Why I choose PLA over ABS for my 3D printer
3D Systems Cube
I bought a 3D Systems Cube about a week ago and should get it by Monday which is very exciting – when I had to choose which material I wanted it to come with, I decided to go PLA all the way over ABS for several reasons I’ve explained below.
More Environmentally Friendly
3D printing has many material options but for the 3D printer that I bought, I had the choice of either man-made plastic (ABS) or natural corn starch/equivalent (PLA or Polylactic acid or polylactide).
Yes, plastic ABS can be thrown in the recycling box and to a certain extent, converted back to oil from which it is derived but PLA can be thrown into the garden or even eaten (though I wouldn’t recommend it).
Environmentally speaking, PLA is light years ahead – we already have far too much plastic on this planet, anything I can do to support something that doesn’t add to this mountain of waste found in our oceans and land I’m all for it! PLA is biodegradable while ABS is recyclable.
Great 3D Printing Properties
When printing with a 3D printer, what would you rather smell, burned plastic or chips… CHIPS!
That sounds healthier to me! PLA also has less warping and requires less power to produce a 3D FDM model with the added benefit of being all the easier to remove from the heated table after 3D printing has completed.
ABS is more durable, flexible and heat resistant while PLA is more brittle, for my purposes, it doesn’t matter.
Easy disposal after filming
My purpose with the 3D Systems’ Cube is to test models which I want to design and sell on CNCKing.com – like all my previous models that I filmed with my ShopBot Desktop CNC table router… I’ll be doing the same thing! The scraps from the ShopBot were great firewood while for the PLA, after a model has been prove, thrown into the compost heap.
What I use for testing only needs to last as long as the film is rolling, afterwards, it has served its purpose and needs to find a new home.
Again, I could have thrown the ABS into the recycling bin but then a truck has to pick it up, process it etc… PLA for me just seems more sensible.