3D printing guides and case studies from the 3Descu workshop

PLA is the most accurate filament to print and the wrong one for anything warm, outdoors or under constant load. When to specify it, what to pick instead, and how to design and order a PLA part.

PA12 nylon is the filament for parts that slide, wear or flex thousands of times. When to choose it over PETG, when not to, and how to design for a material that takes up moisture.

Chopped carbon fibre makes a printed part stiffer and more dimensionally stable, and less tolerant of a hard knock. The three carbon fibre grades we print, and which one fits which job.

Resin prints detail no filament nozzle can lay down and a surface that looks moulded. The five resins we print, when resin beats FDM, where it does not, and the design rules that keep a resin part intact.

ASA is ABS reformulated to survive sunlight. When a printed part lives outdoors for more than a season, ASA is almost always the answer. Where it fits, where it does not, and how to design outdoor parts in it.

PETG is tougher than PLA, easier to print than ABS and resists water and most household chemicals. When it is the right default, where its limits are, and how to design and order a PETG part.

PC-ABS keeps most of polycarbonate's toughness and heat resistance while printing more like ABS. What it is, where it beats both parents, where it does not, and how to design for it.

Polycarbonate is what a part is printed in when it has already failed in something else. Where PC earns its extra machine time, where PC-ABS or ABS does the job for less, and how to design for it.

ABS is the traditional engineering thermoplastic: heat resistant, impact resistant and workable after printing. What it is for, how to design around its shrinkage, how it compares with ASA, PC-ABS, polycarbonate and PETG, and when ABS CF is the better choice.

TPU is the only filament in the 3Descu range that bends and returns to shape. Where flexible 3D printing works, where it does not, how to design a TPU part, and why it prices higher than its size suggests.

A functional part's material is decided by what it has to survive: heat, load, repeated flexing, sunlight or chemicals. Every material we print, compared in one table.