Xperland PLA Filament – Great low-cost filament

UPDATE: This Filament is no longer available.  

Here is a small collection of things I have printed with my Xperland Filament. There are fewer things in black since my print head gave out and I am waiting for some replacements.

[ngg_images source=”galleries” container_ids=”4″ display_type=”photocrati-nextgen_basic_slideshow” gallery_width=”600″ gallery_height=”400″ cycle_effect=”fade” cycle_interval=”10″ show_thumbnail_link=”1″ thumbnail_link_text=”[Show thumbnails]” order_by=”sortorder” order_direction=”ASC” returns=”included” maximum_entity_count=”500″]After printing for a few days, I saw they had a good sale, and purchased an additional roll, since I really liked it.

Xperland contacted me a few weeks ago about the possibility of doing a review.  This was my first offer of filament for review, so I will admit, I jumped at the chance.  A couple of weeks later I had a roll of black and white filament show up at my door.  The color looks really good, and the spool they come on is really nice. It has cut-outs to show where the filament is, and has a large center so the filament isn’t wound as tight at the end.  It is little things like this that show their customer centric approach.

Xperland PLA Filament - WhiteSince I got the filament, I created some temperature towers, and found that around 210 was a good temperature.  I’ve printed a lithophane, several pieces of gaming terrain, and the filament has done a great job at anything I have thrown at it.  Flat out, this has become my go-to filament when I need a nice piece printed with a nice finish.  I have found it to be a touch stringy, but very minor.  I adjusted my retraction a bit and got most of the stringing to go away.  It feels good to the touch, it is nice and smooth.  I’ve used other, less expensive filament, and it had a slightly rougher texture, and even my daughter noticed the smooth feel of this filament.

I did spot tests of the filament with my digital calipers, and found them to be consistently at 1.75mm through out the parts of the 2 rolls I have used.  I was happy with the consistency and never noticed any problems with under extrusion. I will admit, having used 2 rolls, my “sample size” is very small.  But there has been great consistency between those two rolls.  I have only tweaked settings a small amount to optimize the prints.  I am currently running 210 degrees for the print head, 100% flow rate.  I have a retraction of 7 mm with a speed of 60mm/s.  This filament just prints well for me, and it costs close to $10 less than other filaments I see mentioned repeatedly as the best to get.  I’d rather get 3 Xperland vs 2 of several of their competitors.

Family Portrait Litho

The white is a beautiful white, but it is not fully opaque.  What that makes it perfect for, is amazing Lithophanes.  I made this one for my mom.  It features my parents, and their grandkids.  This printed out over a few hours (printed upright) and with a little light (what you are seeing here) it looks great.  When seen in person, it is gorgeous.  The Xperland White filament is perfect for creating a nice, creamy, black and white photo that is extremely crisp with the details.  I’ll admit, I have not printed a lithophane on another filament, but judging by this, and others I have seen online, I don’t know that I will ever have a need for another brand.

Gratuitous 3D Benchy in Xperland 3D BlackWhile their black and white filaments are great, that is, unfortunately, their only two colors.  You have to look elsewhere for other colors.  About 90% of what I want to print is either black, white, or doesn’t matter.  So, the restricted color is not a big deal to me.  That being said… they are working on bringing other great filaments to the market.  Watch for those.

I am not sure how Xperland has done it, but they really have come out with a filament that is a great deal. You know the saying “you get what you pay for”, but that does not hold true with this filament.  If you want a second opinion, check their scores on Amazon, where they get 4.5 and 5 stars.  I hardly see anyone talking about this great filament, and it blows my mind that more people don’t print with it.

Disclaimer: I was given this Filament to review, but beyond that, I was not paid for the review itself.  I also use Amazon Affiliate links, so if you purchase this from one of my links, I get a very small commission at no additional cost to you. I truly do believe this is a great Filament and have purchased additional rolls for personal use.

I wrote another article that I talk about Xperland and other low-cost PLA filaments, and why you should be having a look at them.