Hello community,

I recently bought a prusa i3 printer, and it came with PLA filament. After few tries and errors, I realized that that material is very prone to break out for the parts that are too thin. Anyway, that is the only filament I tried so far. I was researching for other types of filament, like ABS, HIPS, PET... Regarding ABS, It is said that is less delicate, harder to break, but the downside is that is it a little toxic and it doesn't print out little details very well. I also read that HIPS have the advantages of PLA and ABS, I don't know about the details in the prints, it doesn't say anything about that. So, is there anyone that have some expertise using any of these (or other) filaments, that can give me some advice? What I intent to print is some ornaments and toys. What could it be the more suitable filament material for this?

Thanx in advance.

This one looks interesting [www.3ders.org] or something similar, as you probably wont need an enclosure for printer.
Though 45 euro for .75 kg

Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/09/2017 05:36PM by MechaBits.

I have read where PLA will break during printing if it absorbs too much moisture. That might translate to weaker thin structures. PLA is fairly solid with no give so it will be easier to break with thin structure. Two alternatives I use are PLA+ and PETG from eSun. PLA+, or PLA Pro, prints like PLA, but has more flex so it doesn't break as easily. PETG has just about the same strength as ABS, but without the printing hassles. Neither need an enclosed print area to use.

Thank you for the responses! I will check those alternatives.