Wood PLA is an exciting filament that has actual grains of wood within. The surface print will be textured and not smooth. It can be sanded back to give it a shinier finish however much of the appeal to this filament is the rough finish. Printing this filament also gives a woody scent, so this is normal.

Our Wood PLA colour is designed to be a medium colour brown quite like the appearance of a rich mocha coffee. Printing at different temperatures can slightly change the colour of the filament. Printing at high temperatures tends to darken it slightly.

 In addition to printing “Groots”, many use this filament to print.

• Pens (shell)
• Watches
• Decorative jewellery, broaches, earrings etc.
• Faux wood objects
• Statues
• Musical instruments. Please note that you will not be able to produce a Stradivarius finish.
• Cosplay weaponry
• Door Stops
• Bookshelf ends
• Page markers
• Decorative Bowls

This filament still retains the same strength as PLA however slightly less rigid. It is also slightly more abrasive to a brass nozzle than the regular PLA.

The filament weighs about 10% less than regular PLA for the same length, which means you get an extra 10% in length for the same 1kg roll. :-) That’s always a nice thing.

An important note about Wood Filaments is that longer exposure to heat in the extruder/hot end tends to decompose the filament. Clogging of the hot end is a quite common issue for those new to printing in Wood. The key is to extrude the filament just at the point of melting perfectly. Clogging occurs in 2 instances. The first instance is where the filament is inside the hot end for too long. The second instance is when the hot end is not sufficiently hot enough to properly melt the filament, stalling the end temporarily and then backing the rest up and clogging the rest in the hot end.

Here are some tips and pointers we recommend when printing with our Wood PLA;

• Best to print it a little faster than you normally would with PLA. Printing at say 55-70mm/sec can be quite useful to avoid decomposition. Some print at 80mm/sec as well with great results.
• Printing profile ranges are like those of PLA for your printer, however, they will not necessarily be the same as your usual profiles. Attention should be given to Speed, Flow and Heat.
• Sometimes using a larger size nozzle such as 0.6mm or 0.8mm is recommended. There are many online tutorials including those from Maker’s Muse on YouTube that recommend this as standard.
• Stringing can also be a consideration for refinement. Adjusting retraction settings are typically the best way to minimise this effect. A fantastic way to solve any stringing issues is to download a retraction test model from Thingiverse.com website. Retraction settings for your usual PLA prints may not work in the same way as they will for Wood.
• Adhesion to the print surface is not a common issue for Wood PLA filaments. If you are having trouble, printing on a 50-70 degree will help. In addition to this printing on Blue Painter’s tape will also help. It is always important to lay the tape without any overlaps. Allowing for small gaps is much better than introducing any overlap which will potentially knock the hot end. In some instances, we have witnessed that overlapping the tape can also cause clogging at the hot end.
• A raft is not necessary however if you must, then make sure you are not printing the raft too fast.