3D Printing Filament

PLA Filament

First up is PLA, or polylactic acid. Unlike most other filaments that contain petroleum, PLA is made from organic materials. This thermoplastic monomer is user- and environmentally friendly, doesn’t easily warp during printing, and it’s food-safe, too. It’s not water-soluble, but it can be dissolved with acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, or caustic soda. PLA is, however, a bit more fragile than some other filaments, and doesn’t have a good UV resistance.

ABS Filament

Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene, or ABS, is a popular engineering plastic and 3D printing filament type that’s tough and can hold its own in high temperatures—which is just as well because printing with ABS uses high temperatures for both the hot end and the printer bed.

It needs heated build volumes in order to get proper results since ABS can warp during printing, leading to inaccurate dimensions. At Xometry, we use industrial machines from the Fortus lineup by Stratasys in order to provide consistent results and open the door to serial production. ABS is known for its durability; it’s impact resistant and can survive wear and tear. Like PLA, it isn’t water soluble, but it can be dissolved with organic solvents like acetone, methyl ethyl ketone, and esters. It’s also food safe.

Carbon Fiber Filament

Filaments filled with carbon fiber are made with enhancing additives to improve their mechanical properties or overall appearance. They have better dimensional stability than some other types of filament, and don’t warp as much. They can increase the durability of ABS, but are more brittle and likely to clog. Carbon fiber filament can be dissolved with organic solvents.

Nylon Filament

Nylon (aka polyamide) is a popular engineering plastic thanks to its excellent durability and wear resistance. The most commonly used grade of nylon for hobbyists is PA 6. Nylon is both impact and wear-resistant. That said, nylon absorbs moisture easily, and it requires print temperatures as high as 265℃. There are even food-safe grades of nylon. Due to the high heat, Nylon tends to warp during printing but this can be somewhat contained with a heated enclosure. Nylon expands in water as it’s a hygroscopic material, and it can be dissolved in acetic and formic acids.

While nylon can be a desirable material to print in due to it’s overall excellent characteristics, it can be more challenging to work with. At Xometry, we can handle the hassles thanks to our industrial platforms, allowing us to reliably print Nylon 12 parts with our FDM, MJF, and SLS printing processes.

FLEX Filament

FLEX filament is a proprietary blend of polymers that creates a flexible copolymer 3D printing filament type. It’s part of the thermoplastic polyurethane, or TPU, family of materials. Parts printed with this material can attain a shore A hardness of 93 A. The parts are also flexible and impact resistant, as well as hygroscopic. This means they should be dried before use, and kept dry during long prints. This filament is durable by nature, as are most flexible materials, and it won’t warp, either.