PCTG! Putting it to the test

[@lap87]

I have been printing with PCTG since spring, it is absolutely the best all-round filament currently on the market. This filament needs to get released in all PETG colors available, and phase out PETG.

[@jeremywilliams3320]

agreed. PETG can't do anything that this can't. While we're at it, ASA needs to replace ABS

[@quasimongo410]

does it feel stiffer, softer or similar to PETG?

[@pavelperina7629]

​@@quasimongo410it looks and feels very similar, maybe some breaking tests can show differences. It smells during print a bit. Edit: it likely does not always smell, feels softer to scratch, more ductile, less fragile, but it can crack easier than petg

[@RegularOldDan]

Something that is impressive with the PCTG vs. the ABS is that, while the ABS broke cleanly on the layer lines, the PCTG Benchy showed such good layer adhesion that breaks were across layer lines. Fun demonstration!

[@joonaskali2337]

Such good layer adhesion that they fuse together?

[@warmesuppe]

If abs or ASA prints break on the layer lines they were not properly printed. Most people think they need an enclosure for abs only because of warping, but if the chamber temperature gets above 50°,60°C even 70° Prints and especially layer adhesion get extremely strong. I print at roughly 60°C and my prints are tougher than petg.

[@pipeepapofckgug3633]

Some text overlay when comparing the cubes (at least for the first time) would be nice to mark which filament is which, I'm having somewhat of a hard time understanding that. If I got it right, clear is PCTG, blue is ecoPLA, green is PETG and white is ABS, is that right? Took me a couple of rewinds though...

[@3DJake_Official]

Yep, that's it, thanks for the tip :)

[@pipeepapofckgug3633]

@@3DJake_Official Thanks for your response, and all within 12 hours - that's what I call kundennah ;) after watching the video further I saw that you do explain it later on, but it had me bamboozled for a while. Maybe you can add that in your next comparison video, it would help a lot :)

[@erhardpostinger1326]

1:21 "...polycyclohexylene diamond polycyclohexaline dimethylene terrathalate glycol modified polycyclohexaline dimethylene terrephalic glycol modified we're just going to call it pctg from now on pctg is still a relatively unknown filament..." Das Transkript tut sich mit unbekannten Ausdrücken auch schwer, aber je nach Muttersprache muss man sich die chemischen Bezeichnungen eh erklären lassen, wenn man nicht vom Fach ist.

[@FilamentStories]

What a great video! So much useful information. Loved the format and the pummeling.

[@3DJake_Official]

Thanks Courtney!!!

[@Peter_Cetera]

PCTG is the perfect filament for me

[@zivzulander]

This was very informative and entertaining. PCTG looks like it's fairly versatile. From what I can tell, it hasn't become as popular as PETG mainly due to cost, though it's fairly reasonable compared to more exotic filaments.

[@SnifterRoux]

What PCTG colour is the best and worst in impact, tensile, tests etc?

[@3DJake_Official]

Never actually tested that sorry :(

[@howabout2138]

Usually the natural color is best when it comes to strength because it doesnt have any adidtives however at same time its worst for outdoor usage as it doesnt have UV protection

[@bogusF]

I'm missing printing advice, like what happens if it is stored in wet conditions, at what speeds and what temps does it print well, what should you do, if it oozes too much?

[@3DJake_Official]

Good questions. We haven't tried exposing it to high humidity but I think it would react quite similarly to PETG. In which case, using a dehydrator would be enough to fix it. We have one in the workshop, its just a normal food dehydrator, works really well. We have tested the filament up to 200mm/s on an FLSUN V400, only a tiny bit of underextrusion was noted at one part and a tiny bit of stringing on thin parts on the top of the model where the layer time was really brief. Tried again with a flow adjustment and only the stringing remained, it was quite minimal and less than what I would expect for our own PETG. In terms of surface quality, the PCTG was noticeably better. We'll post a detailed model printed at high speed in the coming days so you can see what I mean.

[@bogusF]

@@3DJake_Official Thanks for your answer, that's a lot of good info! I've read that as opposed to PETG, PCTG DOES recrystallize when heated beyond glass transition temperature and therefore can be annealed to increase heat resistance and stiffness even more. So far, I haven't found much more info on how exactly to control the process, like what temps to use for how long and expectable warp and such.

[@3DJake_Official]

Sounds like a good follow up video!

[@FreedomToRoam86]

Way better torture texts than a boring old hammer!😂 My question is how it will do with creep over time at around 45-55C in the cab and camper of my truck. Time will tell there

[@3DJake_Official]

Good question, those temperatures shouldn't pose an issue for it but I'm afraid I can't say much about mechanical creep in the long term. Should definitely do better than petg and abs though...seems like a good idea for a video.

[@TheLastRealPanda]

i have been buying your PLA for years, i didnt realise you are on youtube!

[@3DJake_Official]

it is a relatively recent development :) Now taking ideas for videos!

[@sagichnicht6748]

Good introduction. Got my hands on a roll of 3djake PCTG and I am fairly enthusiastic about it. Two aspects which were not really mentioned in the video: PCTG appears to be a bit more flexible than PETG (I would say lower flexural modulus) PCTG has an absolutely stellar layer adhesion, superior to almost anything else, safe maybe PP. If you add the really great impact resistance, easy printability comparable to PETG and great chemical and UV resistence it is a fantastic material. As long as the flexibility suits your needs.

[@3DJake_Official]

Really good point, the layer adhesion is awesome on PCTG.

[@dev-null]

So my primary concern is safety. I print only PLA...with an enclosure...and a air purifier in the room. Nobody seems to have info on VOC and UFP of PCTG vs PLA....i'd love this info so I can explore PCTG. I refuse to print ABS or ASA for the reasons above.

[@pavelp80]

Interesting. I've done unscientific hammer test (with fairly heavy hammer) of transparent BambuLab PETG vs black Extrudr PCTG and my conclusion was that on weak impact PCTG can partially crack or/and bend whereas PETG is unharmed. On stronger impact PETG ends up in shards, PCTG in bigger pieces that are permanently deformed. So maybe impact resistance has something to do with brittleness, but PCTG part is damaged earlier. Then I tried pichers, PETG again ends in shards, PCTG with big dents. I would not say that PCTG is better or worse, it's different and more expensive. I may eventually buy it again as soon as I run out of transparent PETG. Speaking about PETG I feel like properties differ with color and metallic green feels more brittle than clear one and layer adhesion is also worse. Ofc I don't have my filaments perfectly dry, just dry enough.

[@ripmax333]

Can you another video for 3DJake Easy ABS? Please

[@3DJake_Official]

Sure we can put it on the list, same as this? Testing it to the breaking point?

[@ripmax333]

Since you call it Easy ABS I’m assuming that its easy to print than any other regular ABS, I’m very interested in the printability aspect of it.

[@robrs210]

Just got some 3DJake filament a few days ago, my first use of your filament. Not PCTG though, so may have to try it out

[@3DJake_Official]

Happy printing!

[@ripmax333]

By anychance do you have any recommended printing setting for PCTG on a Prusa mk3?

[@3DJake_Official]

Yep, not much different from PETG besides the temperatures. Hotend: 255 Bed: 95 Cooling: 50% Everything else is pretty standard.

[@stevecade857]

How did you calibrate your Ross to deliver equal strength swings? This is important science.

[@3DJake_Official]

Ross is fed on a high-beer diet to ensure absolute precision and strength

[@zk_6312]

From specs online it says the glass transition point is from 76 to 113 degrees C for PCTG. ASA is around 105 degrees C. Why suc a wide range. I was hoping I could use PCTG for printing out a hotend mount, but I don't think that is a good idea with such a wide range.

[@3DJake_Official]

They're probably referring to a range of different filaments...maybe? I don't think it is the best choice for a hotend mount, ABS or ASA would be much better.

[@1esolo11]

thanks for the video, but an over impression of which is which would have helped quite a bit. Or at least if you kept the colors - material association throughout the entire video. If I got them right, here are the associations: transparent or black = PCTG white = ABS blue = ecoPLA green = PETG

[@deltacx1059]

Your PCTG is twice the price of PLA though, if they are equal in chemical resistance and PCTG is only stronger you might as well just use PLA unless you need heat resistance.

[@3DJake_Official]

But they're not equal in chemical resistance and PLA would not be the choice filament for something that needs impact resistance.

[@deltacx1059]

@@3DJake_Official they looked very similar for the chemical tests, it definitely is less impact resistant for sure but PCTG doesn't seem to be enough of a step up over PLA for the price.

[@3DJake_Official]

@@deltacx1059 It is definitely a speciality filament for sure but you saw the acetone test right 😂 I think PCTG has more of a niche that is in between a flexible filament and something rigid like PLA. If you really want a chemical resistant polymer then the go-to choice is always going to be polypropylene but polypropylene is quite flexible which limits its applications.

[@deltacx1059]

@@3DJake_Official definitely right on that, last i touched 3d printing was in 2019 and just got back in so I'm not sure what has actually improved, is PLA even still the best budget/prototyping option or has something come to replace it?

[@3DJake_Official]

@@deltacx1059 oh yeah for sure and that is not gonna change anytime soon but for functional prototyping you gotta need something a bit heftier and things have changed there, PCTG is one example but there is also ASA, pre-2019 there wasn't much of that on the market, same goes for PMMA and PVC, we even have teflon and kevlar infused filament in the shop now but the main thing that has changed is speed - we're getting a new printer in a few weeks that can print at 600mm/s, crazy.

[@tttamm]

I feel like the 1khz "censor" beep could have been quieter, same effect but won't blow out the ears of earbud users. But cool video regardless.

[@3DJake_Official]

Ah noted, we'll tone it down next time :)

[@protonord]

Please make it with more colors and cf 🤓

[@josephmama9657]

PCTG or its chemical name supercalifragilisticexpialodoshs. YES! NAILED IT😂🤣😂

[@3DJake_Official]

🤣 Hah!

[@imacmill]

Not available in Canada, it appears.

[@windmill10]

PETG is UV resistant. How UV resistant is PCTG? In other words is it any good for outdoor applications?

[@3DJake_Official]

PCTG is very close to ASA in terms of UV resistance however ASA would be better for most outdoor uses due to its higher strength at elevated temperature which is quite relevant in summer time.

[@harriebosgraaf2977]

At 2.25 in the video, a nice model can be seen. I would like to print this model. Can anyone tell me where I can find it?

[@3DJake_Official]

Oh no, it was so long ago, I can't even find the source :(

[@felix_972]

Is it UV resistant?

[@daliasprints9798]

How does it compare to PET? Real PET that is, not PETG.

[@philipp6682]

Can you print PET?

[@daliasprints9798]

@@philipp6682 Yep. It needs higher temperatures than PTFE-lined hotends can safely do - min 270 to flow at all, and 285 or more at high speed - which is basically the whole motivation for PETG. Otherwise PETG is an inferior material in pretty much all ways - the gunking/blobbing, poor layer adhesion, difficulty achieving high flow, material creep, lower HDT, etc. Unfortunately PET filament is hard to find. There are various projects to make it yourself from recycled bottles, and in the US, Fusion Filaments sells it as HTPET. A little pricy but not too bad compared to other filament types with comparable material properties.

[@philipp6682]

@@daliasprints9798 ahhh thank you very much! :) I didnt know that. Actually im Printing with petg, its stringing and hard to print :(

[@daliasprints9798]

@@philipp6682 That probably means it's wet. PETG and PET are very hygroscopic and need to be dried right before printing if you don't have a sealed drybox and hardcore dessicant.

[@3DJake_Official]

Hmm I actually never had to dry PETG before a print but it totally depends on your environment, whether it is humid or not. If your workshop is in a garage, you'll probably have to dry it regularly.

[@CatBenny]

Is it toxic. Like you shoud print ABS in a good ventilated room or you shoud wear a mask. Is it the same here?

[@3DJake_Official]

Definitely not as bad as ABS but I would recommend being able to ventilate your room after every print, doesn't matter what the filament is.

[@CatBenny]

@@3DJake_Official Okay Thanks

[@kamaeleo]

polycyclohexaline dimethylene terrathalate glycol modified😭

[@emfmuffin1153]

Umm... Petg has much better impact resistance than abs. Layer adhesion isn't even close

This is so weird, in my experience PETG is not very impact resistant at all. Better than PLA but still not very good imo.

[@TheRobojay]

@ It might vary depending on print settings I guess. In my experience PETG is very impact resistant and it sticks amazingly to itself

[@sagichnicht6748]

@ It also depends a lot on PETG brand. Extrudr PETG is weird for example and not impact resistant at all (but prints very nicely, almost as if it were PLA) others are much better.

[@3DJake_Official]

@emfmuffin Info on the internet generally states that PETG has better impact resistance than ABS which I find strange as so many of our PETG filaments have much lower impact strength than our ABS and from practical experience I see the same too. Not really sure why that is the general opinion.

[@marcusbuschbeck1121]

PCTG ist der absolute Knaller! Nicht nur tolle Haptik, auch stabil wie sau. Leider gibt es noch wenig spannende Farben. Das muss sich definitiv ändern.

[@Jkauppa]

whats wrong with you not guaranteeing a quality product

[@nativebikers]

Could you speak a little slower please. The English is very blurry for me and I can't even read the German subtitles that quickly. 😱

[@3DJake_Official]

sorry :(

[@SniperAngle12]

You can change the playback speed to 0.75x or slower you know.

[@milchpulverkakao4917]

He is actually talking to slow for me so I just watch it at 2x speed

[@victormendoza6552]

i wonder if this is what matterhackers Ryno Filament is

[@3DJake_Official]

Pretty sure Ryno is just modified PETG, it prints too cool to be PCTG.