plastic type | average price per spool | ease of printing | strength | melting point |
---|---|---|---|---|
PLA | $20 | beginner | weak | ~180 C° |
PETG | $24 | Intermediate | decent | ~260 C° |
ABS | $22 | experienced | tough | ~200 C° |
Nylon | $50 | advanced | strong | ~255 C° |
TPU | $25 | Intermediate/experienced | tough | ~200 C° |
The prices are all based on a 1KG spool. Each spool will vary due to different manufacturers.
PLA is the most common of all because of its cheap price, great adhesion, low expansion, and minimal warping. The trade off is low durability. It's great for many things excpet for tasks that may require a decent amount of force aplied to the print. And with a low temperature resistance, it wont do great outdoors either.
PETG is a step up from PLA for durability and heat resitance providing a useable plastic for basic tools that can be used outside. PETG has more of a chance of strings which may reduce the visual quality of the product.
ABS has even better improvements in the same way PETG is from PLA, burt is harder to work with due to a higher warp chance. It's also the same plastic that LEGO uses for most of their bricks.
Nylon being an even bigger step up, known for its high strength it can do almost any job you could ask it. Of course, as the durability keeps gets higher the warping issues are greater as well.
TPU is diffent than the rest, it's not exsactly known for durability but rather flexibility. This a plastic that feels and acts like rubber, adding gripping ability to your projects that the rest can't do.