Review on OVERTURE Rock PLA Filament 1 by Jared Coleman

I'm no stranger to Overture Filaments; I use over a dozen kilos of their PLA a year because it's reliable and convenient, and have been using it mainly since mid-2019. That being said, I don't usually print for looks, mostly functional prints, and almost never buy specific colors to print. If color is important to me, I usually color the object anyway, so the color of the thread doesn't matter. However, this time I decided to try printing specifically for aesthetic reasons. When it works, it looks fantastic. The color is beautiful and hides layer lines surprisingly well, even at coarser layer heights. I'm not sure if the cleats are actually better than the description claims, or if the coloring just hides them better. Anyway "looks" better. It's not without its flaws, however. As previously mentioned, adhesion to the bed is absolutely lousy, especially on the first layer. If you have small details or details in the first few layers, you can forget about it. Setting up the slicer, cleaning the build area, nothing seems to have any effect. Either you get lucky and it sticks (in which case the rest of the print is fine) or it doesn't. This is drastically different from other PLA Overture filaments (both their primaries and PLA Pro) which I'm sure I can set and forget and have a successful print. In addition, this thread feels softer in thin segments, almost sticky; and if you make a typo, it will securely stick to the nozzle, hot end, and even the silicone sock as you use it. It peels off very well but not like any other PLA I've used. Others have mentioned dehumidifying the filament before use and I could try that but to be honest I doubt it will do any good. Apart from poor adhesion to the layer, there are no signs of moisture in the filament (peeling, popping during printing, etc.). I'm not saying it's impossible, I just used a much inferior PLA (from other brands) that was definitely "wet" but didn't have these first coat problems. All in all, I am "mostly satisfied”. Like I said, it looks great if you can get it working. Just don't expect it to work seamlessly. Installation Details: I am using Prusa i3Mk3 and PrusaSlicer 2.3b3 Smooth PEI build sheet that is cleaned frequently with soap and IPA. . ABL included with a deviation of <0.08mm across the entire build sheet. I usually use the default "Prusament PLA" (215 Hotend 60 Bed) profile with any other Overture PLA and have no problems. Due to the complexity of this filament, I've experimented with temperatures (testing hot end 190-235°C and heated bed 40-75°C), layer speed and first layer offset and haven't seen any noticeable improvement in first layer adhesion. Note that these tests weren't about appearance (tension, burrs, or interlaminar bonding); Just trying to get that nice first coat. I ended up going back to the default profile settings of 215/60.