So the technology and the possibilities in 3D printing have evolved at an amazing pace :-)
But what materials are available and what do we use for our products and projects?
from basic to a little bit more advanced:
PLA is the most basic and affordable material out there. Most people use it to make little puppets and trinkets. It is super easy to print but it will start deforming at around 60°C and is not that strong.. We use it for prototyping. Then again it is Poly Lactic Acid so it can be recycled
PLA+ is an evolution of regular PLA and is a bit stronger. We use It for some multicolour parts that don't see much heat exposure or abuse
PETG is quite a bit stronger, a little more flexible and will withstand temperatures up to 70°C. Bit more challenging to print but not that hard. We'll use it for our little DtapVolt meters for example
PC or PolyCarbonate is the material we use a lot. It will only start deforming at around 110°C, has a medium elasticity and is very tough. Bit of a challenge to print though. Perfect for our LcubeL brackets.. Obviously it comes at a much higher price
ASA is the new ABS. deforms at around 95°C and is a very tough material. Also it will withstand weather and UV much better. Quite hard to print since it needs a high ambient temperature while printing and parts tend to warp off the bed. We use it for our 90° brackets for UMD and CT
TPU then. A very interesting highly flexible material. Rubber like. It's incredibly strong because of it's elasticity. It will bend and stretch but hardly ever break. Highly resistant to temperature. Check out our NODO brackets that will clip on to your Ronin or Movi
Nylon or PA.. That's a tough one. Tough as in very hard to break but also Tough to print. Quite a challenge. Expensive too
Carbon infused materials like PC-CF, XT-CF20 and PA-CF we use for a lot of our products that see intensive (ab)use and need to carry a load reliably. Think of our UNIv2 parts, MSB brackets and Battery solutions. not cheap but very durable!
