I’ve been printing cosplay parts with PLA but sanding it is so hard. I tried sanding ABS and PETG and they were both much easier to sand than PLA. However, ABS gives me a terrible headache, and PETG takes too long to print. Is there a filament that is easy to print, has low warp, low odor, but is easy to sand?
Hey there,
I’d recommend HIPS. It was first introduced to the 3D printing community as an effective support material for dual nozzle printers because it is soluble in d-Limonene but it has also proven to be an excellent prototyping material. It meets all of the requirements you listed:
- Low warp (lower than ABS but a little more than PLA)
- Much lower odor than ABS
- Same sanding properties as ABS
- Easy to print - usually very similar nozzle and bed temperatures as ABS
And it’s cheap. It’s available on Amazon from a few sellers - or if you have a 3mm nozzle checkout Lulzbot’s website - they sell HIPS in a bunch of colors.
Not sure if you use acetone for cleaning up ABS parts - If you need a solvent while working with HIPS you can use d-Limonene
Good luck!
Eric Haddad
Hello,
the starflax filament from Nanovia (http://labiche-renard.fr/filaments/287-starflax-3d-175.html 49) is very easy to use, low warping and you can sand it . It’s a PLA composite / flax fiber. very good mechanical properties.
ColorfabbXT sands really well. You can get some really impressive results if you work your way up to 2000+ grit and sand wet.
You could try meltink’s pla/pha materials: https://meltink3d.com/product-category/pla-pha-filament-for-3d-printing-meltink3d/ 61. Cheaper to get it on Amazon.
I’ve printed with this stuff before and it is very durable, prints nice, and doesn’t smell. It doesn’t warp like pla and abs but prints similar to pla with temps between 195-220c depending on the printer.
