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.
Since 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.
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.
While 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.
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