Silk PLA usually means stringing and a fight with temperatures. eSUN's eSilk Copper surprised me: shiny Christmas decorations, a nine-tailed fox with no strings and a dice tower that looks moulded rather than printed.
A budget brand that over-delivers
This was December 2021, right in the middle of Christmas printing season. eSUN is a budget-friendly Chinese company, and the "e" in its name stands for its focus on eco-friendly filaments, which I really like. The spool was wound very well and the quality went beyond my expectations.
A quick, important note: I'm not paid to do these reviews. Companies send me filament to test, and only the ones I like make it into a video. Most never appear because they didn't impress me. So when I say "amazing", I really mean it.
Christmas prints
The first prints were all Christmas-themed: a standing Christmas tree printed flat in two pieces and glued together (plus a small one), a three-piece Christmas tree, and a balloon angel ornament my wife was waiting for, because it was the last piece missing from the lounge decorations. Then a shiny vase-mode Christmas tree, printed as I always do, with 0.8 mm extrusion on a 0.4 mm nozzle. The silky shine really gives it a Christmas vibe.
Watch the temperature
I made a mistake at first: I printed it too hot, and you can see it on the tree. eSUN suggests 190–220 °C, and on both my Creality CR-10 Smart and Artillery Sidewinder the sweet spot was 205 °C. Silk PLA usually needs higher temperatures, especially in vase mode, but this one doesn't. So start testing lower than usual.
No stringing, premium finish
The nine-tailed fox I found on MyMiniFactory came out beautifully, with no stringing at all between the tails. Silk filaments normally leave little hairs no matter how you set retraction. A dice tower printed without any supports looks like moulded plastic, like something from a shop. At most it needs a little sanding on one overhang. A single-wall vase by Namu 3D still feels sturdy and premium. And the classic snake test showed a great first layer and bed adhesion. My kids love it and wanted it back, and you can probably hear them in the background asking for their dad on a weekend.