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LW PLA is a filament that can expand during printing. It is useful for parts that need to be light.
LW PLA (Lightweight PLA or PolyLight 1.0) is an active foaming material that can expand from 2.3 to 3 times the original material size when printed. The expansion depends on the print temperature and speed of the print.
The LW PLA can be used with standard PLA settings. It will behave in general as PLA, but still have a lot of oozing.
This filament is also useful to print models with thin walls and internal structures, like the 3DLabPrint planes. We have prepared a config bundle with all the necessary settings for that, including the "Even-odd" Slicing mode, in our e-shop.
3DLabPrint also has a general config bundle for the parts in their website.
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Pros |
Cons |
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✔ Reduced weight by 65% |
✖ Less stiff than PLA |
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✔ Increased volume by 270% |
✖ Lower glass transition temperature |
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✔ Cost-effective |
✖ Oozing during travel moves |
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✔ Strong inter-layer adhesion | |
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✔ Heat-activated foaming | |
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✔ Easy to glue with CA | |
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✔ Less visible layers |
The best use of LW PLA are models that need low weight, such as model airplanes and cosplay wearables.
Due to the material expansion, the retractions are ineffective. This causes prints to have a high amount of oozing and stringing. LW PLA is, therefore, more suitable for printing in a single pass, such as the vase mode when available. Try avoiding movement over empty spaces. The oozing can leave marks on the prints, which can be removed using a knife and sanded with a sanding sponge.
The foaming that causes the filament to expand is activated by heat. The amount of heat is defined by the nozzle temperature and the print speed. Faster printing speeds will need a higher printing temperature to achieve the same expansion. The maximum expansion of three times the original size is achieved around 240 - 250 ºC.
The extrusion multiplier depends on the foaming factor, so the range 1 - 0.35 can be used. The lower the extrusion multiplier, the lighter the model will be. Note that having an extrusion multiplier too high might cause clogs.
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| Part of 3DLabPrint airplane models | Part of 3DLabPrint airplane models |