Success with ABS

ABS is where 3D Printing started because it was mimicking injection moulding. It is used in commercial production because it shrinks off the mould; a characteristic that makes it a somewhat trying material to work with in 3D Printing, but with a few considerations you can achieve more successful prints.

Recommended Settings

As a general rule ABS does not deal as well with very fine resolutions as PLA. This is because ABS only softens, where as PLA actually changes state from a solid to a liquid.

You should also NOT use a filament cooling fan with ABS. It needs to slowly cool; which is also why you will get far heaver demands for support material on an ABS print that with many other rapidly cooling materials.

YOU MUST HAVE A HEATED BED – well in theory. This is the rule, but the exception is that we have done a lot of ABS printing on a cold bed using vinyl bed tape, but the models need to be small.

Generally Extrusion is at 210-230 degrees, depending on your machine and brand of ABS. It is important to note that UP brand ABS is actually 10% polycarbonate, which is why it wants 260 degree extrusion.

Bed Adhesion

To print ABS successfully you need a heated bed set to 100 – 110 degrees. Glue Stick to a glass bed works, so does Flashforges blue bed tape, and PEI. Blue painters tape can peel under the heat from the bed but that's dependant on what adhesive is used, so your mileage may vary; but as a general rule we do not like Blue Painters Tape for ABS.

Traditionally we all used Kapton tape which can be painful to lay, easy to damage and actually not that fantastic at holding on to prints, so the industry (mostly) has moved on.

First Layer

ABS prefers to be crushed more than PLA for your first layer. Decrease your nozzle height either manually or through Z-Offset (if your printer supports that) feature. Regular PLA print speeds should work fine.

IMPORTANT NOTE: while the first layer being pressed more firmly on the bed is vital for adhesion for the duration of the print, your extruder may not be up for this!

PLA becomes more liquid so ABS can not be smeared as strongly; also PLA is a harder material, so your extruder may eat away a moon creater into your filament under the higher pressure of the first “crushed' layer. Many machines will just stop extruding under this pressure and you will never get to layer 2 at all if the bed height is too close to nozzle on first layer – Makerbot 2X, sometimes the Flashforge Dreamer, definitely the Cocoon and all UPs exhibit this issue.

During the Print

ABS is extremely prone to warping and lifting. If your printer isn't enclosed, consider putting a cardboard box over the top, or move the printer to a room that won't catch a draught. Turn off all part and nozzle cooling as if you cool ABS it will warp and give poor layer adhesion. For models with large flat bases you may find that the corners will lift. You can help stop this by using a sacrificial helper discs, which can be found and are explained here: https://www.bilby3d.com.au/Know/DisplayArticle.asp?ArtID=37

Support structures

You will need more support than with rapidly cooling materials. Most commonly it is paired with HIPS filament (which dissolves in Limonene) as a support material in twin extruder machines.

ABS doesn't play well with support material in ABS, aggressive overhangs, and bridging. Try to limit all of these in your model for the most successful prints. If these feature heavily in a print consider a different material or a modified ABS. Bilby 3D Industrial ABS is low shrinkage, reducing warping and splitting in difficult prints.

ABS compared to other filaments

As discussed above, ABS is not as good at overhangs as other filaments (especially PLA).

ABS gives off fumes and should be used in a ventilated space.

ABS has high shrinkage, up to 5%, which causes it to curve up off bed during printing, split at mid points and alike; and also lowers its engineering precision. Flashforge slicer (flashprint) does have a shrinkage calculator you can use to compensate for the shrinkage rate; in other slicers you may need to do the maths yourself to get true dimensional accuracy.

Why choose ABS

Most common reasons to choose ABS are

• You are testing the strength or plastic properties of the print prior to mass production in ABS


• You want the print to hold or be submersed in water – PLA is not great at either


• Tamper-Proof evidence – we have a number of customers producing parts that need to show evidence of Tampering. ABS will go white when bent, and stretch rather than snap


• Where you need a part to NOT break. The stretch characteristic can show measurable change in the part before it fails

What not to print with ABS

Dimensional accuracy is difficult with ABS, so clip/slot together parts for example are more difficult. It is also prone to dissolving and damage when exposed to cleaning chemicals

Where to get ABS

Feeling the need to print some ABS? We stock high-quality high-tolerance ABS ready to order from our website! Find it here: Find ABS

Examples We Printed

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