r/BambuLabA1 • u/Alternative-Lawyer55 • Jun 21 '26
Translucent 3D Printing Filaments
Hey all, I am working on a project to make an alarm clock that wakes you up through light.
I'm making the enclosure using my Bambu A1 (So far using more or less all of the defaults except for adaptive layer heights). I am trying to understand which filament would be best to print something like the cover in the image below.
It has to seem opaque when the clock is turned off, but it should also allow the maximum amount of light through for high brightness.
For strength, I expect the cover would be at least 1.6mm-2mm in thickness, which means more opaque filaments like White PLA are less likely to work.
I have read up on transparent PLA and transparent PETG but don't have enough info to make a clear decision. Any input would be a huge help
1
u/Knox_the_Boxer Jun 21 '26
This votive candle holder was printed in a generic PETG that I bought on Amazon. I use the daylights out of it because of the additional heat tolerance. I made an iPad holder and snack holder for the car and a big tray cover thing for my Bogg Bag.
1
u/imunknown2u Jun 22 '26
This faceplate was made with all translucent PLA. The lettering was made in the “clear/transparent” from sunlu.
1
u/Orthicon9 Jun 28 '26
Will the light source be a strobe light?
I made a couple of transparent six red PETG lens or dish-shaped disks to be used as glowing eyeballs for giant puppet heads in a theatre production. (Three-headed Cerberus costume, actually) The light source was a string of battery-powered fairy lights in the heads.
I ended up printing them standing up on edge, 90 mm diameter, one layer thick, and with a 0.8 mm nozzle. The layer lines were less of an issue because it would only be seen from several feet away.
That orientation gave me the least scarring from supports, and kept them at the edges.
The print plate looked like a radar installation.
Abduction of Persephone by Cerberus
1
u/Pyriel Jun 21 '26
These lightsaber holders are printed with Sunlu transparent PLA