Prime Materials

All about the Polymaker Prime Material product family

PLA is an easy to print material with a low price point, but no PLA option is very heat resistant and can start to deform at 50˚C or higher. Below are our functional PLA options

PolyLite™ PLA Pro: This is a material that is just as easy to print as standard PLA, is still stiff, but has a much higher impact resistance. This means it is a great material for parts that requires some added strength while still getting the benefit of color options and a low price tag. Along with standard colors, this also comes in Metallic colors.

PolyLite™ CosPLA: This is a special PLA formula designed for cosplay props. It has been enhanced for ease of sanding, durability and paint-ability, but should be just as easy to print as standard PLA.

PolyMax™ PLA: This version of PLA is our unique blend featuring nano-reinforcement technology which increases its ductility. This means it is not as stiff as the above PLA options, but it is very impact resistant. This means it will bend instead of breaking and is the opposite of brittle. It comes at a higher price point but will print just as easily as standard PLA and has a wide variety of color options.

PolySonic™ PLA: This is our PLA which allows for extremely fast printing. This material can print up to 24mm³/s volumetric flow speed without the part experiencing any negative effects. This equates to 300mm/s on a 0.4mm nozzle at 0.2mm layer heights. It prints just as easily as standard PLA and has the same uses, it can just print much faster.

PolySonic™ PLA Pro: Just like with PolySonic PLA, this is our PLA pro that can print fast. It will have the same characteristics as PLA Pro, just with the ability to print up to 22mm³/s volumetric speed.

ABS and ASA are heat resistant materials with great impact resistance. They require an enclosed printer with a higher ambient air to print properly. These materials are soluble in acetone meaning they can be acetone vapor finished and they are easy to sand and tap.

PolyLite™ ABS: This is our choice for ABS. It prints great at a low price point with a wide variety of colors. Along with standard colors it also comes in Galaxy and Neon colors.

PolyLite™ ASA: This is our choice for ASA. ASA has very similar properties to ABS but has the added benefit of being weather and UV resistant. It can also hide layer lines a bit better than ABS. Along with a wide variety of standard colors, you can get ASA in Galaxy colors.

PETG is a copolymer, combining the properties of PET and glycol. It is a hard plastic that is chemically resistant. It has a slightly higher heat resistance than PLA, but lower than ABS and ASA. It is easy to print but prints can have a bit of "hair" or "strings" that can be cleaned post print.

PolyLite™ PETG: This is our basic PETG which is easy to print, stiff, and comes in at a low price point. This version of PETG does not have very high impact resistance. It comes in a wide variety of colors and we offer translucent options.

PolyMax™ PETG: This is our PETG which is more ductile and has a higher impact resistance. It is currently only offered in White and Black.

TPU is a soft material that will result in a flexible part. The number associated is the shore hardness of the material. The lower the number, the softer the material, and the more difficult it can be to print.

PolyFlex™ TPU90: This is our softest material option and will be quite flexible. We highly recommend a direct extruder setup printing this because a Bowden setup may have a lot of difficulty. The softer the material, the slower you will want to print the further your extruder is from the hotend.

PolyFlex™ TPU95: This material is still quite flexible but a bit harder than TPU90. This means it is easier to print than TPU 90 at higher speeds. We still recommend using a direct extruder for this material, as Bowden setups may have difficulties.

PolyFlex™ TPU95-HF: This material has the same shore hardness as PolyFlex TPU95, but has the ability to print faster. The HF stands for High Flow. This means it is possible to use a Bowden extruder setup with this material, though we suggest using a direct extruder when printing at the fast speeds we say this material can print at.

Polycarbonate is a stiff material with a high heat resistance. This material can be great for small parts but will require a high ambient air temperature for large dense parts. All Polycarbonate options should also be annealed right when the print finishes at 90˚C for 2 hours in order for it to slowly release stress and not crack after printing. It is generally not suggested for beginners.

PolyLite™ PC: This is our basic polycarbonate option. It is very stiff but it is not impact resistant. It comes in a translucent color with great light diffusing properties.

PolyMax™ PC: This is a very impact resistant material when printed and annealed correctly. It can have a great print surface quality and has very high toughness. It is a great material choice for a wide variety of engineering applications, but the larger and more dense the part is, the more your printer needs to maintain a high ambient air temperature and the more it needs to be annealed right after printing.

PolyMax™ PC-FR: This is a creation from Covestro’s Makrolon® family, could achieve V0 performance in the UL94 flame retardancy test and displays excellent toughness, strength and heat resistance. This filament opens new applications in the automotive, railway and aerospace industries.

PolyMax™ PC-ABS: This is a PC/ABS polymer blend which offers excellent toughness and heat resistance while displaying good surface finish and good compatibility with metal plating.

PolyMax™ PC-PBT: This is a PC/PBT polymer blend which offers good heat resistance and toughness at low temperature (-20˚C/-30˚C). Polymaker PC-PBT also features good chemical resistance.

Nylon materials come in a wide variety of mechanical properties, though all nylon options are very hygroscopic, meaning they easily absorb moisture. This means they need to be dried before printing and kept in a filament dryer for the entire print duration. Nylon materials can be very impact and heat resistant. All of our Nylons feature our Warp-Free™ Technology which means they do not require a heated bed or heated chamber of more than 50˚C. These options should be annealed at 80˚ for 6h, but it is not necessary to do the annealing directly after printing like it is with Polycarbonate.

PolyMide™ CoPA: This is based on a copolymer of Nylon 6 and Nylon 6,6. The filament combines excellent strength, toughness, and heat resistance of up to 180˚C. It has difficulty printing clean overhangs, so you will want to only use this for prints that do not have a lot of overhangs. It is not a stiff material and it will bend before breaking, but it is extremely impact resistant.

We also offer some unique materials that do not fall in the above categories.

PolySmooth™: This is a PVB material which is just as easy to print as PLA with similar mechanical properties. What makes this different is that it is soluble in isopropyl alcohol, allowing you to safely smooth layer lines via a hands free process, similar to acetone vapor finishing ABS, but with a much more safe solution. PolySmooth can be post processed by either spraying IPA directly to the print, or even better it can be used with our Polysher.

PolyCast™: This is a filament designed to produce investment patterns for investment casting applications. 3D printing significantly cuts down both the cost and lead time by eliminating the tooling process.

PolySupport™: This is a break away support for Polymaker PLA based filaments. It has a perfect interface with PLA, strong enough to support it and easily removable by hand.

PolyDissolve S1™: This is a PVA based water dissolvable support for PLA, TPU, PVB and Nylon based filaments from our portfolio. It is specifically engineered to have a perfect interface with these materials while also displaying good solubility. It is very hygroscopic meaning it should be dried prior to printing and kept in a filament dryer for the duration of the print. It is suggested to use this material in an IDEX or Tool Changer printer.