Engineering Series

What this series makes easier

At some point a print stops being a model you look at and becomes a part that does a job. It gets screwed down, carries load, sits next to a motor or an electronics housing, and is expected to hold its dimensions during assembly. This series looks at that side: when what matters is not how the part looks but how it behaves in place.

A part like that raises two questions at once: how hard will it be pushed, and can your printer run the material comfortably? Skip the second one and you end up with a spool you cannot print, so the printer constraint is written next to each material below.

Which material family to look at

ABS+ — mechanical strength and heat together

The family intended for functional parts that need mechanical strength and impact resistance. The brand’s own printing tip is clear: more stable use in enclosed printers. Read that as a constraint, not a suggestion — ABS-class materials are sensitive to uneven cooling, and large parts become unpredictable on an open printer.

Settings given by the brand: nozzle 220–260 °C, bed 95–110 °C. That is the highest bed figure in the catalogue — check that your printer reaches it before you blame the material.

With technical filaments such as ABS and ASA, drying the filament before printing is recommended in order to achieve smoother, more precise and more stable prints. Filament that takes on moisture from its surroundings can lead to printing problems such as surface defects, uneven extrusion, a drop in layer quality and nozzle clogging.

For this reason it is important to dry filaments that are prone to moisture at a suitable temperature and for a suitable time before printing. Keeping filaments dry during printing as well helps achieve more stable results in long and uninterrupted prints.

To dry your filaments under the right conditions and protect them from moisture throughout the print, you can take a look at the R3D, Elegoo and Flashforge filament dryer models newly added to our product range.

PETG+ — fewer constraints, balanced result

In the brand’s own words it offers higher mechanical strength and heat performance than PLA while being easier to work with than ABS. It does not ask for an enclosure; low shrinkage and strong layer adhesion are the properties the brand highlights. Settings: nozzle 230–260 °C, bed 70–90 °C.

To push further on the technical side, the same family includes the PETG High-Speed Carbon type, described by the brand as carbon fibre reinforced. We do not put a number on what the reinforcement adds — the brand has not published one.

When to look at another series

The part will live outdoors, in sun and weather → High Performance
The part needs to flex and spring back → Flexible
You want a functional part without giving up much printing ease → Functional
It is your first spool, or the look of the part is the job → Standard

The line between Functional and this series is not sharp, and it is more honest to say so: both point at the same two families. The difference is emphasis. Functional says “make it work, but don’t make it difficult”; this one says “I accept the constraint, the part has to hold.”

Practical notes

Temperature. The ranges above are the ones the brand published; nothing was shared for the other types, so go by the spool label and your printer profile.
Storage. PETG+ is hygroscopic and the brand recommends keeping it away from moisture. Dry a spool that has been left open for a long time before printing it.
Surface. Surface choice is mid-range in both families. If you are after gloss, a matte texture or a colour shift, the Specialty side is the right place.
Diameter. Filament diameter is 1.75 mm across the products in the collection.