Print-material, in comparison to the tag 'material', helps to specify that the question is concerned with the material the print itself is made from. This includes 'filament' as a subgroup but also SLS polymers for example.
Questions tagged [print-material]
121 questions
32
votes
4 answers
Is 3D printing safe for your health?
I would like to buy a 3D printer, but I'm concerned about the health risks that are associated with its operation. Some groups of scientists say it can be harmful for humans.
What do I need to consider before buying a 3D printer if I care about my…

kenorb
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25
votes
5 answers
How should I clean my extruder when changing materials?
I often switch my print material, i.e. ABS / PLA / Wood / Flex,
How can I best clean out my extruder between them to ensure I don't contaminate my next print?

Matt Clark
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24
votes
5 answers
Advantages of PETG filament?
I was just shopping for filament, and saw some glowing claims about PETG being as easy to work with as PLA, but as strong as ABS, and less brittle. Anyone know if that's actually true, or what the tradeoffs are?

TextGeek
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21
votes
5 answers
Which is more durable to sunlight/weather - PLA, ABS or PETG
The backstory: I'm installing a pigeon net in my home. Because of the shape of the opening I'm installing the net in and the material on the sides it's difficult to anchor the net using the normal means but I can print clips that will hold the net…

Nir
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19
votes
1 answer
How does one use a heat tower?
I've been asking around on how to choose the right temperature for a given filament. I noticed that with two different brands of pla I have to print at different temperatures, and the manufacturer specifies a broad range of print temperatures.
I…

linuxdan
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17
votes
4 answers
Are there any metals that exhibit a large glass state?
Plastic is used in 3D FDM/FFF printing partly because it had a wide temperature range for its glass state - where it can be flowed with some force, but won't flow due only to gravity.
Most metals have a very narrow, or non-existant, glass state. …

Adam Davis
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13
votes
1 answer
Can I 3D-print a PET bottle?
I want to print a transparent PET bottle for my homemade lemonades and thought about 3D-printing them.
I would like the printed bottle's quality to be as fine as a Coca-Cola PET bottle for coke and the printing substrate or material be something…

LiNKeR
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12
votes
1 answer
How does this Martian habitat 3D printer built for NASA work?
The ArchDaily article AI SpaceFactory Wins NASA's 3D-Printed Mars Habitat Challenge shows a working 3D printing apparatus using an unusual material containing
basalt fiber extracted from Marian rock (simulant) and renewable plant-based…

uhoh
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12
votes
6 answers
Is it possible to print a resonator for a musical instrument?
I play a berimbau for Capoeira. One of the most fragile (and most expensive) bits is the cabaça, a hollow gourd used as a resonator.
I'm not very familiar with the qualities of the resin used for 3d printing. If I were to take this to our local…

Sean Duggan
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10
votes
5 answers
Secure disposal of 3D prints
The company I work for is protective of IP and has security procedures for disposing of anything that could be stolen for industrial espionage. Paper gets shredded and sent to trusted recycling center, all old data storage media gets obliterated,…

Engineer
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10
votes
3 answers
Printing with colorfabb XT fails after several successful layers
I'm printing parts for a HEVO (HyperCube Evolution CoreXY), using Colorfabb XT filament. After several successful prints. I'm having a lot of failed prints. They start off pretty well but after ~15 layers the filament starts to string and blob.…

Toon
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9
votes
4 answers
What are the ideal print conditions for polypropylene?
I'm having a lot of trouble printing polypropylene right now, and I think it may have to do with the conditions. I'm using a very thin coat of ABS on the base plate (just as you would do when printing with ABS) in order to promote sticking.
In this…

CuriouSir
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9
votes
1 answer
How to avoid stringing?
How can I avoid the irregularities and stringing in the print.
Printer Used: Fortus 450mc
Model: PC
Model tip: T10
Support tip: T12SR
Support: SR-100
Slice Height: 0.0050 in
I have printed two objects using Grabcad print (with Insight)
1) Voronoi…

Veda
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9
votes
4 answers
Thermal degradation of 3D printed ABS (and other plastics)
The short version of my question is:
Are 3D printed parts made of ABS likely to survive for one year in an incubator at 80℃?
Please read on for more details.
I am printing some parts that will be used inside an incubator in a lab. They are likely…

N. Virgo
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9
votes
3 answers
PETG layer adhesion
I've been playing around with PETG for the first time, and everything seemingly worked right just from the start - clean prints, no stringing, no bed adhesion problems, no warping or dimensional accuracy problems, etc. As expected it prints a lot…

R.. GitHub STOP HELPING ICE
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