ABS

Introduction

ABS (here) stands for Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene. It is a kind of plastic. For example, car parts and Legos are made from ABS. This article describes its use as 3D printer filament

See also:

• PLA, the other popular polymer for 3D printing
• 3D printing and other articles in the 3D printing category

ABS in 3D printing

ABS comes in variants. It “is a copolymer made by polymerizing styrene and acrylonitrile in the presence of polybutadiene. The proportions can vary from 15 to 35% acrylonitrile, 5 to 30% butadiene and 40 to 60% styrene.” (Wikipedia)

Proportions + color pigments added will modify melting temperature and other behavior !

This implies that recommendations for your 3D printer only apply to the kind of ABS that was sold by the company (official recommendations) or that was bought by users (blogs, forums, wikis).

Health risks

• ABS fumes can be harmful. E.g. read Brent Stephens, Parham Azimi, Zeineb El Orch, Tiffanie Ramos, Ultrafine Particle Emissions from Desktop 3D Printers, Atmospheric Environment, Available online 6 July 2013, ISSN 1352-2310, http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.atmosenv.2013.06.050. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1352231013005086)
• If you print in a small office, consider at least opening windows, even if that will lower print quality. Else, go for PLA which is much less harmful.

Links

Introductions

• ABS (Wikipedia)
• ABS (Wikipedia German)
• Stuff Dreams Are Made Of: ABS. (A short introduction at Thingverse)
• ABS (RepRap Wiki)

Discussions

• We hold these truths to be self-evident, that not all ABS is created equal

List of suppliers

• Printing Material Suppliers (RepRap Wiki)
• Filament supplier reviews

"Local" Suppliers (there are many more, see above !)

• fabberworld (Switzerland)
• iGo3D (Germany)
• German RepRap foundation
• RepRapSource (Germany)
• Fabber Parts (Germany)
• PaoParts (France)
• 3dPC 3d Printing Center Israel (Israel)

Do it yourself

• Filabot is a desktop extruding system, capable of grinding various types of plastics, to make spools of plastic filament for 3D printers. (not tested)
• How an 83-Year-Old Inventor Beat the High Cost of 3D Printing (By Harry McCracken, 04, 2013)