1
submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

I started 3d printing back when you had to build it all from scratch, and it seemed ABS was the only filament to be found. PLA came along soon enough and made things sooo much easier. Then came some more exotic ones like TPU or Nylon I think, but I never tried them out because they seemed pretty niche.

But now I'm getting back into it after some time and am seeing PETG popping up more and it seems to have become one of the mainstream materials now.

Are there any other key materials I should become aware of these days? Has PETG started to replace ABS as a superior "high-temp" filament? Does anyone have experience with these?

top 16 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[-] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago

PETG has become the second "entry level" filament besides PLA because it's almost as easy to print with (just hotter) and also doesn't require an enclosure. Not as stiff as PLA and has a little flex, so perfect for prints that don't have to be 100% rigid. For example I printed a smartphone holder for my bike out of PETG with 4 "arms" that grip the corners, and it has just enough flex so I can get the phone in and out. Temperature resistance is only a bit higher than PLA.

TPU/TPE are flexibles and available in all grades of flex, the softer ones can be tough to print on bowden machines.

The "kings" of temperature resistance and toughness are ABS, ASA, PC (blend) and PA ("nylon"), but they pretty much require an enclosure and good ventilation (fumes...) and have to be printed very hot, so an all-metal hotend is highly recommended.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

PETG is great but ABS is still more durable I think in most cases and probably more rigid.

But PETG does not give off toxic fumes. I believe I remember there being even less fumes than PLA.

PETG is trickier to print than PLA though, but easier (and safer) than nylon. TPU and TPE are flexible and don't really compare apples to apples with the others.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

I've printed primarily in PETG for a few years now and just started printing voron parts in ASA. ASA is way more rigid than PETG, but PETG will yeild more than ASA before breaking.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

PETG is my favorite filament after PLA. It is much easier to print than ABS, not toxic and has one of the best UV resistances.

I use it primarily for things I leave outside or in the car. No issues with warping even when the inside of my car can reach 60 °C.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Petg is my go to for general use unless I need heat tolerance, I have an enclosure and have abs pretty dialed in so I flip between them. Only petg part I've had fail was the x idler piece after printing enclosed abs for a few weeks straight. Only really complaint I have is it likes to stick hard to the nozzle but that's solved by a sock, and it likes to be dry but that's something to do with abs as well.

I used petg to print a holder for my pour-over coffee maker (v60 with the carafe, it broke but wanted to use the perfectly good piece that fit in the carafe), yeah it doesn't touch boiling water directly but it holds up just fine and I've been using it for the past 2 months.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

My only problem with petg is it is super susceptible to humidity. And once you get some moisture in there, it gets really sticky and stringy.

I don't think I've ever had a filament jam as often as petg. I do enjoy printing in it though as you almost never have to worry about warping.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

ASA is ABS but a little easier. PC is my favorite for structural parts. You can get away with small stuff in PC without an enclosure. It is ideal for print fan shrouds too as it has the highest temp tolerance of any hobby grade filament.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

They make PC filament? TIL. Seems like it would be really difficult to print with.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

Prusament PC Blend is really nice to work with on their machines. It prints at 290C with a bed temp of 110C and is best to print with their glue stick, (although any gluestick will work, theirs just cleans off easier than some others). These temperature ranges are beyond the capabilities of many cheap printer project type machines and definitely outside of the hotend temperature range you should print at if you have PTFE tubing passing through the heatbreak and in contact with the butt of the nozzle.

[-] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago

How are the voc's? I just upgraded to a p1p and I've just finishing building out an enclosure for it. Not actually sure what the extruder on this is rated for but I'm upgrading the hotend to hardened steel next so I can print a bento box in asa.

Might give PC a look if it's something I think this printer can handle.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'm fond of PVB, as anyone who's read my posts here may have noticed. Prints with similar settings to plain PLA, but can be smoothed with isopropyl alcohol, and smoothed prints can be pretty close to truly transparent if that's your thing. Also, smoothed prints have much improved interlayer adhesion, for obvious reasons.

I've printed a couple of spools of PETG at this point, and it's touchier than PLA, but still easier than the ABS/ASA/HIPS family plastics. In particular, it likes to be stringy, so you need to either tune your retraction or do a certain amount of postprocessing on prints to get uniformly smooth surfaces (I mostly settle for the latter, and "good enough").

I also have a spool of PCL (filament with a very low printing temperature) that I keep meaning to get around to playing with. What can I say? It was on sale. (I buy mostly from filaments.ca , who often have somewhat exotic plastics among their house brand filaments, although they can never seem to keep them in stock. Just as well, since it keeps me from impulse-buying LLDPE or the like.)

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Idk but my experiences with abs / ASA have been way more positive than petg. Even with just a ender in a cardboard box.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

Might give ASA a look while you're at it.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I'm on my second spool of ASA and love it. It did require me to upgrade to a enclosure and PEI print bed.

[-] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago

I have printed some fan shrouds in Polycarbonate (PC). ASA is another popular one. Check this article out.

[-] [email protected] 0 points 1 year ago

TPU is awesome, even with bowden printer. I would even say it's easier than PETG.

this post was submitted on 07 Jul 2023
1 points (100.0% liked)

3DPrinting

14841 readers
44 users here now

3DPrinting is a place where makers of all skill levels and walks of life can learn about and discuss 3D printing and development of 3D printed parts and devices.

The r/functionalprint community is now located at: [email protected] or [email protected]

There are CAD communities available at: [email protected] or [email protected]

Rules

If you need an easy way to host pictures, https://catbox.moe may be an option. Be ethical about what you post and donate if you are able or use this a lot. It is just an individual hosting content, not a company. The image embedding syntax for Lemmy is ![](URL)

Moderation policy: Light, mostly invisible

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS