3DPrinting

15655 readers

59 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

No bigotry - including racism, sexism, ableism, homophobia, transphobia, or xenophobia. Code of Conduct.
Be respectful, especially when disagreeing. Everyone should feel welcome here.
No porn (NSFW prints are acceptable but must be marked NSFW)
No Ads / Spamming / Guerrilla Marketing
Do not create links to reddit
If you see an issue please flag it
No guns
No injury gore posts

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 2 years ago

MODERATORS

Beyond PLA and ABS? (vlemmy.net)

submitted 1 year ago by [email protected] to c/3dprinting

25 comments fedilink hide all child comments

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?

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments

[–] [email protected] 7 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.