Wood Filament

Using wood infused materials can produce some pretty neat 3D printed parts. The surface feels coarse and slightly rough, but it can be sanded down to produce a slick and smooth surface. Brands of wood filament are differ slightly from one another but most of them are mixed with PLA granulates.

Slicing Details

Here's a few tips and things to look for when slicing the deck and applying supports.

• Orient the deck vertically and ~3mm away from the bed. Rotate the deck so it's along the Y-axis.
• Generate automatic supports. Remove any support in the mounting holes.
• Preview the slice and step through each layer.

Raft & Support

The Feather deck is printed best when it's oriented vertically on it's side. This requires a raft and support material. A raft is used as a base and normally features thick lines for getting good bed adhesion. Support material is a series of thin strips that elevate the part away from the raft. It allows the print head to lay material on top of the support material.

Surface Finishing

You can optionally sand the surface down to create a silky smooth finish. Use a coarse low grit sandpaper to knock off the outer surface and then step up to a higher grit. After the surface has been sanded, the color will be lighter, almost white colored. You have several solutions you can use to bring the color back such as spray lacquer, linseed oil, and wood stains.

Mounting Holes

Most of the mounting holes will need to be cleaned up. Use a pointy poking tool or a filing tool to clean up the mounting holes. I recommend filing both sides of each hole.

Temperature & Colorations

You can actually alter the color of the material depending on how hot the nozzle is. The hotter the nozzle, the darker the color. Changing the temperature of the nozzle while printing can produce actually produce different colors.