Polymaker PolyMax filaments (PLA, PETG, PC) - Which is best for functional 3D printed parts?

[@kjhaglfjhgfasd]

Incredible video my friend. This is EXACTLY what I needed to know. I am printing some very crucial parts from PC and was curious to know what to expect. Thank you!!

[@artofaccompaniment]

Thanks so much for all the great tests! Do I understand correctly that polymax PETG layer adhesion strength is about half of the polylite PETG? comparing with your polylite comparison video for reference.

[@derekmarchetti3284]

Your channel is great, I very often refer to them...your tests are invaluable.

[@ingGS]

Thanks for the comparison. I am printing with Polymaker Polycarbonate right now and it is a struggle. Warping, bed adhesion issues, etc. Purple glue has helped with bed adhesion.

[@tristar3005]

This is insanely thorough and very appreciated. Since you asked about applications of the audience, I'm trying to find a durable but slightly flexible filament for printing discontinued RC car parts.

[@proastroz5759]

Have you settled on a material? PETG?

[@tristar3005]

@@proastroz5759 I have yet to try PETG. We tried making A arms out of the stronger versions of PLA (toughmax, +, carbon) and we still had durability issues with them. For 3d printing I think I'm going to stick to less vital components for the cars. For things like wing mounts, electronics/battery mounts, etc it seems like TPU is a good option as it absorbs impact better. Impact absorption seems to be key, not just raw strength. Keep in mind the vehicles I'm dealing with are 1/10 scale race vehicles that need to be able to handle jumps and occasional crashes. For things like mini rock crawlers, small onroad cars I'd think PLA toughmax would be just fine.

[@Sleepery22]

Nice video, Igore! For the record: this is so called EZ PC, not the high temp polycarbonate (like 3DXTECH 3DXMAX PC). It's much more difficult to print second one, as it prints at 300+C and has Tg. 147C / HDT 135C. Some people consider only Bisphenol A PolyCarbonate a 'real' polycarbonate, though they all are..

[@que_dijo]

THANK YOU oGOR, YOUR CONTECT IS GETTING BETTER AND BETTER EACH DAY. THANKS!

[@StanEby1]

After the last video I was disappointed in the the brittleness of Polylite PC, so I wrote it off. I'm so glad I watched this one because I was amazed to see the impact strength of PolyMax PC. Thanks.

[@hargrove_here]

Thanks for the comparison videos. This is great info.

[@petherdurand]

Thank you for your content, sir. I'm starting in the 3d print world and I have been trying to figure out what fillaments to use for some parts that will be recieving impacts, heat fluctuations and any other kind of mechanical applications and with your videos I have a clear idea now.

[@dextertheg]

High quality testing work. Well done!

[@Marcos-tj8nk]

Excellent and very complete analysis, better than CNC KITCHEN. I'm looking for the best material for my outdoors printings. ASA is not available in my country (Argentina) so I need a replacement that it has to be UV resistant and impact resistant. PETG is UV resistant but not impact resistant. ABS is impact resistant but not UV resistant, and the same for HIPS. I've heard that every black plastic is UV resistant because the black colour is made by carbon. That would be a good test, to compare UV resistant with most common filaments (don't forget HIPS, is a very good filament). How UV affects discoloration and strength in both colour and black specimens (and also resin printings).

[@spongecounter]

Awesome once again. Really useful for me.

[@Dramaican88]

Really nice video! For the hardness test, I don't think the durometer test provides information that simple makers can use, maybe it gives a little idea on how stiff the material is. So harder material means stiff and rigid and this is confirmed by the numbers in your video. Stiffness is something the average maker does care about. For example if you are making gears or something like a bottle cap opener, it is not a good idea to use PETG because it is not stiff enough! If you are making bag clips or cases with snap fit joints and clips, there PETG is good because it has some flex before breaking. Maybe you could develop your own stiffness/rigidness test instead of a hardness test for your future videos.

[@santiagoblandon3022]

Next in the list, PolyMide family :D don't forget to anneal the parts ;) hehe Thanks! Awesome videos!

[@MyTechFun]

Anneal Nylon? Any documentation about that?

[@santiagoblandon3022]

Yes, on PolyMide datasheets you can find the annealing instructions. Nylon is semicrystalline and the mechanical and thermal properties change dramatically from amorphous to when it has some degree of crystallinity. For example PolyMide PA12-CF stiffness as printed: 1971 Mpa. Annealed: 3300 Mpa Tensile strength as printed: 43.55 Mpa. Annealed: 71.63 Mpa. Bending strength as printed: 48.19 Mpa. Annealed: 109.97 Mpa Charpy as printed: 17.69 kJ/m², annealed 12.52 kJ/m². You can find this info on the product info sheet. About more documentation, you can look for PA6.. PA66.. PA12 annealing on any papers repository or science magazine, there are plenty of articles on the topic for both injection molding and 3d printing

[@eduardobueno5040]

@@MyTechFun it would also be interesting to see the impact that annealing has on nylon cf creep. I cannot find any quantitative data on that.

[@eduardobueno5040]

@@santiagoblandon3022 i cannot find that data, could you share the link?

[@3dprintingscience528]

Wow the 2 last videos are so awesome, I am a data lover and I really think more people need to see this to better understand 3D printing materials, I am not sure if hardness is very useful for rigid material but if maybe more useful for flexible? Are you going to test Polymaker Nylon and flexible material? They should send you their whole portfolio so that we can compare everything with exactly the same test.

[@MyTechFun]

Yes, I would like to test their Nylon and TPU filaments. Only for TPU I gave to figure out different testings.

[@tallbrojehle45]

I greatly appreciate your thoroughness! I'm glad you test the hardness, I haven't seen anyone else do that and I'm interested in using PC to make bearings so it was very relevant to me!

[@WhereNerdyisCool]

So my takeaway from this was after all of that testing, PolyLite seems to be the winner in a majority of categories. Great videos!

[@eroemer]

Very nice research, thank you

[@kimmotoivanen]

These kind of tests tell me 2 valuable things: 1 - PLA is actually very good material. If there was a modified PLA that resisted creep and temperature (without annealing) better, most non-commercial users wouldn't need any other material 2 - Material should be selected by application requirements +1 - PETG might have overrated reputation. PLA looks to be better choice in almost every way. Creep and temperature are exceptions, but then ABS, ASA or PC will handle temperature better than PETG *if* printer can print any of them reliably

[@ripmax333]

the way I see it is that if they ever make a PLA with the glass transition temp of PETG we won't even consider any other materials, except maybe nylon or ASA. But for now, it's only a dream but who knows, maybe after the PLA+, a breakthrough could happen.

[@riba2233]

high temp pla does exist, he tested it. but it is too expensive unfortunately.

[@PracticalTechnologist]

Great testing! Looking forward to see how PP polypropylene performs compared to PC and PETG.

[@xAtMaxx-ee1kn]

Really helpful video. Thank you sir.

[@GekoPrime]

Thanks, this is amazing! I noticed the link in the description to the xls results is incorrect, should be video 186

[@MyTechFun]

Fixed. Thx

[@DEtchells]

Wow, very interesting! It looked like the polymax PLA did better on the creep test than the Polylite. I’m curious how PLA creep is over longer periods of time. I like it for mechanical supports for its strength and stiffness, but I have one application (brackets for 8020 aluminum extrusion assemblies) where creep might be a problem. I’m hoping that it might “settle down” after an extended period, so I can just re-tighten all the bolts and be good for he long haul. Most impressively here was the improvement in impact strength, for the PLA but especially for the PC. Polymax PC looks like the ultimate filament for structural components(!) (That is, apart from filaments with carbon fiber in them. Even at that, I wonder how this Polymax PC would compare with CF filaments of different types…)

[@andreasmuller5015]

Great work! Thank you very much.

[@davecgriffith]

Super interesting. Thanks very much!!

[@saturnmedia1]

Will you PLEASE do a wear/abrasion test of these filaments? Especially the Polymaker Polymax PC in white and black as the color may affect the strength from pigments. I would be great vs the PA12CF and the PA6 CF.

[@arturomendez7945]

Your videos are very informative. Thanks. What material is recomended for use as support for PC filament?

[@jasonhowardak]

Well done as always

[@DidyRacing41]

Hello, I'm in the middle of looking for information on plolyfab filaments and I just saw your video which is really great!!!! But I can't decide which filament to buy to make my part. It's a part that serves as a link between the clutch pedal and the clutch cable on a car. There's a lot of stress in traction, and the interior of the car heats up in summer, so it needs to be somewhat heat-resistant. What do you recommend? Polylite pla, polymax pla? Polylite perf? Or other Thanks for your help!

[@edn8539]

Great stuff sir appreciate it very much

[@jeanpafy]

Great study

[@NvrchFotia]

The polymax PETG is actually PCTG and needs to be printed around 275° C. It took me almost a whole spool to figure that out.

[@riba2233]

not really according to them: What is the difference between PolyMax™ PETG and PCTG? Our PolyMax™ PETG is a modified PETG with enhanced fracture toughness which makes it more ductile and impact resistance. Therefore, PolyMax™ PETG provides the best of both PETG and PCTG with high strength and rigidity as well as enhanced ductility and impact resistance.

[@NvrchFotia]

@@riba2233 Either way their specified temps are wrong.

[@riba2233]

@@NvrchFotia maybe yeah

[@orbleh3622]

definitely pc for best performence of these 3.

[@dulius6922]

Great Video thank you

[@MyTechFun]

Glad it was helpful!

[@GDM1787]

Great video. Good info!!!

[@user-xb5zu6zu7j]

Great great great video!

[@veronikagaspar2502]

I can see, it was a big work. And stop using my oven!

[@MyTechFun]

I could pay for using the oven if necessary :-)

[@riba2233]

@@MyTechFun haha, is this really your wife :D

[@adammsfamily]

Could you please recommend a glue stick brand/type for the PC?

[@MyTechFun]

Any PVA based should work. Other claims Magoo for PC is great, but I didn't tested it, too expensive

[@adammsfamily]

@@MyTechFun Thanks for the info. How about PVP glue sticks? Do you know which is better for which material?

[@adammsfamily]

Hi. Thanks for the advice. Glue stick works for to he PC on smooth PEI sheet. I have made some experiments to print Polymax PC on a textured PEI sheet without glue stick and it worked, just like PETG. Very convenient.

[@Jerzeecanuck]

19:00 DEEZ NUTZ!!! 🤣🤣🤣

[@bassam.2023]

So it seems that PolyLite is better than PolyMax 9 out of 10 times? I don't like Polymaker's naming convention.

[@MyTechFun]

9 out of 10 in my experiments. If I would have more dynamic testings, then this ratio is different. PolyMax is good where you are expecting impacts or other similar dynamic load type.

[@josephp1592]

Petg doesnt reach full strength unless its printed at least 255. Your layer adhesion test proves you are printing way too cold, I run petg at 275