Welcome to the SeeMeCNC Community

I love the look of the carbon fiber PLA I've been printing but there are some things I'd just like a matte black and don't need the expense of CF. Anyone know of a US source? I've googled several times and can't find anything. There is supposedly a source in Australia but their website doesn't list it.

The PLA I just got from filaments.ca is matte black. It just happens to be that way, nothing special is advertised about it. After it is printed, it is just as glossy as any other PLA. The gloss is determined by the "last extrusion process" as in the temp, speed, pressure of the last time it was brought above its Tg. In other words, if you want matte PLA, you have to find the right print conditions for it.

That said, I've had some white PLA that was so loaded with colourant that it was nearly chalky in texture. I'm sure there is some way to make PLA matte, but don't trust the look of it on the spool alone.

the toner plastic ABS from micro center has less sheen. the ABS in black really does look like toner cartridge plastic. yellow is the same, I have not tried the PLA but I would suspect since they are marketing it that way it may have the same sheen.

http://www.microcenter.com/search/searc ... lastic+pla

Tom C

Thanks for the link Tom. I'm not too far from Microcenter. One of the comments on the PLA says it produces a nice matte black finish, so it's worth a shot!

Something I've been messing with ever since installing JFettig's geared stepper adapter. I'm able to print much cooler temps with that matte look. (using a geared stepper)

I'm not sure if other filaments will act the same as this black PLA. This is it's the exact same filament printed at way different temperatures.

http://www.amazon.com/AUGUSTO-1-75mm-3D ... B00TWW16F0

Had to take it outside to get some light..

There ya go! I'm going to try that.

Yes, PLA will take on a different sheen printed at different temps but I'm talking about a real honest to gosh matte black like the CF filaments look when printed.

The E-Sun black filament from microcenter is between matte and glossy. It smells a little like ABS for some reason.

Blasting PLA parts in a "sandblasting" cabinet with silicone carbide abrasive gives it a nice matte finish.

Have you tried tumbling the parts?

I would have thought matte vs gloss was a function of surface finish rather than material, unless (in the case of CF) you had a bunch of notplastic included in the filament.

Brian, I have tried tumbling, just made them shine. I have a blasting cabinet with lots of media types. I hadn't thought of that 'cause I thought the media might stick in the PLA.

Captain Starfish - exactly. I was hoping to find some PLA filament with maybe diatomaceous earth or other "flattener" to cut the shine.

Well, the E-Sun from Microcenter is not highly glossy but it certainly is not matte black - so I'm back to the drawing board.

mhackney wrote:Well, the E-Sun from Microcenter is not highly glossy but it certainly is not matte black - so I'm back to the drawing board.

Wasn't it toner plastics that was supposed to be more matte?

That was toner ABS. I ordered the black PLA that one/more comments says is matte(ish). Not as matte as I'd like.

mhackney wrote:That was toner ABS. I ordered the black PLA that one/more comments says is matte(ish). Not as matte as I'd like.

Yeah, toner plastics black PLA reviews say matte, http://www.microcenter.com/product/4196 ... _1kg-22lbs

I don't see any black ESUN on the microcenter page at all.