As Shane relayed last week, “the 3D printing plastic materials market was worth $70.5 million in 2012. That market is expected to reach $209.6 million by 2018”, according to the “Markets and Markets Report”. Evidence of that trend is the growing number of materials suppliers that rush to fill the need for 3D printable filaments. But will material suppliers in the market, such as the Dutch Innofil3D, provide a quality product that stands the test of time?
If you own a personal 3D printer, you’re aware that who you buy your filament from matters (for a detailed guide on filament quality, here’s a good source). Though there are countless companies claiming to sell the best materials, some consumers are disappointed with what they purchase. A number of factors go into the quality of a filament, with one major issue consumers face being consistency. You may order a spool of 3mm PLA, only to find that the diameter of the whole spool is not the same, varying between 2.7 and 3.1 mm, or something along those lines. It’s also possible that the filament is more of an oval shape, rather than perfectly round. Either way, you could end up with layer heights that vary, your extruder could jam or the surface definition of your prints might not turn out so great. So, when you become aware of material suppliers, like Innofil3D, it may be best to keep a skeptical, but open mind.
Innofil3D presents all of the makings of a legit materials supplier. After producing monofil plastics to businesses for three years, they launched their B2C filament brand at Euromold this year and started selling their PLA filaments exclusively with German 3D printing megastore iGo3D,Claiming “strict quality management” the company suggests that extruder jams are cut down using Innofil3D. The company also boasts premium colour selection and, more importantly, reliable “diameter and the accuracy of the 3D FDM filament segment.” Right now, Innofil3D sells 15 different coloured, 2.85mm filaments. They also plan to release InnoPET, InnoSOLVE, InnoGLOW and InnoFLEX materialis. InnoFLEX will be the company’s flexible filament offering, while InnoSOLVE will be its water soluble product and you can probably guess what InnoGLOW will be. InnoPET is an FDA and EC approved material. The company will also be releasing InnoCHANGE, which is a colour changing filament.
Though there isn’t a good deal of information on their testing procedures, the company is at least aware that diameter accuracy is important — and are striving for reliability. And, because they’ve been selling to businesses for some time, it’s quite possible that the following claim is accurate: “Every new product is extensively tested. Part of these tests is checking and improving the printing properties on different 3D printers. This is done in our facilities but also externally by 3D printer builders and professional users.” Only after a large enough sample of customers has used their products and reviewed them will we know that they deliver what they promise. And, if they do, perhaps Innofil3D will be one material supplier that makes it to 2018.
Source: igo3D
