eSun Wood filament

[Jules]

The finished barrel after a bit more sanding - looks like wood to me. (Colored the rings quickly with a Sharpie permanent marker. It took the color very evenly.)

Barrel6.jpg (504.97 KiB) Viewed 12728 times

[jimc]

I downloaded your model. On if these days coming up im going to print and finish one. I want to scale one up to max m2 size i think.

[Tim]

I'm going to do my deck with a pack of Sharpies. May be a lot cheaper that way.

[Jules]

I downloaded your model. On if these days coming up im going to print and finish one. I want to scale one up to max m2 size i think.

It's gonna take a loooooong time if you do it in woodfill, but I'd love to see it done large. (Might be worth it at that.)

[Jules]

I'm going to do my deck with a pack of Sharpies. May be a lot cheaper that way.

Just do me a favor and check it on one of your failed prints first - I'd hate to see you not like it after spending that much time printing a piece.

[jimc]

Na i probably wont use wood. I would rather paint and faux finish it

[Jules]

Na i probably wont use wood. I would rather paint and faux finish it

Yep, definitely want to see it when you're done.

[Tim]

After printing the first wood filament piece that I took pictures of, and then the attempt at printing one with PVA support, I finally found the best method, which is the "Ed Nisley Way": Split the pieces in half and print the two sides inner-surface-down, with alignment holes that are just big enough to use a short piece of filament as a peg. Glued the two sides together and put some wood filler from Home Depot on the seam to fill the cracks. But the join was already very tight. The wood filament has little or no shrinkage or warping. This time I printed the wood with 80% infill, which made it feel a bit more solid, not so much like balsa. I'll post more pictures when it's finished (two coats of stain + gloss).

After thinking about the lack of odor of this stuff, and the color, and spending more time working with it, I'm pretty sure I know what they put into this filament: bamboo.

[Jules]

After thinking about the lack of odor of this stuff, and the color, and spending more time working with it, I'm pretty sure I know what they put into this filament: bamboo.

That makes sense. Did the wood filler adhere pretty well?

[Tim]

Did the wood filler adhere pretty well?

You mean the stuff from Home Depot that I was using to fill in the cracks? Yes, it worked perfectly, but stains a little darker than the wood filament, which unfortunately sort of highlights the seam between the pieces. But it's not too bad. I printed three more of the chess pieces today. By Monday, I should be able to replace the main picture of my Thing on Thingiverse with a real photo.

Speaking of adhering, the wood filament adheres to my glass bed (with hairspray) maybe a little too well. It does not pop off any easier when the glass cools to room temperature. I end up compressing it slightly when I get the razor blade under it to pull it off the glass; it's hard not to put a dent in it, because the wood filament is pretty soft. If it weren't for that, I think there wouldn't be any cracks to fill. The pieces I'm printing are pretty small, so maybe it's not very representative, but I get zero warp or shrinkage out of this stuff. None at all.