Is Lack of Heated Bed is a big problem ?

[pix4pr 0]

Hello,

I'm very noob in ultimaker, but i have solid background in 3d design . I printed alot of stuff in 3d using huge printers fed up with some plastic polymer looking like

popcorn I dont remember the name but it was working well. It was during my traning at HP 10 years ago.

I want to buyan Ultimaker , i mainly focus on usablility and durability of medium size parts , i dont know the difference between PLA or ABS

but ABS looks more solid and resistant to water and humidity.

As far i understand the only way to make it stick to the plateform is to use heated bed.

I wonder why this option does not exist in ultimaker and require hacking and adapting .

Can somebody explain me the "real" difference between pla and abs and point me to the right direction .

Regards

[mr_seeker 0]

There are a couple of plastics in the world, but the most common that you can find are PLA, PVA and ABS. There was a time where they also had HDPE, but it didnt pick up and I still got a spool left somewhere.

PLA is mostly used by Ultimakers. Its made out of corn starch, and will last a good amount of years before dissolving. You can print at 200-220C, but it wont hold well when exposed to hot water (I have a cup made out of PLA and it works fine, as long as I dont pour hot water in it). See also wiki. Using a special kind of M3 tape or balsa wood will make sure that the plastic sticks to the bed. It just needs a rough surface to stick on.

ABS is most commonly used by other reprap users. The difference is mainly the fact that it is made out of petroleum, and can achieve relatively high temperatures. Its also much better for toys and casings because it relatively hard at room temperatures. However, it will warp a lot when cooled down. wiki.

I wont discuss PVA, it is the same as PLA but then it can dissolve in water.

ABS can be printed on an ultimaker without problems. However, you need to print rather slow and use the acrylic bed. This means that your acrylic bed quickly can break or crack due to the heat, and it wont stop the warping problem. Another problem is that you are really close to the heating limit of the hot-end (300C).

Some people try to counteract the warping problem with using their own heated build bed, but I do know that it is not needed for usage (I printed ABS & PLA without any heated bed). However, for ABS it is adviced since it will counteract the warping issue.