ASA material?

Wyvern

So I'm looking at alternatives to ABS- PC,Nylon and POM are not looking good to me.

But ASA looks like a good alternative, I do not have a heat chamber and really don't want to bother with making one, I understand ASA is temp sensitive as well, machine sits in the garage in FL so it's usually a little warmer or a lot warmer than room temp and there is minimal chances of drafts.

My needs for materials need to be high temp, high UV resistance, high rigidity, low shrinkage and must be below 275C hotend temps (my bed can heat to the moon if needed). I will be selling some power tool holders and accessories. PETG works, but with 98F summers in the back of a service truck will probably distort it.

I use an FT-5 R2, so it is a Cartesian, Z-movement bed system.

Does anyone have experience with this material? does it absolutely need a heat chamber?

Thanks!

Phaedrux

ASA is very similar to ABS in terms of printing requirements. I've used Spoolworks MATX from E3D and had good results. https://e3d-online.com/spoolworks-matx-filament

I don't have an enclosure or heater chamber, so I simply used plastic sheeting like that used for painting to create a tent around the printer. I added a small exhaust duct at the top to help deal with the smell. With the bed at 120c it's able to get up to 35c or so inside. Probably 45c after a while if I left the bed that hot.

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Wyvern

Cool, I may just make a simple tarp and PVC tube enclosure.

I ordered some from Filiment One, never heard of them, but they take Paypal and $30 for a KG was low enough to at least try.

ABS is rank stuff, it smells up the house, and since I have my Tegu lizard in the garage, I don't want to hurt him- from what I read ASA is low VOC and moderate particulates, would probably be fixed with a little hepa or ionic filter.

Phaedrux

@wyvern It's going to vary a lot between brands but in general ASA should smell less than ABS. I'd say that is true from my experience, but it still stinks and gives me a headache. The tarp and exhaust makes the smell completely unnoticeable from outside the tent.

A 120mm computer fan blowing into a length of dryer duct running out the door of your garage would probably be enough.

dc42

When I printed ABS a few years ago, I used 2 plastic bags over my delta printer to keep the chamber warm. It worked, but the ABS emissions gave me a bad cough for a few days. So I gave up printing ABS after that.

Wyvern

@dc42
Yeah, ABS is one of the most toxic plastics out there.

I was young once and used to blow up and start on fire toys and such, ones that were ABS are no joke- stings your eyes and your lungs. PTFE is also REALLY bad, I cooked one and when I popped out the nozzle it was like a chemical fart in my face.

I also have birds and no longer print in the house, even PLA.

That said, I deal with pretty nasty chemicals throughout the work day, brake cleaner, electronics cleaner, paints, chemical washers, diesel and gasoline exhaust, so printing smells don't bother me too much, and actually enjoy the smell of PLA (even though that smell is kinda bad for you) but If I'm going to have an animal in the area I need to vent emissions such as ABS and ASA, even in a large garage.

Wyvern

OK so I got the material, it's a little stinky like ABS but not as bad.

It sticks to the PEI like glue, and printed off a 140mm deadpool bust to test for warping/cracking behavior.

It printed fairly well, but I get weird squiggly patterns on the outside layers, not all of it, but a good portion of it closer to the bed. You can see the very edge looks like a saw-tooth as it is printing, infill looks perfect.

I'm thinking it is a heat related issue, printing at 240C with 15% fan- it happens on mostly long moves as calibration cubes and the face of the model look very good.
.2 layer height with a .6 nozzle

Phaedrux

Yeah that's heat related. It's still soft while the layer above is put down and it wiggles. Could increase fan a bit. It's a tough balance.

Glue stick works as a good release agent between ASA and PEI.

Wyvern

@phaedrux

Thanks, I will try again.

I used hair-spray and it helped, but I am so glad I haven't seen any cracking or warping issues, and the best part is parts seem to be 100% accurate, a 20x20 cube comes out at exactly 20x20.
That FilamentOne place was fast as hell to get it out to me, ordered Saturday, got it Monday!

I have suspicions it's made by Filimentium, same reel design, and the company used to sell that brand.

Going to re-print my cooling duct since the one I have now is a rough mess- $9 glow in the dark ABS on ebay gets you $9 quality.