ABS Printing with Makerbot

[ServiceXp]

I am completely new to the world of 3d printing as it exists today. I used to be a plastics product designer for all sorts of products. But in those days... we spent thousands for SLA models. That was the only way to get some kind of part to see, touch, and feel.

Now... I am designing product for myself at home. They will ultimately end up machined aluminum parts, so I want to print using ABS for the strength. I just ordered a Makerbot Desktop and a Makerbot Mini. i ordered only ABS material. Is there anything I should know up front so I don't waste too much time printing crap?

I know there's a lot of trepidation in some of the 3D printing community about using ABS. Some of those concerns, especially about emissions, have yet to be hashed out completely but may turn into real concerns. The concerns about it's printability always seems to be blown out of proportion.

If you learn how to design keeping the characteristics of the material you are using (this part took me the longest time to learn, and I'm still learning) in mind, and you use the correct tool (printer) for the job and get that tool dialed in, you will not have a problem.

For my design/use; ABS is superior to standard PLA in almost every way. I find myself always coming back to ABS. So I did the same exact thing you did, and I'm so glad I did, I love ABS, and it's very cheap to boot.

I think your only possible mistake was in purchasing from Makerbot.

[djprinter]

I print exclusively with ABS on my makerbot clone, here's what I've learned:

1) Trap as much east into your chamber as possible--cover any holes that aren't necessary. Heat your plate to 90-100C

2) Use a glass plate with hairspray (aquanet extra hold). Other methods I tried either don't hold well enough, or hold too well and make it hard to remove. Hairspray holds like hell when it's warm but the part removes itself as it cools, best of both worlds.

3) Scale your objects to 102% to account for shrinkage

4) Ideally you want your internal chamber temperature at 50C, much cooler than that you will have warping and splitting problems on large parts, any warmer and you may put too much heat stress on your electronics and motors. I ultimately solved this problem by hooking up a low-power hair dryer to blow into the side of my print chamber (with a deflector so it doesn't blow directly on the print bed)--I then hook the hair dryer to a temperature controller that keeps the chamber at a perfect 50C at all times.

Temp controller: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01...50EK6NNRFWYB0B

[danilius]

ABS is commonly thought to be stronger than PLA. This is inconsistent with the results Thomas Sanladerer published here and my personal experience. ABS has one basic advantage in that the surface finish is fa more consistent than with PLA. Yes, it does warp if you fail to anchor it well to your bed and print at an insufficiently high temperature. You will need a heated bed at 110C, some ABS juice, nice high temps on your hot end and enough geometry to keep your part anchored to the bed. No enclosure needed or other crazy stuff. You can check out one of my prints here printed in ABS. I have printed much bigger stuff than that, without warping or delamination.

For the strongest material that's really easy to print, go for PETG. That stuff can take more of a battering than ABS or PLA by a huge margin. It's as easy as PLA to print, and can be machined quite easily. Were it not for the fact that I can buy ABS for a third or less than PETG, I would dump all my existing stock of PLA and ABS and switch over to PETG only. It has every advantage without any disadvantage of either PLA or ABS.

[curious aardvark]

the only petg I've tried so far from colorfabb - stunk up my workshop worse than abs.
Yes it did what i wanted it to and it was better than pla for the job. But by god the fumes were awful !

ABS has one basic advantage in that the surface finish is fa more consistent than with PLA.

Seriously ? That's pretty much the opposite of my experience. But then there are hundreds of different types of pla - so could just be a material difference.