Endless Pastabilities #15 - Recycled PLA
Contents: Recycled Matte Fiber, Recycled Red, Recycled Blue
“Since 2013, Protopasta has valued quality, reliability, and creativity. We seek to reduce waste in our production and build relationships in our community.”
We’ve taken many steps over the years to ensure our commitment to these values. The next phase of this commitment is finally here: Recycled PLA! We’ve collected our high-quality waste stream and turned it into high quality recycled filament.
Recycled PLA colors may resemble other colors or appear totally unique depending on the waste source of a given batch. In either case, the color is indeed unique and unknown before we make the filament (this is why we opted for numbers, rather than names). When gone from our shelves, the same color will never be made again.
We are mixing 100kg batches and fully compounding our materials to ensure color consistency within the batch. While we are overwriting the color of some PLA to make it black (with glitter still showing through), we are seeking to maintain color whenever possible. So far, we’ve ended up with many beautiful colors, two of which we’re sharing with you in this month’s subscription!
Check out #003 (similar to Candy Apple Red) and #004 (similar to Mermaid’s Tale Teal)!
Some of you will notice your colors aren’t quite what’s pictured…oops! As mentioned above, we mix up a batch, and produce it until we run out. Guess what? We ran out during subscription production! Therefore, a lucky few are getting a taste of colors #009 (somewhere between Luke’s Proton Purple and Heartthrob Red) and #010 (still pretty similar to Mermaid’s Tale Teal).
We’re also sharing with you our Recycled Matte Fiber PLA. This batch happens to be gray, but the color may vary in the future. The cellulose fibers make this material good for models you plan to sand and paint, but remember, Matte Fiber absorbs moisture so you want to print at the lowest possible temperature and reduce flow as required to compensate for over-extrusion. You can visit our getting started page and blog for more on this topic, but contact us if you need help!
Similarly, we’ll be making a Recycled Carbon Fiber PLA comparable to our Original Carbon Fiber PLA. This and many other recycled PLA colors will be available for purchase soon, so stay tuned. In all of these recycled materials, we’re proud to maintain quality, reliability, and creativity while reducing waste! Thanks for supporting us as we continue our journey to make interesting, high-quality products with less environmental impact. We can’t wait to see what you make and look forward to working with you for something better together!!!
Enjoy and take care, The Protopasta Team
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Machine(s): Prusa MK2/3, Prusa Mini, Creality Ender 3
Nozzle: 0.4 mm standard brass w/ sock (if possible)
Nozzle Temp: 205 - 235 C Bed Temp: 60 C Bed Type: PEI
Bed Prep: Clean w/ water or alcohol; Magigoo for additional adhesion + easy release when cool
Overlaps: 0 Min layer time: 0 Min Speed: 0 Fill gaps: no Expansion: 0
| Layer height | Ext width | Speed | Fan | |
| 1st Layer | 0.32 mm | 0.44 mm | 20 mm/s all over | 0% |
| Rest of print | 0.16 mm | 0.44 mm |
20 mm/s outline 40 mm/s infill |
40-60% |
Interestingly enough, I found a similar result with the above parameters on all 3 machines at 205 C - 235 C. The Prusa Mini is upgraded to a Bondtech heatbreak to move the PTFE junction farther away from the hotend to reduce hang-ups. The Prusa MK3 has the stock Prusa heatbreak with lip, but swapping to a standard e3dv6 heatbreak or e3d lite6 hotend can bring more trouble-free results. The Creality Ender 3 requires no modifications.
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We know printing isn't always trouble-free so if you're looking for instructions on how to wrangle those loose coils or need other printing help, please consider our getting started guide!
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Love the subscription? Let us know! Write a review, share your prints on social (including Twitter and Instagram), or spread the love by telling everyone you know where to find us!
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Don't forget to show off your creations with our newest colors. When you tag Protopasta on Instagram, your photo could be chosen as one of our Top 9 for the month!
