HATCHBOX Paint-Free ABS 3D Printer Filament, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.03 mm, 1 kg Spool, 1.75 mm, Brown

TL;DR:Seems like good ABS with pretty consistent quality (over 1 spool sample). I don't use ABS materials on the regular so I can't say how it stacks up against cheaper variants. Although, for the quality I got, I still don't understand completely, why I should buy this filament over the 20 dollar roll when I have seen people get as-good results. My speculation is that the materials used to make the spool are considerably more expensive, especially the colorant type. With that said, there is a use-case here that Hatchbox should elaborate on further so we know why this is double the price.In-Depth:I don't print with ABS regularly because of the printing challenges, but I choose to give this filament a shot. I was under the impression that higher dollar price tag meant primo quality if I am being completely honest. I have been using hatchbox regularly for many years.All pictures are of a test piece printed with Prusa i3 Mk2.5, vapor smoothed using acetone. It is a working piece for a project with a bunch of different angles, so I thought it would be suitable to inspect and use to show its performance. I am sorry that I didn't grab pics before smoothing, but the parts look exactly like those in the photos provided from hatchbox when they come right off the printer.The first two photos with no red labels are to show you the piece part that has been vapor smoothed. It is obviously smoothed to remove all layer lines as much as possible. Taking a look at the piece under the microscope at a shallow angle showed that this part literally has no physical layer lines... But why was I still seeing them?Vertical Side Wall: This photo is of the side wall that is perfectly vertical. you can see it is very consistent in color and no appearance of 'layer lines'.Curved Wall and Top: It is more apparent that there are 'layer lines'. But closer inspection actually shows that the lines are formed visually due to the inconsistent colorant media in the plastic. It was hard to snap a pic at higher zoom levels, but you can see that the colorant media is actually some kind of insoluable piece of fleck mixed in with the ABS. As compared to traditional dyes used in cheaper ABS, the flecks used in Hatchbox's Paint-free ABS are not perfectly homogenous.My conclusion is that this is appears to be a higher quality ABS as compared to Hatchbox's 20 dollar rolls, but it misses the mark a little in terms of color consistency. I am knocking it for price, because I don't know how this spool would be any more advantageous as compared to others.

Hey there 3dp enthusiast! Here is a simple overview of Hatchboxes Paint-Free ABS.The first major advantage to this filament is that it adds a bit of flair with its gorgeous sheen and metallic look. I am personally using this champagne gold which will be installed on my Voron 2. As for print-ability it prints just like most other quality ABS filaments, do be aware that it does struggle a bit with bridges which is not surprising considering the additive that gives it that nice look! This does however mean that im taking away one star for that one small imperfection. These picture samples were printed at about 245c with a 110c bed, I experienced no warping and the ambient chamber was just around 50c. All - in - all i would recommend this filament for anyone looking for that great aesthetic for their project!Warrior 3D

Hatchbox filament is the best I have used. Does not disappoint. We paid $50 for a roll of brown filament. And it comes out more of a bronze color. So not quite brown if that is what you are looking for. It looks great. Just not brown. Filament quality is top notch.

This is my fist attempt at using ABS and it printed perfectly. Great quality prints. The black color is more of a gun metal grey rather than black but it still looks really good. I used it in an Ender 3 with a glass bed and auto leveling and stock extruder.

I’m at the point that I don’t just buy any filament as it becomes hard to find consistency from spools. This is not the case with Hatchbox!! When time is important, Hatchbox has always been very consistent

I was looking for an ABS silver that had some pizazz, but this is just a boring flat grey at 2-1/2 times the normal price for Hatchbox ABS. The print quality is actually much worse than the regular Hatchbox ABS. It gets even worse after storage for a few months. I will continue to use regular Hatchbox ABS as my go to filament, but will pass on this "special" paint free version in the future.Update: I ended up having to throw away my 2/3 full roll of this stuff. After a year in storage, it would no longer extrude to print. No clogs, just grinds away in the extruder. Swapped out with regular Hatchbox ABS and prints resume normally. There is just no need or point to ever use this filament again.

Prints super smootherGreat for show pieces.

I've always had better quality prints using Hatchbox over other brands of filament.