Not sure if it is PLA or ABS

Hi
i got filament a few days ago.
Ordered black PLA filament and there no sign on the spool. But if i add acetone it dissolve.
So i am not sure if it is PLA. Is there any test i can do?

Extrude it and see how it smells.

mh
smells no less or more than my other white pla.
i can extrude it at 185 c. Printing right nowat 185.

PLA doesn't disolve in acetone. So if it dissolved, it's ABS.

assumed it but does abs work at 185?

Sort of, sometimes. I have some red abs that will extrude at about that temperature, but the layer bonding isn't very good. At higher temperatures it can get very melty, almost like pla. It's only my second roll of abs so it's hard for me to tell which is the more normal. I did wonder whether it was actually pla, but it smells like abs and feels like abs when I bend it. I also have a roll of unbranded carbon fibre filament were the vendor didn't specify the plastic. The recommended temperatures suggest pla, but again it smells like abs and it suffers from poor layer bonding at the lower end of the temps.

ah ok
thanks for all the answers. i contact the seller so time will tell
the skull is ready in 1.30h and i will look how strong it is.
layer bound =bad
then it will be ABS...right?
any other tips and tricks to test are welcome.

bye

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/06/2016 09:51PM by Alter.Vatti.

you can also burn a small piece... nice little blue flame its PLA, nasty smoky yellow flame it ABS

NB it burns well and will turn to liquid and drop hot drips... do this over a sink or something you don't care about

yeah blue flame
so it isnt ABS
but is it really PLA?
one of the photos show up the glossy surface after i add acetone with a brush.

There are some suppliers that offer a PLA/ABS alloy.

here the complete skull.
it is very sturdy and strong.
thanks again for help.
bye

Black PLA is often glossier than other colours, presumably due to the dye that's used.

Sounds like you have PLA. However, if you buy cheap filament some manufacturers mix plastics so you might not have pure PLA and therefore thats why you have these funny characteristics. Or, as stated above you might have a PLA/ABS hybrid filament.

We don't do that though. Our filament is high quality and therefore pure PLA or ABS.


Cheers,
www.3dexfilament.co.uk