Qualtiy of abs material

[rene1981]

Hello,

I hope someone can tell me:
The quality of the ABS filament, is that: How lower the price, how lower the quality?

Or, how do i know what a good quality is?

Thanks!

Gr. René

[Vanguard]

Do not buy "cheap", buy from a reputable seller, from a known source, you will have MUCH much less problems. Less reputable sellers have been known to "cut" their filament with unknown substances. These not only make poor quality prints, they clog your hot end, causing all kinds of problems.

If your hot end becomes clogged, you end up trying to clear it with some type of probe, that ends up distorting your nozzle, then even when you get good filament, you cannot make good prints. It is just not worth it.

If you have good filament, then clogs can be prevented by putting a wiper around the filament, just before it enters the filament drive. Most people use a little sponge type of thing.

Buy good filament, or make your own. Do not buy cheap filament. Cheap filament clogs nozzles !

[Lindros_bigE]

I agree, buying cheap ABS is the biggest mistake I have made. I wouldn't be concerned so much about price as to from where you are purchasing it from. Stay with reputable companies and you will be fine.

[jzatopa]

The saying, "you get what you pay for" is very true when it comes to filament. Lower quality filament can have embedded debris, non-uniform formulation and poor tolerances. These issues can cause clogs, poor layer adhesion and other printing problems which all result in failed prints and clogged nozzles. The few dollars more you spend on quality plastic ends up saving you a lot of time and hassle in the end. Thats not to say that you can't get ok prints from lower quality plastic, it's just that it takes a lot more time and it only takes a few failed prints to lose the few dollars you save.

Before I got into 3D printing professionally it took me buying a few rolls and learning the hard way. Once you find a source you like, stick with it. ABS is a little bit more tricky then PLA to print. If you are just learning to 3D print I would recommend you start with natural ABS to get a feel for it. Filament is colored with additives which have an effect on printing performance. Natural filament doesn't have these fillers and gives you a good baseline to start from. Thats not to say that you can't pick up some color abs and have a go at it, I have just found it to be easier to perfect my prints with natural and then tweak for different colors.

[botfeeder]

Yes, strongly agree "you get what you pay for"!
There is a lot of supplier selling at such a low price, but you never hear what is their material grade. The only thing you hear is how cheap their filament is. So watch out for those supplier.

Should look for the following before buying:
1) origin of manufacture
2) material grade
3) diameter tolerance
4) roundness tolerance
5) background of manufacturer

After purchase, pay attention to the following
1) surface smoothness
2) color evenness
3) quality of spool holder
4) weight
5) vacuum sealed bag (is desiccant turned blue?)
6) check if tolerance is what it is advertised

Daniel Poon
BotFeeder Canada