1 (edited by d.wood0403 2016-03-18 16:34:53)

Topic: TreeD Filaments. Opinions?

I recently ran across these filaments and wanted some input about their practicality?

http://treedfilaments.com/3d-printing-filaments/

They are called TreeD. The filaments use marble, stone, clay, acrylic, among many other aggregates to give prints a unique look or mechanical property. Would you guys use these filaments? Would they be worth selling? If not, why wouldn't you like them?

Fixion3D helping to bring the world's ideas to life.

2

Re: TreeD Filaments. Opinions?

They look really interesting.  They don't show any sample prints however.  They would be premium filaments, probably with a premium price.  The market would be more professional than hobbiest.  I think the key to selling these would be showing samples of what can be done with them.  Blog posts with use cases, finishing tips.  Print a Winged Victory with the marble, or maybe some columns and show how it can look with finishing.  Videos and photos that show the possibilities would be essential, just some Amazon listings won't cut it.

There are tons of people selling the same boring cheap filament on Amazon.  Something like this would make you unique, but you will need to educate the customer about why they would want it, and why it is worth paying the price.  Show them why they should go from "That's expensive, and not really for me" to "Wow, I really want to try that stuff out".

3

Re: TreeD Filaments. Opinions?

Good to hear and awesome advice. I am planning on printing chess pieces with each one to show how they look and how well they print. I'll have to put some pictures of them on amazon.

As for the price, you're looking at prices comparable to Colorfabb specialty filaments. How can I convince people that these are a great product and not worry about the price? What's something I should educate them on?

Fixion3D helping to bring the world's ideas to life.

4 (edited by Tin Falcon 2016-03-19 12:04:33)

Re: TreeD Filaments. Opinions?

What's something I should educate them on?

Quality:
ImHO the biggest thing missing in any cheap import is quality. There is little money spent  on quality control quality assurance and quality testing. A quality filament will be tested  on every batch for diameter color  strength moisture content etc and a test print done with a sample . Quality testing and quality programs insure the product performs as advertised and you can trust every roll.

Aesthetics. The architectural line  is heavy on the look and feel of real building materials. The feel has to do some with texture and density of the material. so you can print a chess set that looks and feels like marble. for sales samples you may want need to vapor polish to get it smooth like polished marble and print at a higher density  to get the desired weight density. The key here is you have a printable plastic  that does not look or feel like plastic.
Performance
The technical series  is based on material properties such as strength stiffness and elasticity. and made to perform as a real part. As a real part you can make a replacement part that is hard to find or create new things like rc cars and rc drones that are created with 3d software that can be free to use and download. these product are designed to perform in the real world not just be a 3d image of an idea.

Printability. this is a big one 


Dimensional Accuracy
Bridging Performance
Overhang Performance
Negative Space Tolerance
Fine Positive Features Performance
Minimum layer time
to name a few
As an example IIRC  PLA has a minimum layer time of 15 seconds so you either need to cool the layer as printed or print a large surface/layer area or print several copies of small objects in contrast colorfab ngen has a min layer time of 4 seconds  se easier to get good quality and print faster.


I think the first  step here is to educate yourself. one of the challenges with this line of product is cryptic names.  Download the spec sheet for each product so you know what it is , can describe it in layman's terms and tell the customer what this product will do for him or her.
I expect you supplier can help you learn what is needed to educate your customer. The first step to learing is often asking a question and you just did that!!
hope this helps.
Tin

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Re: TreeD Filaments. Opinions?

well said Tin!

i cant think of anything to add to that

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