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I'm very new to 3D printing, and I am very interested in printing electronics. I want to be able to print out circuits, so I've been trying to find a conductive filament. What sorts of conductive filaments are available to the consumer (me) and are of acceptable quality

Edited for clarity: I am not seeking a product recommendation, but rather am looking to know what sort of variety I can expect and more specifically which filaments are useful for printing electronics.

Sigismund
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  • Be warned that if you're trying to do anything with high speed signals, conductive filaments will cause you lots of problems due to the tight tolerances on impedance. And I might even say is not possible with current 3D printers though I haven't tried anything that crazy before to be honest. Low power/slow signals you should be golden, – Diesel Jan 19 '17 at 01:48
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    I'm voting to close this question as primarily opinion-based, because it asks for a product recommendation. Moreover, what is "acceptable quality" to me may not be to you. – Tom van der Zanden Jan 19 '17 at 08:43
  • They are asking what filaments are available to a consumer, if the "acceptable quality" line is clarified then this is fairly easy to answer. – tjb1 Jan 19 '17 at 12:22
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    You're asking the question the wrong way round. Find a candidate material, spec it and your use case, ask something specific about your concerns. – Sean Houlihane Jan 19 '17 at 13:02
  • I have not been impressed with the conductive filaments that I have seen. Have you considered printing circuitry with conductive inks or pastes instead of filaments? – Davo Jan 19 '17 at 19:40
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    You can do a lot also an other thing i found very interesting is that you can metal plate that filaments xd :) so why not be able to metal plate specific areas that you have with that filament after the print ;) – user5536 Jan 20 '17 at 13:06
  • @TomvanderZanden hey Tom. This post is from a new member. It's not that bad. Yet you voted to close? How does that help us get closer to being out of beta? I understand the programmer style black white and brutal often seen on SO however I feel you could have tried to work with the user to improve their question and coached them on what we look for. I don't think you know how you come across. Voting to close is aggressive and improper. I think we can improve this question and maybe get a new user who will come back IF we are nice and helpful. – StarWind0 Jan 22 '17 at 14:24
  • @StarWind I disagree. That is simply the way StackExchange works. It's not a chatroom or forum. This is not a good question, and on any "mature" StackExchange site it would be closed quickly. It doesn't list any requirements: Are they looking to print stuff that needs low resistance? Low parasitic capacitance for high-frequency applications? Very few StackExchange sites accept product recommendation questions at all, and the few that do have strict standards on how specific and detailed your question should be. "Recommend me a high-quality X" is, IMO, not a suitable question. – Tom van der Zanden Jan 22 '17 at 14:41
  • Well let's talk about this more in meta. I feel you missed the point. I just want to express it would help us as a group if everyone was nice and more willing to work with these newcomers. There are already topics about this. As you are number one for points you have a larger responsibility to embrace and shape a positive community. These are not all harden veterans of stack overflow. Also maybe go read a few other SO communities, preferably non hard science engineering etc. You might find many are squishy and most do not hold what you say is standard. – StarWind0 Jan 22 '17 at 19:47
  • Also to be fair he or she is not asking for brands. What sorts of filament. I personally answered that question as the sort that is infused with carbon or graphine. But that's how I read the question. Remind me what is the suggestion on the flag page? Help improve? – StarWind0 Jan 22 '17 at 19:50
  • @StarWind You are right, my comment could have been more helpful and friendly, and explain more clearly what should be improved. I'll take note of this for the future, but I still think this question isn't a very good one. As Sean also points out, it should state the application and requirements for the filament. Googling "conductive filament" would answer the current question much better than a StackExchange answer ever could. [How to ask](http://3dprinting.stackexchange.com/help/how-to-ask) explicitly states "search thoroughly for an answer before asking" and "give us details and context". – Tom van der Zanden Jan 23 '17 at 11:19
  • @TomvanderZanden I think we are in agreement. I also agree the question needs a lot of work. It would make a good meta post on how we want to help these new users who do not even have the basic terminology. – StarWind0 Jan 23 '17 at 14:12

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At this point conductive filaments are a very new thing. All the filiments on the market are PLA based that have been infused with Carbon or Graphine

However I worry you over estimate what you can do with this. You will at most be able to 3d print a simple wire and power a LED. You will not be able to run a microcontroller, and honestly I would expect a complicated print to have too much or too little resistance, maybe burst into flames.

enter image description here

You really should look into the Voxle 8 and other printers. The printer is really the driving factor. Using a conductive filament will not be enough. Note this printer uses a syringe not PLA plastic.

Here is a Voxle8 print. Voxlel8

StarWind0
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