HTPLA combines the ease of PLA 3D printing with the ability to heat-treat your parts post-printing to increase their stiffness at higher temperatures, and this metal-filled HTPLA is a blend of HTPLA and real copper powder, allowing you to post-process your prints in a variety of ways to create authentic, metal-looking parts. To achieve a nice, smooth piece, all you need to do is print, sand, and polish! Just make sure to print using an all-metal hotend.
Heat Treat for Great Performance
PLA and HTPLA are great for many applications, just exactly as they're printed, but once they're stored above 50C, they start to break down. Luckily, the HT is for Heat Treat! Or is it High Temp? Either way, it's a huge improvement to the part's thermal stability--up to three times standard PLA, or non-annealed HTPLA.
Simply place your printed part in your oven for a few minutes (larger parts will need longer times) at 100 - 120C (200 - 250F), and the material will crystallize and become much stiffer. Keep in mind this may warp some architectures of printed parts, so experimentation is required. Best results are with flat and/or supported parts with 100% infill.
HTPLA could be the solution to your printing needs.
Prints Like Plastic, Finishes Like Copper!
At first, the metal-composite HTPLA has a matte finish but fear not, with a little sanding and polishing, the infused copper particles sparkle unlike any filament that you have seen before! Or wire-brush to expose the metal and then allow oxidization for a lovely aged patina.
Another great characteristic of this material is its weight. At about three times the weight of standard PLA, your prints will have an authenticity that would usually require genuine metal-working to achieve. This is ideal if you are printing items like jewelry, props or other artistic pieces.
