** ![Electron752](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f0a364/32.png) [@Electron752](https://forum.lulzbot.com/u/Electron752)\
**Post date:** [January 19, 2016, 2:40pm UTC](https://forum.lulzbot.com/t/good-translucent-clear-plastic-for-the-mini/2793/4 "2016-01-19T14:40:21Z")

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I kind of figured that the layer boundaries would make it hard to get clear. I also know that even with a traditional mold that it can be very difficult to get clear with some plastics needing a vacuum chamber.

What I was hoping for was some information like CoParaTech gave out that maybe some materials where good enough to be usable or that changing some of the settings would improve things. Such as increasing the print temperature or changing the layer height at the expense of sharp lines on the object.