ABS is a widely used plastic material for the manufacture of small to medium-sized products such as gears, wheels, and casings. It is the first choice of many consumer-level 3D printer users for 3D printing small industrial applications due to its excellent mechanical properties, high resistance to environmental factors like moisture, and good chemical stability.
▲ 3D printing with ABS filament
3D printing with ABS filament offers a wide range of possibilities in terms of applications. For new users, it can be difficult to know where to start with ABS 3D printing. This article is written specifically for those new to 3D printing and using ABS filament. We will discuss seven different products that showcase the unique capabilities of ABS filament in 3D printing. This will help readers understand the potential applications of ABS in this exciting field.
3D Printed Carabiner
The carabiner is a simple yet very useful tool to quickly and reversibly attach different components, especially in the case of safety-related emergencies. Carabiner is the first thing I recommend to print with ABS filament. Reason is it’s simple, functional, and a very useful part. It is also a load-bearing part so it will also help you to understand your ABS filament in terms of its strength and durability.
Figure 1 3D Printed Carabiner
It can also be 3D printed with PLA and nylon, PLA is too brittle to handle the external load design for the carabiner whereas nylon is proved to be too expensive for such a simple part. So ABS is not only the best but also the most cost-effective solution for a carabiner. Get a deep understanding on PLA and ABS filament, what’s the difference?
3D Printed Buckle
Snap-fit parts Like buckles are one of the most interesting applications of 3D printing. As these parts have to be manufactured using flexible plastic and have to be as lightweight as possible. 3D printing enables you to design your own unique and interesting buckle whereas ABS filament will help you to manufacture your desired buckle in the most cost-effective manner possible. Other materials like PETG and Nylon also offer similar properties but they are much more difficult to 3D print and are too costly for such a simple product. A detailed comparison to help you clearly know the difference between PETG and PLA filament.
Figure 2 3D Printed Buckle
3D Printed Hook
These are the most useful and the simplest products in our homes. They can be used to hang coats, key rings, hats, pots, kitchen pans, and all types of other stuff. Usually, their design is simple but they can be unique, interesting, and specially designed as per your demand.
Figure 3 3D Printed Hook
Like carabiner these hooks can also be printed with PLA but PLA is biodegradable and is highly affected by the moisture present in the atmosphere. So a hook 3D printed using PLA material will not provide a sustainable and long-lasting solution. Hook printed with ABS will not only bear more load but also will have a much longer shelf life as compared to hook printed by PLA.
3D Printed Bicycle Helmet
A bicycle helmet is an incredible personal safety device. Thanks to 3D printing now these helmets can easily be customized and manufactured as per requirement. There are certain standards and safety requirements that a helmet needs to fulfill before it is recommended for use.
All these safety requirements and standards are also implied while the helmet is being 3D printed. 3D printing ABS filament has sufficient strength, toughness, wear resistance, and impact resistance to 3D print a bicycle helmet.
Figure 4 3D Printed Bicycle Helmet
In 3D printing, it’s not only the material that defines the properties of a product. It’s the design and the printer settings that when combined with the material properties define the final product properties. So the ABS can be used to 3D print bicycle helmets but proper research is needed to 3D print a fully functional, safe, and reliable bicycle helmet.
3D Printed DIY Machine Vise
DIY machine-wise to help you in your DIY projects. A machine vice is a tool used to hold an object so that workers can easily work on it. There are some particular material requirements for 3D printing the machine vice. These include strength, wear resistance, impact resistance, and chemical stability.
Figure 5 3D Printed Machine Vise
Among all the 3D printing materials available in the market ABS is the most reliable and cost-effective solution for 3D printing the machine voice. PLA is to protect for such applications and nylon is too difficult to print and is too much expensive for such a DIY tool.
To get the best result with your ABS material it is recommended to print the machine vice with more than 50% in the field this will give you the required strength and durability.
3D Printed Easter Cats
Easter cats are beautiful, unique, and an interesting way of storing small items. You can 3D print Easter cats in multiple colors and use them together to create a beautiful collection. Easter cats cannot be 3D printed with PLA material, as they have to be snapped open and closed to store items. PLA is a material that doesn’t support the snap opening or closing of objects.
Figure 6 3D Printed Easter Cats
ABS material is the only available solution to print Easter cats as ABS is a strong, a little bit flexible, and cost-effective material. So the 3D printing Easter cats with ABS will not only produce low-cost products but also produce products that can easily be snapped open and closed.
3D Printed Drone visor
Drones are provided with cameras to capture some mesmerizing videos but the sunlight can create some problems in video recording. To overcome these problems most drones now have visors. These devices are custom-designed and 3D printed to meet some specific requirements.
Figure 7 3D Printed Drone Visor
These drones are mostly used in outdoor environments and usually encounter different atmospheric factors like sunlight and moisture and also some external factors like vibration. PLA material can easily manufacture these drone visors but their outdoor application limits the use of PLA material as PLA material is highly affected by atmospheric moisture and vibrations.
Conclusion on ABS filament 3D Printing
ABS is one of the earliest 3D printing materials and it was the first 3D printing material used for industrial 3D printing of products. ABS filament is known for its excellent mechanical properties and chemical stability but at the same time, it is also difficult to print and produces a bad odor while printing.
One of the best things about ABS filament is that it’s flexible. This enables the user to print different industrial products like helmets, hooks, snap-fit parts, machine vices, Easter cats, and drone visors. All these products need good mechanical properties and excellent chemical resistance as these products usually encounter outdoor environments and are high court countered by environmental factors like moisture.