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The cheapest quality stuff im using atm is from mcslappy (dodaddoes) but im considering printing some things for less quality purposes like flower planter pots and selling them comercially. I'm wondering what base I can get the cost per kilo down to. Im considering what filament would be the cheapest usable for a Rostock V2? Quality isnt a huge consideration, this is just a thought experiment on the base level for printing in Australia.

im wondering if any universities or other groups in aus are working on recycling initiatives?

Consider this thread open for any news etc on how low we can go for filament for these machines in this country!

Do you have that weed trimmer line down there?

Also, don't know if it's available but JET brand filament is pretty cheap here (USA). I just got 6 pounds for about $35 delivered.

You can check places like http://www.aliexpress.com since they'll ship straight from China to you.

The blue desert stuff from Amazon that everyone in the states likes is the cheapest I've found, although it's still not that cheap by the time we pay for shipping.

McSlappy's good stuff is good, but premium filament comes at a premium price (no argument there).

Wherever I see a good deal on ABS it seems to be immediately followed up by "HI THERE, BEND OVER AND PREPARE YOURSELF, I'M ABOUT TO INSERT THE FREIGHT FEES".

If you want to buy in 200kg lots and sort out shipping, it can be had for about $15/kg landed. That's alota printing though.

I'll be subscribing to this thread though: be interesting to see if anyone unearths the magic source.

I could literally start pumping out some little planter pots for local nurseries I think my cost atm is about $0.035 ish a gram., may be a little high for that purpose

but you never know

The local uni here on the coast (USC) has just bought themselves a Filabot recycler and I'll be giving them my ruined ABS prints. If you could convince your local uni to do the same, then tee up some printers to keep the scraps you'd have yourself a nice setup

Speaking on economy filament, my own experience tells me that the quality will vary per roll and you might get some kickass filament one time, then next time it wont be as good, just be wary

Let me do some digging and I'll see if I can come up with a bulk option from somewhere. You guys dig too and see what decent cheap filaments you can get also, I'm always keen to find great low cost solutions (whether I stock them or just use them myself!)

Isaac

200kg is not that much if you split it up between 20 people.

I just bought 10 kgs of anew manufacturer i found. Will write a review once i test it.

I've gone through about 18kg in the last two months, and that's on the older, slower printer.

Forming a 'buying war party' would be the best bet to get cheap usable filament. Sounds like there should be a google group for this or something.

I think the cheapest way to get ok quality filament would be as others have mentioned by buying a filastruder or filabot or whatever and making it yourself, I think you can get it as cheap as $5 a kilo then for decent plastic. I have pondered this myself but to be honest I would rather just pay doodaddoes the money knowing that I always have affordable options for economy and premium filament thats only 24 hours to my doorstep from the time I press the buy button. I know that premium filament costs a bit but my time and equipment is also worth money and I just hate stuffing around with crappy filament which just ends up in the bin anyway. Just my 2c.

For NZ, I purchased some cheap stuff from Sandbrooks (http://reeltoreal.co.nz/). I've only used the ABS so far and so far so good. A bit hard to tell as I still have to tweak my printer settings for better results.

shapeshifter wrote:I think the cheapest way to get ok quality filament would be as others have mentioned by buying a filastruder or filabot or whatever and making it yourself, I think you can get it as cheap as $5 a kilo then for decent plastic.

I've got kilos of failed prints.. I know a Filabot is on the cards for one day... If shipping here were cheap I'd just send it to someone who could recycle it, but alas... Australia the land where it's cheaper to ship the same item from across the globe than to the next town...