Differences between ABS and PLA? Which is best?

[Sebastian Finke]

@ jeff
lol yeah. I got two rolls of esun pla with my klic-n-print machine. Hands down the worst filaments I've ever tried.
And yet esun has a good name - so who knows.

What you need to bear in mind is that environmental conditions also play a fairly significant part. My workshop is pretty much always around 45-55% humidity. Temps vary between 14c in winter (today for example) and a max of 27 in the summer.
I find that this seems to be ideal conditions for most pla and leaving it out of airtight packaging doesn't seem to effect it at all either.
With white filament The bit of filament in the tube can become brittle. But I reckon that's more to do with the white colourant than the pla itself.

So everyone's working environment is different - that's one set of variables

How you have your machine setup can be a lot different. The slicer you use can be different, the way you design will be different, and the speed, infill and shellls/layers you use will also most likely be different.

If you mix all those variables together - it's no wonder that the same filament can perform differently for different people.

This is so true. Where you live can definitely affect your prints. It shoukd definitely be factored in.

[3dex ltd]

@ jeff
lol yeah. I got two rolls of esun pla with my klic-n-print machine. Hands down the worst filaments I've ever tried.
And yet esun has a good name - so who knows.

What you need to bear in mind is that environmental conditions also play a fairly significant part. My workshop is pretty much always around 45-55% humidity. Temps vary between 14c in winter (today for example) and a max of 27 in the summer.
I find that this seems to be ideal conditions for most pla and leaving it out of airtight packaging doesn't seem to effect it at all either.
With white filament The bit of filament in the tube can become brittle. But I reckon that's more to do with the white colourant than the pla itself.

So everyone's working environment is different - that's one set of variables

How you have your machine setup can be a lot different. The slicer you use can be different, the way you design will be different, and the speed, infill and shellls/layers you use will also most likely be different.

If you mix all those variables together - it's no wonder that the same filament can perform differently for different people.

Funny you should say that as a lot of people swear by the eSun filament. However, I've tried it too and from my experience it seems some colours (blue and red) are fantastic whilst others (green and white) are hopeless.

[Sebastian Finke]

Funny you should say that as a lot of people swear by the eSun filament. However, I've tried it too and from my experience it seems some colours (blue and red) are fantastic whilst others (green and white) are hopeless.

On my side natural and black give the best quality. Tried eSun PLA too (black), not too shabby but had major adhesion problems.

[3dex ltd]

Yes I had adhesion problems when I used the black but this was curable with some low tack glue on my print bed. I had a few issues with the white as well.

Luckily don't have any such issues now that I use our own filament (3dex filament)

[pinshape]

Some people have talked about warping and how you need an enclosure for ABS. But if you don't have one as part of your printer, a regular cardboard box will do. Here's an image of the one in our office:
https://forums.pinshape.com/uploads/...cfa5459b04.jpg

It definitely looks a little silly, but that was before we had found a big enough cardboard box. It worked

We did have a guest blog a few months back for a guide on PLA vs ABS here. There's a handy summary chart at the bottom on the main characteristics that you may want to consider!

[Sebastian Finke]

If it works. it works.

[3dex ltd]

Yes nothing is silly if it works and serves a purpose. is the box merely to retain heat?

Luckily, I've not had any issues with warping when printing ABS

[curious aardvark]

what printer are you using ?

[oklok]

I found this article for you, ABS VS PLA -----all explained nuff said! You like it? Visit my sign, =)==)==)

[jeffmorris]

I bought two small spools of Makerbot PLA filament at Staples store. I thought that PLA is brittle but I think that Inland ABS filament is brittle. I drilled larger holes through objects made from PLA and they don't break. Objects made from ABS sometimes break if I put screws through them. Are there cheaper but good PLA filament?