Bambulab ABS vs ASA filament, which one is better on mechanical tests?

Direct comparison of Bambulab ABS and ASA filaments with 10 different testing types.
BambuLab filament store (affiliate link): shrsl.com/4hnk4
Results you can download from: www.mytechfun.com/video/357
Patreon supporters (and soon channel members) will get a direct access to summary table with results from previous videos.
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Mentioned in the video:
How to place the refill filament to spool: • Swapping new filament ...
Contents:
0:00 Introduction
0:43 Specifications
1:36 Unboxing
2:14 ABS, 3D printing
2:52 ASA, 3D printing
3:27 Tensile test
3:48 Layer adhesion test
4:09 Shear test
4:25 Bending test
4:54 Twist test
5:16 Creep test
5:46 Impact test
6:57 Temperature test
7:27 Results
9:22 Conclusions
#3dprinting #bambulab #abs #asa

[@wavyseahill]

You can certainly see that Igor is from scientific comunity - very technical, informative and concentrated material. Without any useless info and "water spilling". Good work! Thank You for the content!

[@rmksledhead63]

The fact you are investing in industrial testing equipment shows your excellent commitment to give everyone the best information possible. Thanks again for the excellent testing and please keep up the great work!!!

[@riba2233]

another awesome test, can't wait to see more bambu filaments tested, thanks! :)

[@genegreiner7766]

Igor - love your videos. These filament tests have saved me a lot of money and time in selecting different material for different applications. Great job and thank you.

[@timcash6372]

I just got some polymaker ASA and have been using it on my P1S and it prints flawlessly with Bambu stock profile this is my 1st ASA experience

[@UtmostOutdoors]

Thanks for this and all your other tests.

[@maurourrai2550]

Love your channel Igor, thank you

[@Eduard_Kolesnikov]

как всегда одни из самых лучших тестов спасибо

[@AlAndScher]

Extremely well done!

[@BennyTygohome]

I really enjoying this series as if teaches me the differences in plastics and which to use for different purposes. Cool about your new impact test machine that you ordered. Looking forward to it

[@MyTechFun]

Thank you. Impact tester should arrive in middle of May. And if it will work good, I will order a tensile testing machine from same manufacturer.

[@fluxcapacitor]

You forgot shrinking. The ASA I am printing shrinks by about 0.6% when cooling, something I don't notice with PLA or PETG. Such shrinkage is quite noticeable on biggest parts especially technical ones. As I do not print ABS, I don't know if this is similar.

[@MyTechFun]

Oh, yes, very correct, the shrinking is important for mechanical parts. I forgot to measure it, but it was in plan. I will measure this weekend, and I will add the info to downloadable excel table. Thx for reminding me.

[@CarlosChavez-gs1ld]

Well done as always.

[@darkmajinPOL]

hidden gem channel, have my sub

[@imacmill]

I just tried printing ASA for the very first time today using my modified Ender-3 V2, which is in an enclosure I heated to 60C. I ran a temp-tower that ranged from 260C to 290C, as per manufacturers specs, and while the print came out looking fine, I was easily able to snap each temperature section of the tower in half with my bare hands. Maybe it's just crappy filament (but it was somewhat expensive), but I'm certainly not thrilled with the results. I'm going to try some nylon now for the first time...

[@81GTUN4]

Great video! When is the PC test video coming ?

[@Unnaymed]

Thank you !❤

[@Paullyb79]

Thank you very much for your work. Greatly appreciated. Regarding views, I only really watch the videos of yours about filament I am interested in using at the time. That might explain the discrepancy between subs and views. Cheers, from Austrlia.

[@802Garage]

Good stuff!

[@EEEEMMMMKKKK]

Finally not PLA, thank you Igor :)

[@gary332]

@6:32 omg and that for help us thumps up SIR!!

[@christopherclark170]

Great video, as always! I have a request for a filament for you to test. Bambu Labs PET-CF. I just bought a Bambu X1-Carbon and plan to make custom automotive parts and PET-CF intrigued me. The Bambu page talks about how it is extremely temperature resistant, but also less prone to warping and affected less by moisture, so it is recommended for high humidity and high moisture environments compared to something like nylon. I would love to see it added to your tests and how it compares to other engineering grade materials like nylon, PC, and even ASA and ABS, along with whatever other filaments you would compare it to. Thank you for considering it!

[@3DPrintMasters]

I was looking for this exact comparisson, thanks for taking the time and effort to make this video!Thanks!

[@MyTechFun]

Than you, and it will be continued..

[@clockworkvanhellsing372]

6:03 you might be able to calculate the angular velocity of the hammer from the distance traveled between two frames. With this the residual energy of the hammer can be calculated. This might get you reliable data for the tests that you've already done on though materials.

[@AngelDLM08]

Great video, do you have a comparison table for all the filaments reviewed?

[@MyTechFun]

Yes, but that is the only gift for my Patreon supporters. Every data is available for everybody to download, but you have to collect it one-by-one.

[@Seagrams]

I am looking to 3d print some car parts that will go inside the engine bay, in the interior, and near the exhaust. That seems to cover all the biggest challenges: heat/cold, UV resistance, chemical resistance, strength, humidity.. I think the choice comes down to either ASA or Nylon

[@spongecounter]

Hi Igor, thanks, good video. You don’t do the bolt creep test anymore. Since I bolt a lot of parts together I notice I have to retighten. ASA being softer needs tightening. Split lock washers help.

[@MyTechFun]

Hm, not, it is time consuming, and I noticed it is in good correlation with my "C" creep test (disadvantage of beeing a small youtuber, if I would have 100k views, I wouldn't feel sorry for additional time)

[@peterpizzurro9410]

You get a sub!

[@JBGecko13yt]

it would be interesting to see the off gassing while both are being printed.

[@Todestelzer]

2:25 I think the higher temp is because of the hardened nozzle or to compensate for the heat draw when using high flow settings.

[@AllenKennedy]

I would love to see a test of polymaker polysonic pla and pro.

[@AndyRC]

Another great video. I print a lot of abs. My favorite so far is polymaker when it comes to abs. I mainly print it on my K1 but I also sometimes use an SV06 or SV06 plus and put it in an enclosure. I recently tried Polycarbonate on my k1 and it prints well however I must have gotten a bad roll. It is Kexcelled PC and I dried it right out of the package in my Sunlu S4 and found the PC would break in my PTFE tube. I even tried running it straight into the extruder and as soon as the print head would move it would snap the filament. I noticed that filament will break at every few cm's. It was pliable at some spots and brittle at others. I assume PC should not do that right? I contacted kexcelled and they just told me to remove a few meters of filament and try again. Lol. So this was not much help. 😢

[@DSPrints_]

I never used fans for ABS except over hangs.

[@jaakobs]

Hello Igor, love the videos. Could you please test out add:north pc blend ht lcf? Would love to see if the supposedly really good properties hold up in reality. Thanks

[@garagecedric]

Yes please, i bought a roll on christmas sale, have yet to try it though. The specs are really good,

[@MyTechFun]

Oh, they have too many filament types, I will contact them, if they want to send a spool or two for the testing. Usually EU based companies are ready for cooperation. USA based don't want to send filaments to EU, even if I tell them that most of my viewers are from US (Matterhackers, Phaetus..)

[@jaakobs]

@@MyTechFun There are also other european companies such as TreeD (italy) and Purefil (Czechia) that make exotic filaments. But there are a ton of people interested in the addnorth pc lcf specifically, so I hope they respond to you.

[@garagecedric]

@@MyTechFun ive seen them send spools or highly discounted test spools for way smaller channels than yours. I think they would be positive for some cooperation, give it a try.

[@damaylaphoenix1155]

what brand make the best and strongest filament ?

[@cj5376]

Now do a cf nylon with Bambu review . Tough times

[@MyTechFun]

First PC (black vs transparent), then CF6 (GF vs CF)

[@cj5376]

@@MyTechFun can't wait. I've had issues trying to print cf without warping in my x1c vs the pro 3 plus I had. I've yet to print Taulman 910 in it too. Strength testing that material would be cool . I'd donate to support the cost

[@NickBR57]

Thanks Igor, that was interesting. I do FIND ASA is MUCH more prone to warping if the model has large surface area - it will pull the engineering plate off the magnetic bed. For that reason I use ABS more, though I can print ASA with large surface areas ok if I clamp down the plate and allow it to cool slowly in the enclosed chamber. I watched a video from Shadiversity a few days ago all about established and reasonably large channels not being pushed by the YT algorithm, how it affects a channel and what may be going on under the covers in the algorithm. So it doesn't surprise me you aren't getting the views you should. It's the algorithm not letting people know - or even removing channels from people's subscription lists - very poor behaviour on YT's part.

[@sabahoudini]

Maybe you should invest in a printer that can print ABS/ASA properly since you are interested in plastics and performance. Our desktop printers are not made for ABS, they can print it visually but you need an 80C chamber and lots of parts cooling. It’s actually very easy to build a printer that can print ABS/ASA in industrial strength and quality. Basically what you need is to build a voron or similar but use PET-CF for the parts that you will anneal in an oven. PET-CF is an amazing material and can withstand the temperature you anneal it to. I use 140C. After that you need to install bed fans and use pir insulation in stead of the clear acrylic panels. That’s it basically. ABS will print like a dream and the parts will be as strong as the industrial printed parts you tested recently.

[@sabahoudini]

I meant to say our desktop printers can print ABS so it looks good visually but with sub optimal layer adhesion and also very big tricky parts will warp.

[@FrankOnline007]

doing awesome work here mate. Please consider the new bambulab PA-GF

[@MyTechFun]

PA6-GF is already here, I am waiting for PA6-CF, then I will have a direct comparison

[@warmesuppe]

and please review PAHT-CF like from esun

[@monkeywrench1951]

A bit of info about your bed adhesion and settings would be nice for ABS and ASA.

[@MyTechFun]

Glue stick + engineering plate (or use texture PEI + glue stick), bed temperatures are in video (but also the sheets)

[@julms9495]

I am missing the Sunlu S4 Filament Dryer test :) PLEEEAAASSSE? :) :)

[@MyTechFun]

Next week will be "filament dryer testing", I have 4 in boxes. One for each day (+video editing time)

[@thepowersource1602]

Please could you add a warp test to your series of tests you do? I think it is important because without it you cannot choose a specific filament to print anything which is long and straight. High quality ABS formulas do not warp nearly as much as the cheaper ones.

[@freedomofmotion]

What's the best " tough" material for non enclosed printers? I have a Kobra 2 max so have lots of build volume to build interesting projects.

[@MyTechFun]

Hard TPU.

[@freedomofmotion]

@@MyTechFun Thank you I have some Geetech pla and was impressed at the feet I made with it but but it's still very soft in filament form so not very fun to print with 😂

[@MichaelTavel]

How do you prepare your build plates for each print? Wash with soap and water, let dry, and apply glue stick? I would love to get the consistent results you get. Thanks again for this great information!

[@conorstewart2214]

You don’t need to do that for every print. It isn’t difficult to get consistent results from Bambu labs printers. Use the recommended settings for each plate and if it needs glue then add glue to a clean plate for the first time but then just add more glue to fill in any places where you have printed, then only clean it off and start again when it becomes a mess. The liquid glue is even easier. The most important thing for plates is to keep them relatively clean, that also includes not getting fingerprints all over them since oil from your skin can affect adhesion.

[@MichaelTavel]

@conorstewart2214 Thanks for your detailed reply! I've mostly been printing with PLA and PETG on my P1S with no issues with bed adhesion on my textured PEI plate. I started using ASA and started getting lifting. Not enough to ruin the part, but it made me pretty nervous so I got an engineering plate. I have never used glue stick before and noticed Igor appears to consistently use glue on his bed and was curious on process. Thanks!!

[@blakemeding7917]

@@MichaelTavel I will second Conor. Ive found that the higher the filament temperature, it becomes even more important to have a very clean build plate. I wash with water then use IPA to degrease the build plate. If it is a well used plate I will do Acetone then IPA to clean off any old filament residue. I would get a specific 3d printing adhesive for for your filament like Magicgoo and even specific adheasive made for the particular filament ,if you are printing something high temp like nylon or PC. AND NEVER TOUCH THE BUILD PLATE WITH YOUR FINGERS.

[@MichaelTavel]

@@blakemeding7917 Excellent, thanks! Will look into the Magigoo for nylon.

[@BennyTygohome]

Bambu Lab just released a new ABS-GF glass infused.

[@MyTechFun]

Oh, no. I can't follow Bambu, they release new filaments faster than I can test them :-)

[@anttilehtonen7426]

Please test also different speeds, what would be fastests speed, not sacrificing strength.

[@MyTechFun]

Tested, only so far with PLA: kzbin.info/www/bejne/jWS2dJ9pZZd2hpY

[@anttilehtonen7426]

@@MyTechFun Hi, will watch that one, just found your videos. Liked and subbed, good tech content. PLA is in my book just for printing dragons ;) Will wait patiently asa/abs or nylon/nyloncf test videos.

[@MegaChickenPunch]

Use ASG toy for impact tests.

[@backgammonbacon]

I subscribe but don't always watch your videos. The reality is that some of your videos are on subjects that aren't interesting to the kind of people that like thorough testing, for example PLA is a beginner material so I don't care how it performs I'm not going to ever use it. This video was interesting to me as I had been thinking about switching to ASA but I can get ABS for £10 for a KG but ASA is £20 so my conclusion is different from yours ASA isn't worth the extra.

[@MyTechFun]

Then you missed few interesting videos, check the Engineering PLA video. Also, I just got the spool of AzureFilm PLA, they claim that it can be annealed without deformation... (main problem with annealing of PLA, that it will deform, but it can resist to temps up to 150°C, tested too)

[@dtibor5903]

Hmm, my experience is that ABS needs almost zero cooling otherwise layer adhesion is terrible

[@caramelzappa]

ABS needs a hot chamber. 40c is bare minimum and still bad, ideally you are somewhere around 80c. The hotter the chamber, the more cooling you need, because it is hot air being shot at the print, not cool air. If you're finding that your ABS needs zero cooling, your environment is too cold to print abs well. You'll get better bonding and less warping from a hotter chamber with more part cooling.

[@backgammonbacon]

ABS also like thicker extrusion widths.

[@dtibor5903]

@@caramelzappa i print ABS in an enclosure, but yeah, it is not heated, there is about 40C-50C inside. I can imagine with a 80C enclosure that you need cooling

[@dtibor5903]

@@backgammonbacon i use wider extrusion widths with all materials, improves layer adhesion for all of them

[@theglowcloud2215]

ABS has no advantages over ASA except cost. But 3D printing boomers can't admit there's something better than ABS.