The Virtual Foundry’s Guide to Filamet™ – Compatible 3D Printers
A curated list of printers used by The Virtual Foundry and our Partner Innovators
Key Features to Look for in 3D Printers
The ideal printer will be direct drive with the shortest filament path in the extruder. Printers must be able to use PLA filament without restrictions to a certain brand. Watch out for proprietary nozzles as the hardened steel or other wear resistant nozzles may not be available, and some manufacturers do not produce 0.6mm versions of their nozzles. A dual gear feeder helps to drive the filament. Additionally, glass build plates are fine, but spring steel is best. Anything else may work, but we recommend covering other surfaces with painter’s tape as Filamet™ welds itself to PEI (non powder coated spring steel) and PC/PP/PE build plates.
3D Printers That Have Been Used With Filamet™
Anet A8
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
AnkerMake M5C
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Learn more about AnkerMake 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Bambu Lab A1/A1 Mini
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Bambu Dual-Sided Textured PEI Plate (the gold one) recommended (no tape or glue required). Blue painter’s tape recommended on other build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the extruder.
- Filamet™ is not compatible with the AMS Lite.
- Learn more about Bambu Lab 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved.
Bambu Lab X1 Carbon/X1E
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Bambu Dual-Sided Textured PEI Plate (the gold one) recommended (no tape or glue required). Blue painter’s tape recommended on other build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the extruder.
- Filamet™ is not compatible with the AMS.
- Learn more about Bambu Lab 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Creality Ender 3 / Pro
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive extruder upgrade recommended (MicroSwiss NG recommended).
- When this printer is converted to direct drive, spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Creality Ender 3 Max Neo
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape may be helpful if prints are difficult to remove or refuse to stick.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive extruder upgrade recommended (MicroSwiss NG recommended).
- When this printer is converted to direct drive, spools should be hung 18 – 25 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Creality Ender 3 S1 / Pro
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Textured spring steel PEI build plate included (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Creality Ender 5 Pro
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive extruder upgrade recommended (MicroSwiss NG recommended).
- When this printer is converted to direct drive, spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Creality Ender 5 Plus
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive extruder upgrade recommended (MicroSwiss NG recommended).
- When this printer is converted to direct drive, spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Creality Ender 5 S1
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the extruder.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
FlashForge Creator Pro
- 0.6mm MK10 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Feeders are known to grip tight. Changing them out for adjustable tension is recommended.
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the extruder.
- Learn more about FlashForge 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
FLSUN QQ-S-Pro
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Learn more about FLSUN 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
gCreate gMax 2 PRO
- 0.6mm E3D V6 Style nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- When this printer is converted to direct drive, spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
Partner Innovator Tested
Levil EDU Mill
- 0.6mm MK8 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Learn more about Levil here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Prusa i3 MK3
- 0.6mm E3D V6 Style nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 12 – 18 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- This printer is compatible with our materials; however, some users encounter printing challenges that can be difficult to resolve.
- Learn more about Prusa 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Qidi Tech X Max
- 0.6mm MK10 nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the extruder.
- Learn more about Qidi Tech printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Raise3D E2
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 18 – 25 inches above the extruder.
- This printer is compatible with our materials; however, some users encounter printing challenges that can be difficult to resolve.
- Learn more about Raise3D 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Snapmaker 2.0
- 0.6mm nozzle required (proprietary).
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Snapmaker 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Sovol SV-04 IDEX
- 0.6mm nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Upgrade to a textured spring steel PEI build plate recommended (no tape or glue required).
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Sovol printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
Tenlog TL-D3 Pro
- 0.6mm nozzle required.
- Blue painter’s tape recommended on stock build plates.
- Direct drive out of the box!
- Spools should be hung 22 – 28 inches above the highest point your part will reach when complete.
- Learn more about Creality 3D printers here.
Partner Innovator Tested
UltiMaker S5
- 0.6mm Print Core CC required.
- Blue painter’s tape may be helpful if prints are difficult to remove or refuse to stick.
- For best results, spools should be placed on a separate spool holder, pushed up to the extruder.
- This printer is compatible with our materials; however, some users encounter printing challenges that can be difficult to resolve.
- Learn more about UltiMaker 3D printers here.
The Virtual Foundry Approved
The Virtual Foundry Approved
Printers that are approved by The Virtual Foundry are extensively tested or indirectly worked on by The Virutal Foundry to ensure they are fully suitable for Filamet™. Some printers are tested in their default configuration (with the nozzle swapped), then modified to perform best. The modifications that are not necessary are listed as recommended.
Partner Innovator
Tested
Printers that are Partner Innovator Tested are tested by our users. Users who have good experiences with their machine and Filamet™ can let us know and their machine will be added to the list. Recommended and required modifications may not be available for some printers as the information may not have been relayed to us.
3D Printers To Avoid
3D Systems
Filament for these machines is chipped.
Fusion3
- Bowden extruder.
- Single gear with smooth bearing on the feeder causes feeding issues.
- Extreme bends required to use built in spool holders.
Makerbot / UltiMaker (Method / X)
- There are no 0.6mm nozzles for the Makerbot / UltiMaker Method 3D printer.
- Makerbot does not list nozzle sizes for available nozzle options.
Stratasys
Filament for these machines is chipped.
XYZ Printing
Filament for these machines is chipped.
Zmorph FAB
0.6mm hardened steel or other wear resistant nozzles not available for this machine.
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