Can You Paint On Abs Plastic

While some 3D Printers can take difficulty printing this material, ABS is one of the most mutual 3D Printing materials which has maintained its popularity due to its balanced mechanical properties, heat resistance and low cost.

What is ABS?

Regular ABS

ABS (Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene) is an amorphous plastic derived from acrylonitrile, butadiene, and styrene. ABS is ane of the well-nigh common 3D Printing materials to print due to its depression price and balanced mechanical properties. ABS is a recyclable plastic and is available in a variety of unlike colours.

Regular ABS is a potent material exhibiting a moderate toughness (affect resistance). With the right press conditions (heat) ABS can be an easy material to impress, withal is susceptible to warping and cracking if printed in uncontrolled environments.

ABS exhibits a moderate chemical resistance and moderate temperature resistance, softening between ninety-100°C (Glass Transition and Vicat temperature).

Requirements

Regular ABS

So what do we demand to print ABS?

To print regular ABS you will require a printer equipped with a heated bed that tin estrus up to xc°C.

If you are interested in printing any sizable parts an enclosure is highly recommended. An enclosure volition help to maintain a consistent heat within the build volume.

To print very large parts, thin parts or parts with a high infil percent a heated chamber is recommended to ensure no warping or cracking with those parts.

Printer Setup

Loading and Unloading Filament

Changing betwixt 2 ABS materials:
If the printer is currently loaded with a different ABS material, unload that material at 240-260°C and extrude your ABS filament at the same temperature. Stop extruding the ABS filament after the previous colour has been completely purged and cleaned out.

Irresolute from a higher temperature material:
If the printer is currently loaded with a higher temperature cloth (for example PolyCarbonate), unload that material at its recommended printing temperature, and and then load and extrude your ABS filament at that aforementioned college temperature. It is important to load the ABS at this higher temperature so the previous material can exist pushed out. Stop extruding the ABS filament afterwards the previous material has been completely purged and cleaned out, lower the temperature to 240-260°C, and extrude the ABS plastic for a few more than seconds.

Irresolute from a lower temperature material:
If the printer is currently loaded with a different lower temperature cloth, unload that textile at its recommended printing temperature, and and so load and extrude your ABS filament at 240-260°C. End extruding the ABS filament after the previous textile has been completely purged and cleaned out.

Bed Surface

For ABS printing there are a diversity of optimal print surfaces

BuildTak™, FlashForge Sheets etc. (Recommended)

These surfaces are an adhesive backed sheet designed to stick onto your printers bed or removable platform. These sheets are our favourite press surface when printing ABS due to their compatibility with other 3D printing materials, minimizing the need to recalibrate the printers nozzle tiptop when printing multiple materials.
In our feel we have institute the FlashForge sheets are better than BuildTak™ for ABS printing as the sheets are more durable and the adhesive helps to foreclose the sheets lifting when the heated bed is set for ABS temperatures.

It is possible to piece damage these sheets every bit bubbles tin form if the ABS parts warp. Even so if yous remove the parts gently and set up your nozzle height correctly, these sheets can terminal longer than other surfaces.

Perforated / Textured Boards
Some printers are designed with a perforated or textured bed, these are an excellent build surface for ABS printing. During printing, the extruded ABS plastic sticks through the perforated holes gripping the plastic to the board. 3D Printing on perforated boards will require a raft to ensure the final role has a smoothen lesser surface.

Heated Glass Bed with Glue Stick
Printing ABS straight onto a heated drinking glass bed with PVA Glue stick is an excellent option. Printing on glass gives the bottom of your prints an incredibly smooth and shiny end. We recommend applying a layer of PVA glue stick which acts every bit a 'release agent' when removing the finished print.

One time the 3D Print is completed, it must be removed from the build plate when the temperature is high. Removing a print after the bed has cooled may cause the drinking glass to break because the print may compress more rapidly than the glass plate.

This print surface is all-time suited for enclosed printers and printers with a controlled chamber temperature and setting your nozzle height correctly is extremely of import when printing on drinking glass.

Other:
When press ABS you tin also print with a variety of other printing surfaces such as Kapton Tape or an ABS slurry.

Bed Leveling & Nozzle Top

It is of import when printing ABS that your first layer adheres to the printing bed. To achieve this it is important to ensure your bed is perfectly leveled and your nozzle peak is set correctly.

Nosotros recommend leveling the bed and setting the nozzle meridian when the bed is preheated (ninety°C) to account for any expansion or shrinkage that may occur.

When manually calibrating your nozzle elevation, the ideal distance between the nozzle and bed is 0.1mm or the thickness of a piece of newspaper folded in one-half. When changing between bed surfaces, it is important to conform the nozzle pinnacle again to compensate for the added thickness of the bed surface.

Pre-Heating

For optimal results, it is recommended that you preheat the buildplate to 90°C at least 15 minutes before press ABS. A longer preheating time (thirty minutes or even up to ii hours) may exist required with larger printers, in colder climates or with lower wattage heated beds to prevent warping.

In printers with actively controlled sleeping room heating, preheating the build plate to ninety°C and chamber to 60°C for 5 minutes is recommended.

Enclosure

Without the right printing surround (high temperature surroundings) parts printed in ABS will print with too much internal stress, causing the print to warp while compromising your parts mechanical strength.

While an enclosure is not required to print minor parts in ABS, an enclosure is important when printing medium to large sized parts.

Many enclosed printers have pinnacle lids / doors which can exist opened or removed. When printing ABS on these printers, nosotros recommend endmost the lid to maintain a higher internal temperature.

Photograph: The Creator iii by FlashForge (Left) UP300 by Tiertime (center) and FUNMAT HT Enhanced by INTAMSYS (right) are enclosed, a do good when 3D printing ABS filaments.

Filament Storage

Similar many other plastics, ABS is a hygroscopic material, arresting moisture from its surrounding environment. When the filament passes through the hot end the moisture rapidly expands creating bubbling in between layers, poor layer adhesion, inconsistent extrusion due to textile expansion and thus poor surface quality.

ABS will typically absorb moisture over a period of months however in environments with loftier humidity (such as evaporative ac) this procedure can take days.

Removing Wet:
Information technology is possible to remove this moisture by drying the filament. To dry out a spool of ABS, place information technology in a pre-heated convection oven at eighty˚C for viii hours.

The temperatures listed are for ovens with authentic temperature command. Information technology is important to pre-oestrus the oven earlier drying to prevent temperature over shoots. Drying without pre-heating or with higher drying temperatures can cause the filament to fuse together.

Preventing Moisture Absorption:

To completely prevent moisture absorption it is important to shop and print your ABS materials below 20% humidity. Proper storage volition ensure you don't demand to dry out your filament, this is ideal as excessive drying tin degrade the plastic.

We recommend storing filaments in a resealable bag with desiccant when not in use. In environments with loftier humidity we recommend press with a dry box like the PolyBox™. The PolyBox™ is a spool holder / dry box that stores the filament in an environs below 20% relative humidity, preventing moisture absorption.

If you are interested in reading more on the topic of moisture, check out our 'Starters guide to moisture, drying and filament storage'.

Printer Settings

Nozzle Temperature

ABS is considered a high temperature material, typically printing between 240°C - 270°C.

Of form the printing temperature range of an ABS filament will vary depending on which printer and filament brand you utilize. Some filament manufacturers add additives to their ABS to increase or lower the materials printing temperature range.

Higher extrusion temperatures will typically result in ameliorate flow and layer adhesion, platonic for printing mechanical parts whereas lower extrusion temperatures allow the plastic to cool and solidify faster, beneficial for users interested in overhang surface quality and easier support removal.

When starting we recommend trying a temperature right in the heart of the manufacturer's suggested settings. If the manufacturer recommends 240°C - 260°C, printing at 250°C is a good starting point. If your extruder can not achieve the highest recommended temperature, endeavor printing at the lower temperature. Based on the quality of the print nosotros advise adjusting ± 5°C at a time.

Troubleshooting Nozzle Temperature
If the nozzle temperature is too hot, you lot may feel wisps / stringing on the surface of the impress, difficult to remove and fused support textile, sagging or poor surface quality on overhangs and a harsh smell during printing (this smell is more prominent with some ABS brands).

If the nozzle temperature isn't hot enough, y'all may feel compromised mechanical properties due to the poor layer adhesion, under-extrusion (uneven / crude surface quality) and if the filament is not melting fast plenty; nozzle blockages.

Bed Temperature

Printing ABS requires a heated bed at 90°C -100°C.

Nosotros don't recommend heating your heated bed above the glass transition temperature of ABS (100°C ).

Controlled Sleeping room Temperature

A controlled sleeping accommodation is not required to successfully print parts in ABS, withal is important for users interested in printing medium, large or full-size parts in ABS without warping. A controlled actively heated chamber will minimize internal stress ensuring near-zero warping.

On printers equipped with an actively heated chamber or avant-garde thermal organization, a chamber temperature between 60-lxx°C is ideal. At this temperature ABS will print with depression remainder stress and in most cases near-goose egg warping / not bad. Lower chamber temperatures such as l-threescore°C may exist used when press fine detailed parts that need more cooling.

Photo: Advanced Thermal System on the INTAMSYS FUNMAT HT Enhanced maintains a high internal chamber temperature to print ABS with about-zero warping.

Cooling

When printing ABS, users generally print with the part cooling fan off to maximize layer adhesion.

If you can control the power of your cooling fan, setting the fan at 10% - 20% speed can help to improve the quality of overhangs and reduce sagging.

Rafts

A raft is not required when printing ABS materials withal if the printing bed is not perfectly leveled, a raft can be used to compensate and better bed adhesion while minimizing warping.

A raft tin can exist required when using certain printing surfaces such equally perforated boards.

When press both the raft and model in ABS, the raft should peel away easily.

Supports

When printing both the supports and model in ABS, supports should peel away easily and cleanly.

If supports are fusing to the model, endeavour decreasing the printing temperature past -5°C adjustments or increase the distance between the model and supports.

If your supports are failing / collapsing during the print, try increasing support density and press with a raft , this volition improve adhesion for the supports.

Dual Extrusion

Support & Raft:
Defended back up and raft materials compatible with ABS include HIPS; a limonene dissolvable support material.

Dual Colour / Material:
In most cases, ABS filaments will stick to other ABS based materials; platonic for dual color press.

Postal service 3D Printing

Removing a print subsequently completion

One time your 3D Print has completed, it can be removed from the build plate. The best method to remove your ABS 3D Prints will depend on your build platform with some of these methods specific to removing ABS prints.

Rigid Build Platform
On rigid build platforms like glass or aluminium, a sharp paint scraper can exist used to hands remove the model.

When printing on glass, the ABS print must exist removed from the drinking glass platform when the temperature is high. Removing a print after the bed has cooled may cause the drinking glass to suspension because the print may compress more than quickly than the drinking glass plate.

Some printers are designed so the platform can exist removed from the bed while other printers the build platform may exist fixed in the printer. If the platform is fixed, nosotros recommend supporting the platform with your second mitt to preclude uneven pressure level on the bed which could affect your bed leveling.

Flexible Build Platform
Some printers on the market impress on flexible build plates. With these platforms users can flex the plate to remove prints.

Removing Layer Lines

ABS similar other materials can be post-candy later printing to remove layer lines and achieve a smooth surface. ABS is considerably piece of cake to sand for professional person applications. In improver printing with finer resolutions and using a filler primer can drastically cut down on sanding / postal service-processing time.

ABS also exist chemically smoothed via a technique known as 'acetone vapour smoothing'. There are many variations to this smoothing technique, some of which employ oestrus to expedite the smoothing procedure. Typically common cold vapour smoothing tin can have between one-3 hours with careful attention required to preclude over smoothing and achieve an even surface end.

Safety Warning: Acetone is combustible and combustible so all users interested and investigating acetone vapour smoothing should never heat acetone.

Painting

ABS plastics can be easily painted with acrylic and enamel based paints. Removing layer lines and model make clean up are recommended before painting.

Joining

Parts printed in ABS can be joined with a variety of techniques

Glue
Gluing parts printed in ABS is unproblematic, with Super Glue or Two Role Epoxies. Nosotros recommend sanding contact surfaces with a fibroid sandpaper to increment the surface area for the glue, this will result in a stronger bring together.

Solvent Welding

Acetone can be used to solvent weld two parts printed in ABS.

Use a paint castor to glaze one contact side in Acetone.
Advisedly join the two parts together.
Clamp or hold together the join for a few minutes while the contact surfaces fuse together and dry.

Trouble Shooting

Blocked Nozzle / Filament Jam

When 3D Press it is possible to encounter filament jams or nozzle blockages, these blockages can be caused due to a variety of reasons.

Causes and Steps to Prevent Nozzle Blockage and filament jams.
In all of these cases if the filament cannot pass through the extruder, the extruder gear will continue to try push the filament and will eventually 'chew out' the filament. If you hear a clicking or clunking sound coming from the extruder, this is a adept sign that the filament is jammed or volition be if ignored.

If your extruder temperature is too low during printing, the ABS filament volition not flow and will have difficulty extruding. Printing with the correct nozzle temperature will solve this issue.
If there is as well much friction on the filament, the extruder may accept difficulties feeding the plastic. Endeavour feeding the filament with a spool holder in unlike positions (to a higher place, beside, backside the printer).
If the nozzle tiptop is set too close to the bed, the filament will have difficulty feeding through the nozzle eventually causing a filament jam. When press at finer layer heights (0.1 and 0.05mm) the right nozzle height is fifty-fifty more important. To prevent this outcome information technology is of import to print with the bed leveled and the correct nozzle tiptop.
If the office is warping or lifting off the bed, the office will be pushing against the nozzle limiting extrusion and material menstruum, in this instance it is important to forestall the part from warping.
Nozzle Blockages can occur more than usually with finer nozzles. The bulk of 3D Printers are equipped with 0.4mm nozzles, information technology is important when printing or experimenting with a smaller nozzle (0.2mm) to adjust printing speed and extrusion settings
If the filament is of poor quality is oval shaped or manufactured with an inconsistent diameter, this tin cause the filament to jam in the extruder. The industry standard for filament tolerance is ± 0.05 mm. If the filament is i.75mm an acceptable diameter variance would be between 1.70 - 1.80mm. Premium and college quality brands tin can offer ± 0.02 mm tolerance. If y'all take difficulties printing ABS with just specific brands of filament this could signify event with their quality control.

Cleaning a ABS Nozzle Blockage
If the nozzle is blocked with ABS 1 of the most successful solutions is to feed a tougher / harder and higher temperature material (for example PC-Max) through the extruder. In most cases, the backdrop of the tougher material and its college printing temperature assist to purge and remove the clogged ABS plastic. It is important to feed the tougher material at its required printing temperature, for PolyCarbonate (PC) this is 250°C and to button the filament into the extruder during this process.

A blocked nozzle can also be soaked in Acetone for a minimum of 24 hours to dissolve the ABS.

Warping

When printing college temperature amorphous materials like ABS, some users can have difficulty preventing warping, firstly lets await at why ABS materials tin can warp.

Warping is caused past internal stress in the 3D printed part; there is i crusade for internal stress when printing amorphous materials.

1. Equally the filament is extruded through the small diameter of the nozzle, the polymer chain of the filament is stretched and will want to render back to its 'normal' state, much like a stretched elastic band will go back to its position when it is released. At temperatures moderately shut to the materials drinking glass transition temperature, the polymer concatenation will 'relax', releasing the internal stress and preventing warping. Due to the higher glass transition temperature of ABS (100°C), ABS requires a heated bed and will print with moderate minimal internal stress at room temperature.

So how can we prevent warping and achieve near-zero warping when printing ABS.

Preventing ABS warping.

If parts are warping early on into the impress, this may be due to insufficient bed adhesion or an incorrect nozzle height. If the first layer of extruded plastic is not sticking to the bed, the internal stress during printing will be plenty to rapidly lift the function off the bed. It is of import to ensure your nozzle height and bed is leveled correctly and that you are using the correct printing surfaces for ABS
Drafts, absurd air from air conditioners and low environmental temperatures in wintertime can cause the ABS to print with more internal stress. An enclosure with a airtight front door can help to incorporate oestrus from the heated bed, raising the internal temperature required to minimize warping.
In an enclosed build volume of 150 x 150 10 150mm, heat from the build plate will raise the internal sleeping accommodation more efficiently and faster than with a larger 250 x 250 x 250mm build volume. Preheating for a longer time may be required on larger printers to accomplish the required internal temperatures.
Printing with a lower infil volition produce parts with less material and thus less internal stress in some cases minimizing warping. Parts printed at 100% will suffer from meaning warping when compared to parts printed at 25-l%. Parts should stil be printed with a moderate infil (higher up twenty%) as parts printed with a low infil are more suseptible to cracking.
Typically warping will occur on the outer edges of a 3D Print. In some cases, a raft can be used to extend the length of the part. The outer edges of the raft will warp instead of the function.
Printing on a printer equipped with an actively heated chamber is one solution to printing ABS with near-zero warping. Active heating is important to successfully print full size parts in ABS (eg. 300 x 300 10 300mm)

Poor Layer Adhesion

Causes and steps to ameliorate poor layer adhesion.

If the filament is under-extruding during printing in that location will exist inconsistencies and gaps between the layer, compromising mechanical strength and layer adhesion. It is important to ensure yous are printing the ABS filament at the right nozzle temperature to ensure consistent catamenia and to minimize elevate or tension which may foreclose the filament from feeding.
Poor layer adhesion can also exist caused when press with a ABS spoiled with moisture. When the filament passes through the hot stop, the moisture erupts creating bubbles in the extruded plastic, compromising the parts mechanical backdrop. If a spool of filament has absorbed moisture, it can be stale however it is important to shop the ABS correctly and foreclose this result from occurring.

Nasty smell during printing

Compared to other 3D printing materials, ABS traditionally prints with a noticeable smell.

Causes and steps to minimize printing odors

ABS materials will release a harsh aroma during printing if printed too hot. Printing at lower nozzle temperatures can sometimes minimize noticeable odors when press ABS.
Users will notice sure brands of ABS will print with harsher odors when compared to other brands. Printing with a cleaner ABS cloth is recommended. For example Polymakers PolyLite™ ABS has been designed to impress with depression odor when compared to other ABS materials.
Placing the printer in a ventilated space can help to minimize odors when printing ABS, odors should also exist less noticeable when press with enclosed printers.
Some 3D printers are equipped with HEPA / carbon filters which can help to minimize the olfactory property when printing ABS plastics.