1

I have the flash forge creator 3d printer that has dual extruders. I was was wondering if anyone has tried printing in PLA with ABS supports and then putting the part in acetone where the ABS supports would be dissolved.

I was considering if it was even possible to get good print results since PLA and ABS print so different. I am also wondering if you would even need to put the part in acetone to dissolve the ABS supports or if PLA and ABS wouldn’t stick together and would just come off easy.

Let me know if this is even possible. Thanks

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Hey there,

Haven’t heard of anyone doing that. Not sure your PLA would be happy with the ABS build plate temperature and I’m sure there are a couple more reasons why not. All the more reason to give it a go and see if it works! :smiley:

Cheers!

AndyL

Pot8oSh3D

Haters gonna hate - Pot8ers gonna Pot8! :smiley:

3

I don’t know, if they would stick together, so that might work, but you’ll face a much more important downside of dual extrusion PLA & ABS. ABS needs a high bed temperature, like 100+C in order to print properly, if you use that high temperatures then the PLA will just melt. PLA gets soft at 60C therefore 100C is way too much. I would try PLA (as support) and Colorfabb XT (as main material). XT and PLA don’t stick together at all, so cleaning support is very easy. However since they don’t stick together, you’ll need to have all support structure attached to the build plate in any way. If the printer starts a new supporting pillar in the middle of the print, and it’s printed on a layer of XT, then it won’t stick and the chance, that it falls off during the print is very high. I’ve used the XT & PLA combination to great success. Good luck! Cheers, Marius

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acetone wouldnt melt ABS completely and would generally make a gloopy mess
also although acetone doesnt melt PLA it still reacts, generally my PLA prints go very rubbery for a few hours when I pop them into acetone

PVA is the best option with PLA

HIPS for ABS

5

What an imagination! I would say acetone won’t melt ABS completely. However, update me if you successfully make it!

Good luck

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PLA reacts with acetone.

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Thanks for all the feedback! That is good to know @MB3D that it works with using Colorfabb XT and PLA. I also didn’t consider that acetone makes PLA rubbery, but I do know from experience that acetone dissolves ABS because that is how I make my ABS slurry for my print bed. Though I think that I am going to try to print with ABS and PLA without using acetone to remove the supports and see how well they separate. I will post my results when completed.

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hi guys,

this is my first post. i just bought an ATOM 2.5EX with dual extrusion.

can you print Nylong and use ABS or PLA as Support, then dissolve it with acetone after?

i am about to buy some PVA and maybe HIPS for support material, however, from my engineering knowledge (and some googling), nylon is resistant to Acetone.

>>>>> Nylon Chemical Compatibility Chart

anyone who knows the chemistry better please let me know, if this works it can cut down my printing cost alot as i do use my printer for work alot of the time. thanks!!