mrbaddeley

ABS...

Added 2017-04-08 21:09:19 +0000 UTC

I pretty much only print with ABS and one of the most frequent discussions I have with people is how to stop warping. For me, both delamination and warping has been an issue. Here's my experience so far but would love to hear from others.

1) why use ABS in the first place? I love ABS, acetone welding is a godsend. It's cheap, quick and as strong as the plastic. Also Acetone is relatively ok compared to some real dodgy chemicals.

2) An enclosure, really have to print in a warm, consistent environment. This makes a huge difference and probably (along with a heated bed) is the most important factor to warp free prints.

3) A heated bed :-) I run mine around 105, hotter can make warping worse and lower equally makes for more warping. The bed also heats the enclosure.

4) bed levelling and bed adherence. Looking for that slightly squished first layer even across the print bed. The choice of bed cover is critical also. I used to swear by Kapton tape and ABS juice for a thin coating but went through lots of Kapton and ABS juice. Then I discover PEI, a brilliant covering and now gives me by far the best results I've every had.

5) helper discs. Theses are 20mm round discs, around .4 or .3 thick. You place these onto your print, one in each corner and they provide extra surface area for adherence. Superb and I swear by then.

6) infill. Recently I've ran tests and (logical really) but the higher I fill or density the more warping you get. It gives more 'pull' as the filament cools if there's more of it. Secondly honeycomb seems to be the best pattern. Criss cross gives straight lines which can pull more as the model cools. This combined with height densities can seriously contribute to warpage.

I think it's worth persevering as ABS is easy to sand, easy to chemical weld, strong and flexible.

Mike,