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Review on ✨ Shine & Print with HATCHBOX Sparkle PLA 3D Printer Filament by Charles Julian

Revainrating 3 out of 5

Fragile but worthy after mods

[UPDATE 4/28/2021] These are some of the worst filaments I've ever worked with. I suspect it was very old BEFORE we bought it and it has become even more fragile. This will be the last time I buy "special" types of filament as the print quality and print complexity just isn't worth it. My favorite thread is by far the Hatchbox but just because their normal colors are intact they forgive miscalibrated machines and after dozens of 1kg spools I haven't had a single lead yet. The coils are wound perfectly. I simply cannot recommend this or any other specialty hatchbox reel unless you know how old the product you are getting is or how quickly the filament additives make the plastic brittle. [UPDATE 7/23/2020] Haha I have to laugh at this thread. This morning after our 7 month old son slept through the night for the first time we took him downstairs and I checked the print. After confirming that the print settings I adjusted were working, we were talking about other things when we heard a soft pop. I look at the printer where it came from and it was filament. It literally broke off the roll just because we walked/talked next to it. He got up all night after the print job, but it was only in our presence that he decided to accidentally throw up. Also, for the first time in months, I had to take my Bowden tube apart to remove the broken parts from it. [ORIGINAL] I will preface this review by explaining that I almost always use Hatchbox PLA, ABS and PETG and this Sparkle Red coil was purchased mid July 2020. I've never had a problem with the hatchbox threading on the outside. frequent headaches that each type of filament brings. I've been typing for a few years now and tried this thread with Ender-3. However, I do not recommend this thread. First, it's relatively fragile outside of the packaging. Not sure if this is because shiny yarn is less popular, so there are older stocks, but having bits of broken yarn in a sealed package is never a good sign. I had at least one print pause while feeding filament. As others have noted this clicking may be due to the glitter but I think it may be due to the age of the coil or additives causing the same effects as PETG (moisture absorption). Connect the above. with my second note that this thread doesn't work as a PLA and you may have better results out of the box. As already mentioned, many properties of this thread remind me of PETG. It is fragile and seems to be affected by moisture. It breaks easily. It's much more restrictive than other PLAs and requires changes to your profile verification to be relaxed. You will also likely find that it adheres more than PETG and appears to require a bed temperature below 60°C and a die temperature above 205°C. The label says 200-230°C, but I tested it with extrusion and milling at 205°C. Everything seemed fine at 210°C, as well as at 215°C. You'll probably want to do a temporary tower and pull test if you're used to setting and forgetting your slicer profile settings. Overall the prints come out decent and the prints look good if you can make temporary and other adjustments. Correctly. However, you must keep in mind that the "PLA" in this role is not the PLA you are used to. Be prepared to change the settings, especially for this type of coil.

Pros
  • 3D Printing Consumables
Cons
  • Ugly Packaging