Champaign-Urbana Community Fab Lab

The TAZ has many materials to choose from, owing to it's interchangable heated bed and, of course, access to setting particular temperatures. What follows is pros and cons of the various materials we have to choose from, as well as their configuration needs.

PLA - Polylactic Acid: Heated Glass Bed at 60 degrees, hot end at 220 degrees.

A bioplastic - can be made from corn or any other cellulose rich feedstock, and is biodegradable to boot. Note that in order to compost it has to reach temperatures above 160*F for at least 10 days, so it won't break down sitting ontop of the dirt, it would have to be at the center of a healthy compost heap. But still, much more environmentally friendly, waste-wise, than the other plastics. It has acceptable strength qualities for most applications, but will eventually deform in direct sun, so it's not great for outdoor applications. 

I've had good results setting the hotend to 190*C and printing onto blue painter's tape 

ABS - Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene: Heated PET Coated Bed at 100 degrees, hot end at 220 degrees.

A very common plastic, everything from LEGO bricks to television sets is made of this stuff (which has interesting implications for being able to recycle things into 3D printed objects...) 

T-Glase (PETT) -