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How do.

Afraid I’m something of a tech grognard these days, having long since stopped keeping up. But my mate was showing me gubbins he’d 3D printed at the weekend, and have to say my interest is piqued.

What I’m unsure about is whether or not the spool wire is available with different properties? For instance, if I wanted to 3D print a sink plug, I’d probably want a more rubbery material than bitz for models.

Is there a good source on such info?

Very little beyond the basic PLA which most wargame applications will use doesn't have additional requirements for successful printing.

You can get ABS (harder wearing, UV resistant) TPU (flexible) PETG (food safe) wood (duh) and even such things as carbon fibre.

They all have their own idiosyncracies, ABS is very sensitive to warping, for instance, so it's often recommended to print in an enclosure to keep the atmosphere warm and keep the temp stable. Others like PETG can be very intolerant of incorrect settings or may require upgrades to components to print correctly or without damaging the machine.

Basically if 3D printing is your hobby all this is fine, but if it's a means to an end, it is probably more demanding of time and effort than it warrants.


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Oh, and the "spool wire" is properly called filament.

And thats without mentioning resin printing

If 3D printers are not there yet, they will be within 3 to 5 years.

May I inntroduce you to my pyrovores?