I have a project requiring a high heat temperature resistance of around 300F (149C). Looking at the best option that might be compatible with the Bambu X1C, it looks like I am leaning towards the PA series. I was wondering what the consensus on the most budget friendly as well as reliable filament option is for people using PA, PA-CF, or PAHT-CF. It’s been a long time sense I printed with PA and I know that we can get off on tangents here with slice settings which is not my concern or reason for bringing this up on the forum. Safe to say, there will be a bit of experimenting all around on that front! Just looking for direction on a good filament.
If anyone has a different filament idea that is compatible with the X1C without physical modification other than a specific build plate, I am certainly open to that as well.
@Star_Trek_Replicator, yeah PAHT-CF is the front runner right now. Why .6mm nozzle? I’ve been using .4mm on the PLA-CF as well as for PETG without an issue. Is PAHT-CF more prone to clogging than PLA-CF?
You can absolutely get away with using a .4 mm nozzle, but I had a few issues with clogging on it. Most PA-CF filaments have longer fibers than most PLA-CF so it is more likely to clog.
One thing you also need to consider is the difference between a PA6 and PA12 based filaments.
PA6 is typically stiffer than PA12 filaments, but PA6 is weakening quite heavily in moist environments. PAHT-CF can be based on either PA6, PA12 or even a mix of both. It might be worth checking out a few different suppliers and see what specs each filament features.
It looks like the PAHT-CF is a blend with PA12 according to Bambu. I haven’t seen any other company that offers the PAHT, but there are some with PA-CF. Have you used the PAHT-CF specifically?
Ive used the Bambu PAHT-CF filament, its been great, no issues with that, except the price. You could also have a look at kexcelled “PAHT K7CF” (PA6) or “PAHT K7CF LM” (PA12). You might even get away with eSun’s ePA-CF. It features a HDT of 155C and is way cheaper than the competition. (Amazon DE sells it for 46.39€)
Could you share a little about what you want to achieve and in what environment the part is gonna live?
What are the other concerns? Will it be used in a humid environment? Does it need a level of lubricity or abrasion resistance? Tell us a little more about the end product environment because PA’s are great, but lose strength in moist environments. Considering, the high heat, I doubt there’s a fear of humidity, but its one of the downsides of PA filaments that you’ll want to know before the print. Or maybe that feature is good, PA become more pliable when they absorb water… so maybe that is a good thing. IDK.
@iChris and @just4memike, I’d be happy to share a bit more about the project. This is to print a gear that will rest against another gear that gets around 300F(149C) roughly. This gear will spin freely on the axis. I’m not concerned with gear tolerances or being able to get it to spin freely based on X1C tolerances. Those are all things I’ve worked through before and know that it can take some patience. It’s really the heat that is the concern for me. I won’t consider moisture a concern as this will be indoors for the life of the part and will frequently be near those elevated temperatures.
Thanks for sharing!
PA6 might be an issue even in indoor humidities. Nylon is the way to go for this since it has some self lubricating qualities. I would suggest going with a PA12 based material, not only for the lower humidity absorption, but also because of the rigidity at normal room humidities. BambuLab’s PAHT-CF looks like the ideal filament to start. If you run into issues, it might be worth to try some other PA12 filament, ideally with glass fiber. And don’t forget to dry any PA filament for at least 8 hours.
@iChris, thanks for your input. I’ll give the PAHT-CF a try. I don’t love the cost, but it’s a pretty unique requirement and anything nylon based has always been considered a special scenario in the engineering world due to cost. Luckily, nylon cost has been coming down. I’ll report back if I end up moving forward with this project and get successful prints. Still open to other suggestions at the moment.
I just wanted to follow up on this post. I ordered the Bambu PAHT-CF filament and it prints well @ .12mm layer height on the lightyear (garolite) bed. I happened to have glue in the area where it printed, but the calibration area did not have glue. Both stuck tremendously well. I think it will be safe with or without glue. The next test will be with the actual high temp application for the part. I’ll report back. By the way…it’s very rough on the surface!
Make sure its dry. I don’t remember roughness being an issue. Nylon will moisture saturate in as little as a few hours. I actually remember the finish being a high point, not a low one.
Like you alluded to, it was actually really easy to print. No adhesion issues (no glue, texture PEI for me), the speed is a noticeable amount slower than PLA but not slow, and I really liked the finish on it. The Bambu profile was pretty amazing. It was a one and done print for me. They did all the hard work so it was just a click and wait thing.
