Feels like ABS, but is PLA – Polymaker’s Polymax review! #Filaween

Sometimes you do want ABS, but don’t feel like printing ABS. I’ve been there.

For a PLA, this stuff feels remarkably like ABS – but there are a few giveaways. Polymaker’s Polymax is an impact-modified PLA that sells at around 70€ per kilogram.

This is the True Orange color, which matches up quite well with the printed parts on the Original Prusa i3 MK2 i use for all Filaween tests. I printed Polymax PLA at 205°C onto a heated bed at 55°C and got good prints on the first try. The parts looks great, and if i didn’t know better, i’d be convinced they were ABS. The filament itself doesn’t snap like PLA and printed parts can be carved and cut, one of the things I love about real ABS.

Polymax shows barely any stringing and solid performance on overhangs and bridges, so it earns a combined quality score of 18 out of 20, which is top of the class for PLAs. In the strength tests, it again shows a more gradual deformation before failing, while still providing very good rigidity. It nets itself a combined rating of 60.5kg, which again is in the very top group of PLAs. But one thing where all PLA are the same is the low temperature resistance, which does limit where you can effectively use them. But if that’s not an issue for you, and if you can swallow the steep price, then the Polymax PLA is the closes thing you can get to ABS without actually buying ABS.

🛒Hawk 3D Proto [🇬🇧]
🛒Matterhackers [🇺🇸]
🛒Amazon [🇺🇸]
🛒Amazon [🇩🇪]

 

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