For those of you who are printing essential clamps and Z clamps, what type of filament do find works best? I’ve printed some with basic PLA, but they crack pretty easily. I have a rolls of ABS, nylon, and carbon fiber that i have not tried yet. Pretty new at the 3d printing thing and wondering what everybody has the best luck with.
PLA is brittle, so can crack if overstressed. I’ve pretty much settled into a routine where I use clamps and blue painter’s tape and CA glue, so don’t feel the need to tighten too much, c.f.,
The injection molded clamps are glass-filled nylon.
ABS or Nylon should work well, but both are tricky to print and the former needs to be vented.
I’ve been using PETG as my all-around engineering filament and it has worked quite well, and prints easily and is supposed to be almost as safe as PLA — have you considered that? It’s a bit slippery, so maybe put some double-sided tape on the jaws, or if you have a dual-head printer use TPU for the clamping end?
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I use PETG, solid infill and print them on their side. Iv’e had no issues so far with mine.
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This. Watch your layer direction.
I had a couple failures using PLA until I changed the print direction. Now PLA holds up fine unless I tighten my clamps like a gorilla.
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I’ve been using PLA or ABS, most often the former b/c printing odors are easier to handle.
90% infill for PLA.
Haven’t had any issues re: cracking or other failure.
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I use PETG. Works pretty well for me. I print them on the side as well.
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Thank you for the all the good replies! I will try some different filament and print them sideways with solid infill.