Blue ABS 1kg (2.2lbs)

ABS (Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene in full), is a thermoplastic which, as its name implies, is produced by the polymerization of acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. ABS is produced from fossil fuels, meaning that it is not biodegradable and has a greater environmental impact than PLA for instance. Because of its toughness and strength ABS is a very popular and common used thermoplastic in industry. 

Tips & Tricks for printing with ABS

The printing temperature guideline for printing with our ABS filament is approximately 230°C to 250°C. As each desktop 3D printer has its own unique characteristics, you might need to tweak your temperature settings a bit to obtain the best results. To obtain optimal results for your prints you need to take into account variables like your 3D printer’s nozzle diameter, your printing speed settings, and layer height.

It is recommended to use a heated print bed when printing ABS. ABS has a tendency to warp, which makes it a difficult material to print without a heated print bed. Ideally your print bed temperature should be set at approximately 80° to 110 ° C. 

A good first layer adhesion is of the utmost importance in obtaining the best results for your prints. There are several tricks to get the first layer of your ABS print to stick better to the print bed of your 3D printer.

• Use polyimide tape (Kapton). ABS prints usually stick better to polyimide tape than to the print bed. When preparing the print bed it is better to have small gaps between your strokes of tape, rather than having overlaps. Overlaps of smaller pieces of tape may cause difficulties later on during the print process. 
• Coat your print bed with hairspray. ABS has a tendency to stick really well to extra strong hairsprays.
• Coat your print bed with ABS juice. Dissolve a little peace of ABS in 50ml of Acetone. The acetone should get slightly cloudy. To make the surface of your print bed more sticky, you can lightly coat your print bed with this cloudy ABS/Acetone mixture. Please make sure not to use too much ABS in your juice as it will make your prints stick too well and be extremely difficult to remove.
• Coat your print bed with a gluestick. Recently using a light coating of glue from a gluestick has become a popular choice to aid in adhesion.