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3D print material of choice


wierd_w

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I'm just curious what you guys' preferred material of choice is when making enclosures.

 

Do you just run with the PLA because it's easy on the cheap FDM machines, do you go with ABS for vapor smoothing, or do you go with something more like Nylon for strength?

 

I am gonna have to print a TIPI enclosure at some point, just wondering what the norm is.

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PLA is cheap and cheerful.  It's also easy to use and is more than sufficient for most purposes.  If you tweak your printer settings really well, you can get impressive results.  A bit of filler and sanding can also give a decent surface for painting over.

I have not gone down the route of using other filaments since some, such as ABS, need a controlled environment that usually entails enclosing your printer to prevent drafts and heat variations.

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PLA is easy to print, yes, but I find that the prints are rather brittle.

 

Nylon prints just about as nicely (as long as you keep the filament dry, and or-- bake it in the oven at 250F for an hour before printing), and produces parts that are extremely tough. For durable projects, I have become rather partial to the Kodak 6-nylon filament.  Just nylon is notorious for having issues with developing static on the surfaces, and that could be dangerous for electronic components.

 

ABS is a PITA to print.

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Aside from the conventional 3D printed plastics, something I use a fair bit in similar applications is PCL. Especially good for repairing damaged legacy plastics, I find (since it can be molded in to the crack or chip or absent section while soft).  But also useful in producing mounts, guides, supports, etc., for the same reason.  Namely, that it can be formed to suit the space and shape and object in situ. 

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