Endless Pastabilities Contents

Where does this month’s filament inspiration really begin? I suppose you could start back years ago when purging Galactic Empire Purple and seeing, in that purple-to-pink dilution, the color transition that inspired Nebula. Realizing that Nebula could be reasonably produced with a mass mixing process then opened the door to other multicolor, transition colors such as Citrus Sunrise, Marine Dream, and Forest Fantasy.

During development of these other transitions, I held onto a spool that I really liked the look of, but didn’t yet have the inspiration to share. That spool was Midnight (MNT) Multicolor HTPLA, a beautiful black-to-blue multicolor filament with grays and blue-grays in the transition as well. The color came before the name, but it reminded me of a dark night sky with stars and some moonlit blues and grays.

Sitting on the shelf since 2018, waiting for the right inspiration at the right moment, was some fluorescent yellow pigment. Well, there’s your moon. We compounded pigment powder into melted plastic to make a pellet concentrate which we then diluted to make Fluorescent Yellow (FLY) HTPLA filament. As our first venture into fluorescent colors, I was impressed by the glow even in natural daylight. This filament really catches your eye, and I think it’s pretty fly.

That brings us to our last of this month’s three filaments. I wanted to make a single color similar to one of the many colors within Midnight Multicolor. I then looked at our existing colors and decided a mash-up was in order. From Stardust and Silver Smoke, Dusty Smoke (DUS) was born (below center with the proud parents at each side)!

Our founder, Dustin, was also pleasantly surprised to see a derivative of his name on the label.

Well that rounds out this month’s filaments. We hope you enjoy them!

Good vibes,

Alex and the Protopasta Team

P.S. Having trouble printing with Prusa or another 3D printer? We’re here for you! A good result is possible, and we can help you get there.

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We find these general parameters to work well for our prints, but don't hesitate to reach out to support@protoplant.com if you need any further guidance.

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

Outlines: 3      Top/Bot layers: 6     Infill type: Lines     Infill: 25%     
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.

All can benefit from a calibrated first layer that is not too close to the build platform. Leaving enough room for material to come out without restriction, yet still close enough to stick, is key for more trouble-free printing.

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Having trouble with your loose coils? We can help! Check out this awesome printable spool that only takes 50g of filament!