Technologies

Best 3D Printer Filament Deals: PLA, ABS, PETG and more

Keep your materials stocked up and ready to print with the best deals on PLA, ABS and more.

3D printing is a fantastic pastime. I’ve been doing it for nearly a decade now, and while there have been a lot of changes to the best 3D printers in terms of speed and quality, the basic materials you print with are the same. Most people are familiar with FDM printers — the type that use long strands of plastic to build layers on a print surface — and the material used to make models with them, called filament.

Filament comes in all different colors and chemical compositions — which our best 3D printing filament list explains in more detail — and ranges in price from less than $20 to hundreds of dollars, depending on what you need. Buying filament in bulk is often necessary, so it’s worth seeking out good deals. To save you some time, we’ve done the legwork for you and found as many filament deals as we can.

Matterhackers

MatterHackers Quantum PLA: $25

Save $5

Transitional filament, which mixes multiple colors, has been around for a while, but it normally changes a model’s color from the bottom to the top. Quantum is actually two colors fused across the width of the model, allowing it to change color from left to right. This results in a mesmerizing transition. I love using it for all sorts of different projects. From vases to giant articulated octopuses, it makes any model look breathtaking.

$25 at MatterHackers

Get the best price with CNET Shopping.

Love shopping online but don’t have time to compare prices or search for promo codes? Our CNET Shopping extension does that for you, so you always get the best price.

Elegoo

Elegoo bulk PLA (black): $100

Save $50

If you want to create a huge project or print the same thing over and over, you need a lot of filament. Elegoo’s bulk discount makes each roll cost just $10, a fantastic bargain. It’s only black PLA, but it’s good enough if you’re postprocessing it anyway.

Ten rolls of filament for $100 is amazing and if you can afford the initial outlay you’ll save yourself a bunch of money.

$100 at Elegoo

Stronhero 3D

Stronghero 3D gradient PETG: $18

Save: $8

Unique transition filaments are one of my favorite things. This PETG goes from a deep blue to an almost watery clear blue and back again, giving it a look of ocean waves. It’s beautiful. It is PETG, so you’ll need to ensure your printer is dialed in, but it’s worth the extra print time.

$18 at Amazon

Ataraxia Art

Ataraxia Art Flexible PLA Plus: $35

Save $5

Flexible PLA is on the border of PLA and TPU, but it does print well on direct drive printers such as the Prusa Mk3s or the new Ankermake M5.

I used it to make an amazing 3D-printed Mandalorian helmet for my 4-year-old daughter, so she can enjoy it without fear of damaging it. Any time you can get this on a discount it is worth doing.

$35 at Amazon

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for ATARAXIA ART Flexible PLA filament 1.75mm, 3D Printer Filament, PLA filament,1kg, Better Than TPU, 89A Shore Hardness, Patent Formula, Compatible Bowden Extruder, With Filament storage Bag, PLA VIOLET

iSANMATE

iSanmate glow-in-the-dark PLA: $38

Save $12 with coupon

This four-pack includes smaller rolls of filament, and it’s more of a tester set than a full roll. The glow-in-the-dark colors make it a great buy, but remember that although it will print using the PLA settings, it’s abrasive to soft brass nozzles. If you’re hoping to print a lot of this, you’ll need to buy a hardened nozzle or be ready to replace your brass nozzles constantly.

$42 at Amazon

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for 3D Printer Filament Bundle, Glow in The Dark Filament Multicolor, Green, Blue and Blue-Green, PLA Filament 1.75 mm, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.02 mm, 250g X 4 Pack

Sunlu

Sunlu ABS filament: $20

Save $6

Sunlu has been making filament for a while now, and it offers excellent quality at a low price. If you’re working with ABS and you need to lay in a store of spools, Sunlu is a great option. You can buy this budget filament without worrying about its quality.

$20 at Amazon

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for SUNLU ABS Filament 1.75mm, Highly Resistant Durable 3D Printer Filament, Dimensional Accuracy +/- 0.02mm, 1kg Spool(2.2lbs), 395 Meters, Strong ABS Consumables, Black

SainSmart

SainSmart color-changing TPU: $37

Save: $10

TPU is a lot of fun to 3D print with. It prints as a rubbery material, much like a phone case. This particular filament from SainSmart is even more interesting because it’s heat-sensitive. When it’s cool, the material is a deep orange color, but it changes into a bright yellow as it gets warmer.

TPU is great for applications that need to be tough, but require a lot of give in the material.

$37 at Amazon

Get Price Alerts

You’re receiving price alerts for SainSmart Orange to Yellow Color Change 95A TPU Filament 3D Printer Filament Color Changing with Temperature 1.75 mm 1Kg/ Spool

Pope Francis’ Funeral: How to Stream Live or Watch the Replay

Here’s how to stream the pope’s funeral very early Saturday, and what you can expect to see during the service.

After a week of global mourning for Pope Francis, who died on Monday at age 88, the pope’s funeral will be celebrated on Saturday . Francis’ funeral will be held Saturday at 10 a.m. local time at St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City (which is very, very early if you’re tuning in from the US or Canada), and he will be laid to rest at the Papal Basilica of St. Mary Major in Rome.

The Vatican will be livestreaming the papal funeral and procession, though not the burial, on its YouTube channel as it happens. The funeral will also be televised live on CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox, as well as on streaming services like Disney Plus, Hulu, Peacock and Paramount Plus. Due to the time difference, it seems likely that many interested North American viewers will catch it when it’s replayed later on Saturday. Numerous networks will rebroadcast the service later that day.

If you choose to stay up, or get up early, here’s when the live broadcast of the pope’s funeral will air in your time zone in the continental US on April 26:

ET: 4 a.m.
CT: 3 a.m.
MT: 2 a.m.
PT: 1 a.m.

The papacy of Pope Francis was notable for the progressive reforms he brought to the Roman Catholic Church. He appointed more than half of the current College of Cardinals and attempted to foster more positive attitudes toward members of the LGBT community and migrants worldwide.

What to expect from the funeral

The funeral will follow many rituals, though not all traditional protocols will be followed. Most popes are buried in St. Peter’s Basilica or its grottoes, but the AP reports Francis chose the St. Mary Major Basilica to reflect his veneration of an icon of the Virgin Mary that is located there, the Salus Populi Romani (Salvation of the People of Rome).

His funeral will be less elaborate than those of other popes per his own wishes. Francis simplified papal funeral rites last year, permitting his burial outside the Vatican, and emphasizing his role as a bishop rather than as pope (the pope is also the Bishop of Rome).

Previous popes were buried in three coffins: one of cypress, one of lead and one of oak. Francis requested to be buried in a single wooden, zinc-lined coffin and not to be placed in an elevated bier as other popes were.

The coffin will be taken from St Peter’s Basilica and placed on a dais in St Peter’s Square, where Cardinal Giovanni Battista Re will lead the service. After the service, the coffin will return to St Peter’s Basilica before it is carried across the River Tiber and to the Papal Basilica of Saint Mary Major for burial. The ceremony is estimated to end around 2 p.m. local time, or four hours after it begins.

Pope Francis’ funeral Mass will be the first of nine Masses held daily at St. Peter’s until May 4. This is an ancient tradition of the Catholic Church that observes nine days of consecutive mourning. According to Vatican News, a different group of mourners will participate each day, though the Eucharistic celebrations are open to everyone.

Who will attend Pope Francis’ funeral?

Hundreds of people, including world leaders and royals, are expected to attend Pope Francis’ funeral.

US president Donald Trump confirmed on his Truth Social Platform that he and first lady Melania Trump will be at the funeral. This will be Trump’s first foreign trip in his second term. He is expected to have a seat in the third row, though the Vatican has yet to release an official seating chart. It is tradition for the first row of seats to go to Catholic royalty, and the second row to non-Catholic royals.

Prince William, who is attending on behalf of King Charles, will sit in the second row, which is reserved for non-Catholic royals. Former president Joe Biden and first lady Jill Biden, devout Catholics, will also attend the funeral.

Conclave: What happens next to choose the new pope

After Pope Francis’ funeral, the cardinals of the Roman Catholic Church will vote on his successor in an assembly of cardinals known as a conclave.

There are many matters for the cardinals to settle before the conclave begins, but once it does, it can take days or even weeks to conclude. Two-thirds of the cardinals’ votes are required to elect the next pope. The conclave occurs behind closed doors and the vote tally is never made public.

Read more: Where to Watch Conclave, the Vatican Thriller About Electing a New Pope

Look for the white smoke

The ballots are burned after each round, and chemicals are added to the flames to produce black smoke if there’s no majority. When a new pope has been selected, the chemicals will be added to the flames so they produce white smoke. Crowds gather in St. Peter’s Square to watch for the results.

If you’re fascinated by the process, you can watch a dramatized version of the events in 2024 film Conclave.

In the movie, Ralph Fiennes stars as Cardinal Thomas Lawrence, who spearheads the election of the next pope while investigating rumors about potential candidates. The film is based on the 2016 novel by Robert Harris and is completely fictional — though it does represent some of the events of how actual papal conclaves take place. In March, the film won the Academy Award for best adapted screenplay.

You can stream Conclave on Amazon Prime Video, or rent it for $6 on Apple TV, Fandango at Home, YouTube or Google Play Movies.

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections Hints, Answers and Help for April 26, #685

Hints and answers for Connections for April 26, #685.

Looking for the most recent Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle, Connections: Sports Edition and Strands puzzles.

Today’s Connections puzzle features a lot of short words, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. That purple category requires a lot of thinking — probably most people will solve it only by solving the other three and having four words left over. Read on for clues and today’s Connections answers.

The Times now has a Connections Bot, like the one for Wordle. Go there after you play to receive a numeric score and to have the program analyze your answers. Players who are registered with the Times Games section can now nerd out by following their progress, including number of puzzles completed, win rate, number of times they nabbed a perfect score and their win streak.

Read more: Hints, Tips and Strategies to Help You Win at NYT Connections Every Time

Hints for today’s Connections groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Rainbow.

Green group hint: San Fernando ____.

Blue group hint: Think Robert.

Purple group hint: Mixed-up hue words.

Answers for today’s Connections groups

Yellow group: Tint.

Green group: Valley.

Blue group: Bobs.

Purple group: Color anagrams.

Read more: Wordle Cheat Sheet: Here Are the Most Popular Letters Used in English Words

What are today’s Connections answers?

The yellow words in today’s Connections

The theme is tint. The four answers are color, hue, shade and tone.

The green words in today’s Connections

The theme is valley. The four answers are dale, dell, glen and hollow.

The blue words in today’s Connections

The theme is Bobs. The four answers are Dole, Hope, Marley and Ross.

The purple words in today’s Connections

The theme is color anagrams. The four answers are Dre (red), Gary (gray), genre (green) and lube (blue).

Technologies

Today’s NYT Connections: Sports Edition Hints and Answers for April 26, #215

Hints and answers for the NYT Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, No. 215, for Saturday, April 26.

Looking for the most recent regular Connections answers? Click here for today’s Connections hints, as well as our daily answers and hints for The New York Times Mini Crossword, Wordle and Strands puzzles.

Connections: Sports Edition is tough today. The purple category theme threw me because of one phrase I didn’t know. And let’s hope you’re familiar with college coach surnames. Read on for hints and the answers.

Connections: Sports Edition is out of beta now, making its debut on Super Bowl Sunday, Feb. 9. That’s a sign that the game has earned enough loyal players that The Athletic, the subscription-based sports journalism site owned by the Times, will continue to publish it. It doesn’t show up in the NYT Games app but now appears in The Athletic’s own app. Or you can continue to play it free online.

Read more: NYT Connections: Sports Edition Puzzle Comes Out of Beta

Hints for today’s Connections: Sports Edition groups

Here are four hints for the groupings in today’s Connections: Sports Edition puzzle, ranked from the easiest yellow group to the tough (and sometimes bizarre) purple group.

Yellow group hint: Try to achieve.

Green group hint: Move through it.

Blue group hint: Sideline bosses.

Purple group hint: Like a carton.