With the popularity of filaments like PPA-CF and PA6-CF for things like frames, receivers, and even suppressors, what is the viability of ASA? It’s light weight and has good UV/heat resistance. Would ASA be a filament worth trying for something like a CZAR frame? If so, does anyone have a good print profile for ASA (for Orca Slicer)?
It’s not terrible, but it reeks horribly and kinda sucks to print. I did a KF5 in it once and found that its abrasion resistance leaves a lot to be desired. Sands down too easily.
Layer adhesion and impact strength is generally weaker than pla. There are some abs/asa that are actually more than pla pro but it’s dependent on a heated chamber. Because of the difficulty to print, it’s usually not recommended along with the higher levels of toxic fumes and it just gets everything inside the printer dirty. I still do use it for temp resistant reasons but only if I really don’t want cf/gf texture and can’t sand it because of the shape. Otherwise I’d typically just use nylons.
You’d have to check the readme for which designs it’s fine to use on.
ABS and ASA that’s better than PLA pro? Do you remember offhand what brands are like that? I’d love to try them out.
I don’t remember. I think it was labeled as abs+
Thanks, that was enough to find it. Looking around and checking TDSes it seems like esun’s ABS+ and ASA+ fit the bill, for anyone else wondering.
I’ve printed a Glock 19X and two Defiance lowers in Polymaker ASA. I have about two hundred rounds through each and have seen no cracks. I just started printing in Sunlu PA6-CF and honestly it’s easier to print with than the ASA.
Personally, I’d just stick with PA6, or if your printer can handle it PPA, from my understanding ASA can be more hassle than it’s worth, plus it’s not as strong, and layer adhesion can be hit or miss
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To my knowledge, ASA isn’t generally considered viable for builds. IIRC, it has worse tensile strength and can lead to catastrophic cracking. See: https://fosscad.io/post/72807 I have heard of people using it successfully for furniture though.
