I found a small length of filament in the parts bin. I don’t know what it is, and nobody else here does, or remembers ordering it. I’m pretty sure it’s a sample that was sent by Prusa when we ordered the printer, and it’s probably not a special material.
It’s feels “gummy” and a lot softer than PLA, but not really rubbery either. And I tried printing something with it at 230C as if it was PLA and it’s clearly not hot enough: it’s able to flow out of the nozzle but it barely sticks to the bed.
Any idea what it could be?
Could be some sort of purge filament. They’re meant to be run at high temperatures and forced through the nozzle so that they can flush out any leftover material stuck inside.
Interesting… I didn’t know purge filament existed. In fact, I wondered what would happen if I ever ran something that truly gummed up the nozzle, if I’d have to replace it entirely or something.
Brass nozzles are cheap. Cheaper than a length of purge filament. But if you’re using a specialty nozzle, it can certainly be worth a good purge before throwing out an otherwise fine nozzle.