ABS or PETG

[Jules]

I bebop back and forth between the PLA and the PETG.....some things work better when they're stiff*.
PETG is more flexible. (although the new PLA Plus is fairly flexible too now.)


*(Take those minds out of the gutter.....box dividers.)

[Vandal968]

ABS gets a bad rap. It does smell, but it gives a beautiful satin finish that doesn't look cheap and shiny like PLA or PETG, it's temperature stable and has good impact resistance. I've also printed some fairly big stuff with no enclosure and no problems (7" dia, 4" tall).

Most of the time though, PLA (most forgiving), or PETG (great compromise).

cheers,
c

[pyronaught]

PLA doesn't flex, it just snaps when you overload it. ABS will snap on the layer lines if you are bending it along the layer lines, but with layer lines running parallel to the bending moment it will bend but not break. PETG is more flexible than both PLA and ABS, but it shatters like PLA when you overload it. The nice thing about PETG is you don't have to worry about what direction the layers are running relative to the forces it has to withstand, so if you have a complex piece that will be bending along multiple axis then PETG is the way to go.

If you need to glue multiple pieces together to form a part then I think ABS works better due ABS cement being easy to work with. You can glue PETG, but you have to use the really thin glues from Weld-On that do not handle even small gaps well, and set times are a lot longer.