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Question Filament battles - What is you experience with polymaker ABS

DustinSpeed

Well-known member
Staff member
Voron Owner
What has been your experience with printing both for and on your voron.
Do you like the color selection?
Does it print well?
Any special considerations?
Is it worth the price?
 
Super bright color. Prints well. And is one of the more affordable filaments around. I find a lot of the affordable filaments are hard to find most of the time. I have never had any issues getting any color of this at any time.
 
I haven’t used much Polymaker, but all that I have used has been very good quality. (I know it’s not ABS, but I especially like their TPU!)
 
I've had very good experience with PolyMaker's PolyLite ABS, printed my 2.4 parts on an Ender 3 in a box, using the Grey and Teal spools, and they were flawless.

The Ender 3 was then "upgraded" to a Switchwire with DarkDog's mod, this time with Black and Orange PolyMaker ABS & Filoalfa's Azure ABS.

I don't have any proper pictures from either build to show the print quality, but you might be able to infer something from my serial videos:
 
I've only tested a couple rolls of their abs. It prints well but seems almost rigid like PLA which is maybe good or bad. The black ASA is a very very dark gray color and its become my go-to on parts I print for myself.
 
1) Color selection is decent for ABS and slowly getting there form ASA. All colors seem a little bit less vibrant / more muted than KVP
2) once it’s tuned prints well and consistent, initially had a decent amount of stringing with my CHT nozzle, even after drying
3) Seems to like hot nozzle temperature and cooler bed. Printing at 265-270C with a bed temp of 100-105
4) well worth the price at $22 a spool for abs
 
I rather like how their ABS prints, but I do wish they had a darker, more red leaning orange. Very much so like their black and grey though, and I'm looking forward to trying out some of their new colours.. Well, once Amazon Canada decides actually carrying it from Polymaker is a good idea - there's been a huge supply issue for it here in Canada.
 
My take on Polymaker ASA;

Positives:
  • Well, ASA is a great material to begin with
  • High dimensional stability, weather resistant, temperature resistant
  • Great diameter consistency
  • Great for structural parts
Negatives:
  • The colors could be a bit washed out, especially black is kind of very dark grey. If you go for looks, not the best option.
  • Paper spools have a tendency to break easily, they have very high friction so they can pinch the filament as it is unspooling sometimes (did cost me a print or two)
    (Edit: High friction is also between the inner wall and filament strands, a spool insert will not solve this problem)
 
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I just picked up a few spools of their ASA. This will be my first time using Polymaker and ASA. For the cardboard spools, I printed some spool rings that greatly reduce the friction of the spools.

Any tips in printing their ASA? Temp, etc

Cardboard Spool Insert
 
ASA: For temps it really depends on the system you're working with.

On my V0.1 I print at 225C, but my Trident needs a little hotter at ~230C and my 2.4s are each different at 235C and 240C for whatever reason (and they have matching hot-ends, hell, they are like twin sisters).

I have also noticed I can lower my bed temps as well but I need more playing before I change things permanently in my slicer configs.
 
On my V0.1 I print at 225C, but my Trident needs a little hotter at ~230C and my 2.4s are each different at 235C and 240C for whatever reason (and they have matching hot-ends, hell, they are like twin sisters).
Polymaker PolyLite ASA nozzle temperature should be between 240C and 260C according to their datasheet.
IMHO 230C is not hot enough to get a good layer adhesion.
 
I haven’t used much Polymaker, but all that I have used has been very good quality. (I know it’s not ABS, but I especially like their TPU!)
I’m getting a little off topic, but I just started my first experience with TPU (Polyflex TPU95). I’m running a V2.4 with SB CW2 & Dragon HF .4mm nozzle. I’m just trying to get consistent extrusion length for rotation_distance, at this point. I’d appreciate any advice you can offer.
 
I had a little bit of a struggle with the Teal PolyLite ABS. My regular ABS tuning in SuperSlicer didn't work well, so I had to tweak it with new PA & EM, and slow things down. After that it prints ok, but it's not my favorite to run. Sadly, since I love their PLA and the color is good.
 
I avoid anything with a cardboard spool. It creates friction problems and over time sheds small debris that can clog the nozzle.
There are many alternatives, why I'd complicate my life with other possible problems?
Some might reply that it's done for the environment, but keep in mind that the best way to be environmentally friendly is to avoid spools altogether, providing refills, as done by Fiberology, (minimally) Prusa, and others.
 
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