PLA vs. ABS: Which Filament Should You Use?

3D printing is an additive manufacturing process used in a variety of applications. It has proven itself to be tremendously beneficial for everything from rapid prototyping to toys, medical devices, and much more. When it comes to planning and designing your next 3D printed part or prototype one of the most important considerations is what type of 3D printer filament to use. For many designers, the decision often revolves around the question of whether PLA vs. ABS filaments is better for their application.

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PLA and ABS are some of the most common filaments in use today when it comes to 3D printing. In this article we take a closer look at what PLA and ABS filaments are, their key properties, and which filament is best for your part or prototype.

RE:

MK4 + Original Prusa Enclosure (including filter) user here adding my 2 cents:

Printer is right next to my desk where I spend hours and hours next to it every day, often while printing, and I care about air quality a lot.

Hence I ordered Air Quality Monitor from amazon ( Air Quality Monitor ,Formaldehyde Detector, Temperature & Humidity Meter, Sensor, Detect PM2.5/PM10/PM1.0 for home /car https://amzn.eu/d/9fb7wkl ) and measured VOC levels in whole house, including where printer is (disclaimer: maybe there are better ones + I cant guarantee that this monitor is legit, I saw a guy using it in youtube to test SLS printer fumes, so I followed&#;) and at least while printing Prusament PLA Galaxy Black VOC levels were lower than in the kitchen cooking dinner. But&#; again, i havent used it to test air quality printing any other filaments, so cant be 100%&#; in the end I returned this item (its over £100). 

I also have Dyson purifier which also detects VOCs, tiny bit of dedodorant and it turns &#;Yellow&#; VOC sign. If I work with epoxy it always &#;Red&#; VOC, so it works, it doesnt give reading - just indicates. Now, while printing Prusament PETGCF for over 4 hours today I sort of noticed getting a bit heavy on my chest, and I panicked and this is how I found this topic. It can totally be unrelated, can be anything, can be my fantasy or covid or cold&#; but I just happened to feel that. And then because I dont have the device any more that I returned I brought in Dyson purifier in to just check, and its all indicating green colour (not detected) VOC, PM2.5, PM10, NO2 (thats what purifier picks up).

So heaviness in chest is panic attack in this case I suppose (I hope).  But food for thought:

Better still to not be near the printer if possible? -But I want to monitor print process (not via camera) and also I don't have alternative space for it in the house - and i simply like watching the print process, its mesmerising, so its actually perfect location. Where is this all going&#;. -> maybe an official Prusa Air Quality Monitor add-on would be good idea?

If you are looking for more details, kindly visit uses of pla.

Fan/Filter in an enclosure, as mentioned by other users does not filter VOC anyways, maybe just micro particles, and tbh Im not sure if it doesn't cause more harm than good for the print quality, as it creates updraft inside of print area which to my understanding is counter intuitive (please correct me if I'm wrong) Its closed circulation. I think extract/exhaust would be proper solution. I may try this method in the future (create opening in enclosure and direct extracted air out via duct) but then my worry is if I can keep print zone (inside of enclosure) warm enough if I extract air from it&#;(I digress, sorry) so for that reason I don't always use the fan/filter while printing (still testing) also, fan is very loud.

This post was modified 8 months ago by

This post was modified 8 months ago by Studio Space Dust

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