I’ve printed probably 5 kilos worth of prints with a lot of success, but exclusively PLA. I’d like to branch out to a new material. Should I start with ABS or TPU?
I’ve printed probably 5 kilos worth of prints with a lot of success, but exclusively PLA. I’d like to branch out to a new material. Should I start with ABS or TPU?
ABS needs an enclosure for anything above around 10 layers. Even a room closed with it warm and no one inside is not enough to save an ABS print. Just the air from the moving tool head and the bed are enough to disturb a print and cause layer separation. An IKEA Lack table and a garbage bag over it is enough of an enclosure to count and get most prints alright. It stinks though.
TPU will have holes and look terrible unless you print out of a filament drier. You can dry the stuff a lot and print for around 45 minutes with it in open air before it will absorb enough moisture to start expanding steam in the melt zone and blowing holes in your print layers.
Abs needs an enclose vented to the outside, or really good ventilation. The ‘S’ in ABS stands for styrene, a fairly potent carcinogen and irritant. Do NOT print it in your living area as it off gasses while printing.
All other plastics you can print on the A1 will be safer.
That enclosure might work for smaller ASA prints, but I needed a lot more insulation than a garbage bag to pull off larger prints.
Maybe I got lucky with TPU, but I didn’t run into any significant issues with humidity when I printed treads for wagon wheels over the course of two or three days.
Makes a huge difference with my junky TPU if it is dry or not.
I also have a massive stacked Lack (sp?) table with double legs. I put that stack with a MK3S+ into a 55 gallon trash bag and can print the entire build volume. The thing is, it has to be totally sealed off well and no traffic in the room that might disturb the thing in the slightest. I won’t even open a door to the room. I also let the bed heat for longer before the print starts. Lastly, I must design for ABS specifically and very conscious of layer thickness transitions. I look at all filaments and designs as an optimization for materials and process thing. I design everything I print. So my advice is and abstraction of what is possible under similar constraints. Most files people share are not very well designed for 3d printing or for material specific requirements/optimizations. I don’t recommend printing other people’s stuff unless you are forced to for some reason.
The primary issue with ABS is how heat is soaked into top layer/bottom layer transitions near side walls. In most cases, just make a tapered transition over a long area and remove any top layers in places like interior areas. Designing tops that are rounded or hollow is another key. Using exposed 3d cubic infill is how I get around a lot of the top layer heat issues.
If anyone is actually wanting to print ABS a lot, obviously just get a Voron.