this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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I've printed probably 5 kilos worth of prints with a lot of success, but exclusively PLA. I'd like to branch out to a new material. Should I start with ABS or TPU?

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[–] philpo@feddit.org 3 points 4 days ago* (last edited 4 days ago)

I personally would start with TPU(after PETG) - the different shore grades provide a large usability for a lot of things and it print comparably well once you find the right calibration. Especially with a A1 as you mentioned you have one.

To be honest I would skip ABS totally in an A1 unless you have an external enclosure with a good filtering and exhaust solution. Be aware of the noxious fumes ABS will produce that have a potential to intoxicate you and are suspected to cause cancer depending on the additives. (Among others ABS produces hydrogen cyanide when printed - which is often better known under it's former German brand name: Zyklon B....)

ASA nowadays provides a far less problematic (but not unproblematic) solution and while it's a little bit more complicated to print it's still manageable depending on the filament manufacturer. But you will need a temperature stabilised enclosure for both anyway, while ASA is a bit more sensitivitie,it doesn't really matter that much for me.

Within ASA I personally found a far larger bandwidth of printability between the manufacturers. The major manufacturers for PLA often suck - especially Bambu Lab ASA is hideous to print. If you are in Europe I cannot recommend the Black Forest Filament ASA enough, their stuff is not comparable to any other ASA I printed. Alternatively material4print. If you need a filament that is available worldwide Filamentum Apollo X is a solid choice, so is Polymaker,but both to a lesser extend.

In theory PMMA, PCTG and CPE are also worth a consideration, but besides CPE all of them are far more difficult to print.

BTW: All variants need to be printed very dry, ideally out of a warm dry box.