A complete guide to these 4 Exotic 3D Printing Filaments – The What, Where and How of Woodfill, Marble, Glow in the Dark and Glass Colour Filament

With an increasing popularity of FDM 3D printing technology, the 3D printer filament industry has been witnessing tremendous growth and innovation.

While PLA and ABS are the most commonly used 3D printing filaments for commercial, industrial and home use, exotic filaments have been gaining popularity too!

But what are exotic 3D printing filaments?
Exotic 3D printing filaments basically use thermoplastics like PLA and ABS as the base and combine other materials like wood fibre, marble, glass, metals along with this base. So say, a Woodfill filament could have about 70% PLA and 30% wooden fibre. There is no single rule or ratio for combining these hybrid materials. The filament manufacturers decide it on the basis of their own manufacturing processes and the results they intend to provide.

In this blog, we look at four main types of exotic 3D printing filaments and give you a complete guide in terms of what they are, where you could put them to use and how! So, keep reading – some fun facts and fun tips are on its way!

1. Wood Fill What: As the name suggests and as mentioned earlier, Wood fill filament combines PLA along with wooden fibres. Sometimes, saw dust may also be added instead of wooden fibres but that tends to reduce the quality of the filament. Within wood fill too, one can get a huge variety such as coconut, birch, timber, olive, ebony, pine, cedar amongst others. Where: If you want to print anything with a woody appeal here’s your chance to experiment with wood fill. Artefacts, wooden trays, holders, pieces of architectural model for example could be printed with wood fill. How: The printing temperature must be controlled so that the wood particles do not burn out in the process. Plus, wood fill does tend to be a little brittle so that has to be handled carefully too! The plus is that you can always polish, stain and varnish the end product it to make it look exactly like a piece of artisan wood craft.
2. Marble What: As the name suggests, Marble PLA is a combination of Marble particles and PLA. While the 3D printed object may not exactly replicate a marble object. Yet, it has a great aesthetic appeal. Where: Usually used for making idols, artefacts or show pieces. The Marble PLA is great to print intricate details and minute carvings in pieces such as statues, figurines and monuments. How: Unlike wood fill, one doesn’t have to worry too much about controlling printing temperature with marble because the fine marble powder will not get burnt away. However, one has to be careful about cooling fan speed if the product has complex and elaborate detailing. But, post processing work with Marble PLA is pretty simple. You’ll see how sanding and polishing gives a very elegant look to the end product.
3. Glow in the Dark What: This type of filament has PLA or ABS as its base and is combined with Strontium Aluminates or sometimes even Zinc Sulphide and Calcium Sulphide. This gives the Glow in the Dark filament its luminescence. The object made out of this filament absorbs UV radiation from sources such as bulbs, sunlight and releases them in the dark. Where: One can use this filament for making objects like glow in the dark lamps, toys for kids, sign posts or anything you want to make it creative with the glow effect. How: Along with PLA and ABS, Glow in the Dark is also available with the PETG base. Working with a PLA or an ABS based Glow in the Dark is not too different from working with a normal PLA or an ABS. However, Glow in the Dark filaments might need a bigger nozzle to work with due to its abrasiveness.
4. Glass Colour What: So, just like Wood fill, Marble and Glow in the Dark filament, do you expect glass fibres inside this Glass Colour filament? Well, Glass Colour may or may not have glass fibre due to its abrasiveness. Made with a PETT or PETG base, this filament has transparent or at the most translucent properties and can be used in objects that transmit light. Amongst the pluses of working with Glass Colour are its toughness, temperature resistance and durability. Where: Well, one can make the outer shield of torch beams, thermoplastic shields on top of torches, lamps and bulbs and even artifacts that have a bulb within and want a medium to transmit light. So, here too, depending on the design and use requirement, one can put Glass Colour to use either completely or along with other types of filaments. How: Glass Colour requires you to work almost the same way as you would with a PETG or a PETT. However, one needs to check the compatibility of the 3D printing machine before you buy a Glass Colour filament.

Whoa! That was like a mini encyclopedia on these four exotic 3D printing filaments. At Tesseract, you can avail one of the most reasonable 3D printer filament prices especially for high-quality exotic filaments like Marble and Glow in the Dark. Check out this blog on ‘Why Tesseract is one of India’s best provider of 3D printing filament solutions’ (hyperlink to blog 9) and you will know why!

Manufactured with industry-leading high precision tolerance and superior quality, once you take your product out of the printing bed you can be sure to say, ‘I am lovin it!’.