Jim from Zheng3 wrote a great blog post about our new FTG PETG+ filament. We gave him a spool and let him run free! Here is his post, posted on our site with his permission.
hashtagRAWR! PETG+ Robber Rex in repose among the autumn color. As always, things are busy here at the lab, especially with Halloween fast approaching and extensive field testing of our Stranger Things wall underway. Most of the hardware issues have been sorted out, although how well the weatherproofing holds up to twelve hours of steady October precipitation remains to be seen. Software's never done, of course, and there's always the matter of how we're going to get a livestream up and running on Halloween night. A quick review of Filabot's PETG+ filament is definitely in order, since the Stranger Things wall couldn't have gone forward without it. Disclaimer: I'm not receiving any compensation for this blog post except for a free spool of filament. What's PETG? Polyethylene Terephthalateco-1, 4-cylclohexylenedimethylene terephthalate. Chances are you've used a water bottle made out of it using traditional manufacturing methods. Filabot doesn't advertise their filament as food-safe, although I'm pretty confident that drinking out of a PETG+ printed teacup is going to be better for you than one made from ABS.
PETG is often advertised as an alternative to ABS, and after printing with it for a month I'm convinced. Two reasons: 1. We've all experienced ABS stank. I can't detect any significant odors with a PETG print. 2. PETG prints appear to be just as strong as ABS prints, and can be done on an unheated bed with a glue stick wipe. No acetone ABS slurry required. As always, we recommend that use your printer in a well-ventilated space, and don't ever drink the acetone, kids. My daughter had some friends over for a D&D game last weekend-- one of the kids' PLA/PHA printed Dice Citadels took an unfortunate tumble from waist hight and snapped in half when it hit the floor. Of course, this is both a crisis and an opportunity.
Unscientific test: I dropped this Citadel, fully loaded with dice, onto the same spot where the PLA/PHA citadel met its untimely demise. The PETG+ Citadel survived. Physically it just feels more robust than a PLA/PHA print with the same settings. It's a little springier than a PLA or ABS print, like it wants to bounce. PETG handles details well, too:
PLA/PHA can be brittle, especially after a couple of months exposed to the wild. How well this PETG+ print will hold up after six months of roleplaying remains to be seen.
The filament can be fairly transparent once it's printed. It's ideal for LED diffusers like the bulbs in the Stranger Things wall.
