If you’re into 3D printing, Rachel Park doesn’t need an introduction. As a journalist, she covered the 3D printing and additive manufacturing sector since 1996. She led 3D Printing Industry as Editor in Chief and also edited Disruptive Magazine for 3D Printshow. Currently, Rachel works as an independent freelance journalist and runs her own copywriting and editing company.

How Do You Find the Right Material for Your 3D Printer?

3D printing filament materials, there are literally hundreds of them on the market now with a multitude of brands each selling — and promoting — a broad range of filament types. It’s a lucrative business and one that continues to grow in line with sales of desktop 3D printers. The desktop 3D printer community of users is a vocal — and vibrant — one and there is much sharing of information both about the hardware and material options on forums and in social media groups.

For users looking to source filament materials for a specific 3D printer and/or application, vendor spec sheets can be a good starting point, followed up by independent tests on certain materials. But, and this is the rub, independent user feedback is hard to source without trawling through multitudinous websites and pages of opinions to find suitable materials. It can be a worthwhile effort, but also time consuming and expensive with a trial and error approach.

Offering a Solution Beyond the Vendor Specs

A new web-based platform from www.3dprintmaterials.guru is the first in the industry that aims to provide a solution to this problem and allow desktop 3D printer users to source suitable filament materials for their specific 3D printer model and a range of different applications. So while you can purchase filament from the site, the key aim is to provide reliable and compatible 3D printing filament for the user’s specific needs. 3dprintmaterials.guru is achieving this by compiling results from a growing team of dedicated and independent filament testers.

Presented as a community-based platform focused on 3D printing materials know how, what .guru has done, following extensive research that generated information on more than 300 filament brands, is develop a standardized testing methodology for different filament brands working on different 3D printer platforms. With early testers in place and results being generated already, the plan is to take this as far and wide as it can go to provide a reliable tool for the community, according to Edgars Ermansons who founded 3dprintmaterials.guru. To this end 3D printer users are invited to register as testers and get involved.

Trying to Simplify the Selection

Ultimately has been designed to simplify the filament selection process by offering access to standardized ratings of filament allowing users to browse through reviews for both new and existing 3D printing filaments to best meet their needs. With different filters in place to select according to the user’s priority (3D printer model, application, filament type, price etc) the navigation is both intuitive and useful. The platform itself really is easy to navigate – I know, I tried it. And really, if I can anyone can!

However, the guys behind the 3Dprintmaterials.guru platform also want to engage with 3D printing filament producers to provide useful, independent, crowd sourced reviews – not just information from a spec sheet.

What I really like about these guys, based in Latvia, is not just their unbridled passion for this project, but also the novel approach to generating and connecting valuable, but free information with an option to buy that allows them to monetize the site. Importantly, though, there is no pressure to buy. Moreover, 3D printing enthusiasts that do sign up to become part of the platform’s tester community will also be given opportunities to receive guaranteed benefits for doing what they enjoy.

Seems like a no-brainer but definitely worth a look.