3DQF Library
ABS Easy Start Guide
3DQF PLA Printing Easy Start Guide
Welcome to the world of 3D printing with 3DQF ABS! We are here to provide you with a comprehensive guide to help you get started on your 3D printing journey. Whether you are a beginner or an experienced user, we aim to make this process as smooth and enjoyable as possible. If you encounter any issues or need assistance, please don't hesitate to contact our UK customer service team for help at any time.
Contact Information:
Phone: 01942 644000
Email: Sales@3Dqualityfilaments.co.uk
Important Reminders:
Firstly remember that patience and practice are key to successful 3D printing. You are starting at the bottom of a steep learning curve with one of the most challenging steps of bed adhesion needing to be accomplished first.
Make sure to read and follow the instructions provided with your 3D printer and use these and other guides as a reference for personal development.
ABS in 3D printing
ABS was one of the first materials to be used in the 3D printing industry due to its availability and cost. ABS was the go-to material for 3D printing as it was a versatile material with good colouring ability and printing characteristics. The same is true today although ABS is still an amazing material to print with its more fussy than some others. Although PLA has largely overtaken ABS it still plays an important role in the 3D printing market. ABS has exceptional temperature tolerance handling up to 80 °C down to -20 °C. The mechanical properties of the material and its resistance to impact shock allow it to stand tall amongst other polymers.
Filament Temperature:
The optimal hot-end temperature for our 3DQF ABS is 260-300°C. It's our recommendation to start within this range for your first prints. Most imported filaments work at a lower temperature than ours due to fillers and additives. It's completely normal to need a little more heat with our ABS material as we keep it simple with no fillers or bulking agents. I major clue for printing temperatures for ABS is if the part is weak and you're getting layer separation. Major layer separation means you're either, too low a hot-end temp or have excessive part cooling. Unless you are pushing the limits in terms of printing speed then very little amount of part cooling is actually required for ABS.
The maximum safe hot-end temperature for 3DQF ABS is 300°C
Highspeed printing is now a thing, and with increased speed comes the need for higher temperatures to help the material flow. We have another guide for High-speed printing. If you attempting to use our filament in a high-speed printer please head over to the "High-speed printing" guide for recommendations on printing temps. We find that the upper limit of 300°C works well for a printing speed of 400 mm/s.
Bed Temperature:
We recommend 3DQF ABS heated bed temperature no hotter than 90-100°C. The largest downfall with ABS is shrinkage, this shrinkage causes parts to warp and lift from the printed surface resulting in failed prints. All efforts should be made to stabilize the surrounding air temperature and if possible, maintain an enclosure temperature of at least 40– 60°C degrees. Although successful prints can be achieved with lower temperatures by keeping at bay swings in the surrounding air temperature. This includes drafts from the hot-end cooling fan exhaust.
There’re now specific industrial and prosumer printers that have internal heating to maintain the appropriate enclosure temperature to achieve perfect ABS prints. ABS is an amazing printing material if you can overcome the main issue of shrinkage. If you are struggling to get the filament to stick have a search for our z-off-set guide which will more than likely be the issue. Do not underestimate how important a flat and level bed that's been trammed to the extruder's gantry is. A truly trammed bed and gantry will make setting your z-off-set so much simpler.
It's Vital that you have some form of enclosure that will maintain and build temperature, it's not impossible to get prints to work in open to air printer but it's less than ideal.
Cut me free before I run out:
During the design process, we knew our spool should release the filament cleanly at the end of the roll. To allow this to happen we loop the end of the roll outside the spool so you can snip it free prior to running out. This means it will allow the tail of the filament to release cleanly at the end of the roll, and through your run-out detector (if fitted) pausing your print. Commonly on imported filament on a plastic spool, you can't get to the tail of the filament and this will normally cause no end worth of issues as it generally won't release cleanly from the spool.
Filament cleaner
Cleaning filament is so important, we find that filament tends to stand around for a while. This will cause a build-up of dust on the surface, this is then dragged into the extruder and could cause a blockage over time. To combat this we recommend a cleaner to wipe the filament just before it enters the PTFE tube or extruder. This can be as simple as a small section of foam to just act as a wiper.
Dont forget if you need some more assistance drop us a call, we will be happy to offer assistance.
