Stratasys FDM 3D Printing

Hi Karl,

Thanks for reaching out and your interest in the F370 printers and materials. Currently the F370 is available with a default printer head capable of printing; ABS, ASA, PC-ABS and a separate printer head for printing TPU. Each of these materials require specific specifications for the head style and material. Because of this, PLA is only available by default to the F120 printer series. The good news is you can still print PLA on a 370, however a separate printer head that specifically supports PLA would be required. We will reach out to the product team and update them on making the PLA addition and Insight draft mode feature details more prominent in our literature. Thanks again for the feedback and feel free to reach out to us directly at 1-800-801-6491 or FDM.support.us@stratasys.com for any other questions

Best,

Abe

Hi Karl,

Yes, I feel same way. I do have all the heads and "draft" mode for PLA is not worth it. I have multiple Ultimakers that I use for PLA and expected the use of the F370 to help with PLA parts but using draft mode totally sucks. Basically, I have a bunch of PLA for the machine that I will never use because its basically worthless in draft mode. Give a double density at least so parts can be useful! PLA can take a beating when fixtures are used hard. The draft mode PLA just breaks apart. I felt the same: Very disappointed in quality and output of the F370 with PLA. Basically, F370 only runs ABS now.

I actually like the PLA on the F370. I think it's very useful especially when just investigating larger forms for ergonomics or whatever. I don't have any other PLA machines, so I can't compare. It just seems like the machine is so much more capable and Stratasys just kinda hamstrings it for reasons.

As it is, I wouldn't recommend people buy the PLA add-on. But the fixes to make it competent in PLA are pretty much just unlockable through software. The canned responses from Staff above don't help much, either.

The "draft only" mode of PLA filament in 3D printing is usually a setting or feature that prioritizes speed and lower print quality to produce models quickly. This pattern is often used for rapid prototyping, conceptual models, or prints that do not require fine details or smooth finishes. I think PLA's "draft-only" mode is a useful tool in the iterative design process, providing a quick and cost-effective way to generate rough models before moving on to high-quality printing.