Wonder what happens in a filament-making workshop? This.

Designed by Proto-pasta Filament-making Workshop attendee Ben Nickles and voted “favorite ” by the attendees, we introduce to you Blue Wonder Glitter Flake HTPLA. On July 21st, Proto-pasta workshop attendees had first access to the new gold and multi-color glitter flake concentrate during the first ever filament-making workshop! Ben seized the day in designing this color and everyone loved it so much that Proto-pasta agreed to release it, to commemorate the experience. Other than being an original creation, you might wonder how this blue different than others? Well, it’s translucent and has big multi-colour flecks, that still wont clog your nozzle!

Print with the ease of standard PLA with standard hardware and temperatures, but make fun, mesmerizing prints that stand out.  Celebrate good times by printing toys, treasures, and keepsakes.  If you want to make a print more fun, just add some metallic pop!  Our metallic finish contains no actual metal and has little risk of clogging or wearing your nozzle, and it won’t make a glitter mess, but beware the printing is sure to be addictive! 

We recommend 0.2 mm layers for the best result.

Metallic particles are relatively small but have some orientation effects, giving top/bottom surfaces more shine than sidewall, so have some fun playing with orientation to see how the result changes!

Like our other HTPLAs, Metallic HTPLA can be “Heat Treated”  to increase crystallinity for “Higher Temperature” resistance compared to amorphous PLA, ABS, and co-polyesters like PETG!  Glittler Flake HTPLA prints translucence, but turns opaque when heat treated (or crystallized).  With a more crystalline structure, heat treated HTPLA parts can hold form to near melting, though temperatures where the material is practically useful vary greatly depending on geometry and load conditions!

For this improved the performance, your prints should be baked in an oven until you see a change from translucent to opaque with reduced gloss.  This visual change indicating the improved performance! We’ve  seen the change take place in 5-10 minutes on thin walled parts but can take an hour or more.  We’ve had good luck in a quality, at home convection oven at 110C (225F).  Parts will get very “floppy” before becoming more firm, so please leave supports on your parts or support them and bake them on a flat, non-radiating surface (like glass, ceramic, or composite).

• Available in 1.75 & 2.85 (3) mm diameter on a 500g diameter recyclable cardboard spool
• Usable on most PLA-compatible printers, such as Lulzbot, Makerbot, FlashForge, Dremel, Ultimaker, Printrbot, and more!

No abrasive fillers so expect normal wear with standard nozzles.

In our experience, good results were achieved using standard PLA parameters ranging from 195-225C nozzle with standard build surface preparation (blue tape, glue stick, or BuildTak). No heated bed required but up to 60C is okay.  Beware, if the bed temperature is too high, your part base could actually heat treat while printing, increasing warping and decreasing adhesion.  Some shrinkage will occur in the heat treating process, so dimension critical parts may need to be scaled appropriately (as much as 2.5% in our experience).
Avoid jams, improve print reliability with Proto-pasta HTPLA on the Prusa MK3.