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YouSu Silk Pearlescent PLA is currently available in four colors (Gold, Green, Pink and White) on Amazon’s USA storefront. Although this brand name is new to me, Guangzhou YouSu 3D Technology Co., Limited was established back in January 2013. The product description and company details make several grand claims. Let’s find out how well YouSu’s packaging and products live up to their advertisements.
YouSu Silk Pearlescent PLA Marketing
Here are some quotes regarding YouSu and the selling points for their Silk Pearlescent PLA filaments.
- Yousu, a true manufacturer has 6+ years in 3D filament business around the world
- Pearlescent gorgeous surface
- Unique recipe assures less stringing and better overhang performance
- Perfect filament winding that is compatible with the most FDM/FFF 3D printers
- Reduced warping & Good Layer Bonding
- Pure material & Precise Diameter
- Vacuum-sealed 3D printer filament with desiccant, slide lock bag and a beautiful box
- Technical support and material PDF available from [email protected]
Did the roll of filament live up to its advertising claims? Keep reading to find out
YouSu Filament Packaging
I was not familiar with the YouSu brand, nor had I ever used pearlescent filaments. So I was intrigued when I got the opportunity to test their Pearlescent Gold for this article. Additionally, I had purchased a roll of Pearlescent Green and White PETG a week before receiving the gold. I will comment on those rolls as well.
All three of my YouSu rolls arrived in custom printed boxes with product specific labels wrapping around the cartons sealing them shut. Upon opening the box, I was greeted with a large smile face and a Thank You message. Each roll was tightly vacuumed sealed with a standard desiccant baggie.
Instantly I noticed something different about these rolls of filament. The spools were clear and contained material-specific labels in multiple languages. The labels indicate the material, diameter, printing temperature, print surface temperature and net weight. Additionally, the label has approximate per cent of remaining usage marks. This is the first time I’ve seen a filament spool like this. NICE!!!
Even before opening the bags, it was quite obvious that the filament was tightly and neatly wound upon the spools. As long as you handle and store your filament correctly, I believe the tangle-free claim is very honest. I completed an eighty-four (84) hour print. The material and winding performed brilliantly. Unfortunately, the figure print had several quality issues caused by my printer, not the filament. (My printer is currently torn apart for maintenance and upgrades).
Filament Initial Testing
YouSu filament had impressed me with their packaging, but now it’s time to print some 3D objects. The first roll of YouSu Pearlescent I received was the green. Therefore I printed the obligatory 20 mm test cube. Once I received the Gold filament, I also printed a Benchie to observe the print quality and shine with my standard printing profile. I did not spend a long time or excessive filament doing all of the various calibration test prints. Instead, I simply adjusted the printing temperature to 205C and began printing.
As far as the PETG is concerned, I rarely use it after utter failures when I first started 3D printing about a year ago. So being adventurous, I tested YouSu’s White PETG, making my first Lithographs. I haven’t perfected a PETG profile, so I simply set my temperatures to 240C and 60C and used fan settings standard for PETG.
YouSu Filament continued to impress me, especially the initial layers of PETG. As you can see in the slideshow above, all three filaments printed great first or raft layers. The Pearlescent Gold and Green are perfect for two figures I wanted to print with silky material. The PETG makes a great neutral white for lithograph printing.
Model Printing
As mentioned above, I did not print multiple test pieces to perfect material profiles for the YouSu filaments. Instead, I dove headfirst into some complicated and long prints. The first Pearlescent Green print had some minor stringing as I printed the legs of a Medusa figure by Creative Geek MB This was remedied with some minor tweaks to the retraction settings in my slicer. My second green print was Medusa’s snake hair, and it had nearly zero strings.
The Pearlescent Gold was selected to print the body and base of an adult Mermaid sunning herself on a rock from Akash Singh. The print for the Golden Mermaid took over three (3) days to print. Unfortunately the end of the 275 mm tall print had layer shifts, excessive Z-Banding and external blobs. Additionally, I broke one arm and the tip of her tail while removing Cura’s tree supports. Despite the unpleasant results, NONE OF THESE ISSUES WERE CAUSED BY THE YouSu FILAMENT. Unfortunately, my Ender 5 was well past due for some maintenance and had several screws and assemblies loose. Thankfully the print looks like an ancient Greek statue with the hair and hand-cracked off. BONUS!
In an attempt to make some money or gifts with my 3D printing hobby, I decided to try the YouSu White PETG to make some lithographs. Although my profile needs further tweaking, my lithographs and a filament spool adapter turned out very cute with minimal strings. BTW I took the picture for the Lithograph, with my phone at Driftwood Beach.
YouSu Silk Pearlescent PLA – Really Does Shine!
If it’s not apparent from my review and my pictures, I think YouSu hit a home run when then produced their filaments and made them available on Amazon. With additional testing and tweaking, I’m sure surface reflection, stringing and overall color can be improved. Yet out of the box with simple temperature adjustments, their filaments worked perfectly for my projects. I suggest you give YouSu brand filaments a try, and hopefully, you have even better results.
Although YouSu has their own website, I hope to see more of their products on Amazon. I would love to use ALL of their other Pearlescent filaments for additional projects. Their silk pearlescent blue would look great for a custom ocean wave lower base when I reprint my mermaid. I need to order more gold soon!
If you like the models and artists featured here today, please check out their galleries and consider buying some of their art WORK.
I found this article from Ecoreprap.com and found it interesting read on.
While you are surfing the internet, check out some these articles as well:
Eryone Thinker S Review – Pondering my First 30 Days or 3DPARTLAB – BigRep Plans to Grow Bigger in Boston!
Upon opening a your first box of YouSu filament, you know you've purchased for a company that cares about quality, appearance and customer usage. Testing two different material types produced perfect first layers. Even with a printer requiring maintenance, a three (3) day print produced a 275 mm tall print with perfect layer adhesion. Silky and pearlescent prints will vary depending on surface angles, layer heights and light sources. The gold and green PLA prints look great indoor as well as in direct sunlight. I enjoyed printing with YouSu's filaments and hopefully you will as well. Print surfaces used clean mirror glass with hair spray, adhesion is amazing using this surfaces.
