3D Printing

Printers, hotends, slicers, and filament, judged on what they change about the print rather than the spec sheet.

Two identical 3D-printed enclosures under sunlight, the left one crisp and intact, the right one yellowed and cracked.

ASA holds 80 percent impact where ABS fades in UV light

ASA vs ABS under UV light: ASA keeps over 80% impact at 2,000 xenon-arc hours while ABS drops below 50% by 500, and ASA resists acetone smoothing.

Two black Bambu Lab carbon-fiber filament spools side by side, PPA-CF on the left and PA6-CF on the right, with water vapour drifting over the right spool

Humidity flips the winner between PPA-CF and PA6-CF

PPA-CF vs PA6-CF differ on strength, layer bonding, heat and moisture, and the pick-by-job verdict flips the moment humidity enters the room.

Bambu Lab AMS HT single-spool dryer showing 85°C beside the four-spool AMS 2 Pro, with a nylon spool and desiccant tub between them.

The AMS HT dries nylon at the 75°C the AMS 2 Pro misses

Nylon filament drying needs 75°C, and the AMS HT reaches 85°C while the AMS 2 Pro caps at 65°C, missing the floor that pulls moisture from PA6-CF.

Four KliTek nozzle assemblies parked in a docking rail inside a 3D printer while a fifth prints a housing with a soft green seal

Nozzle swapping replaces the purge tower on Creality's K3

Creality KliTek swaps nozzles instead of purging, arriving on the K3 in 2026. See why nozzle-swap systems drift and why soft TPU is the real driver.

A Polymaker HT-PLA Pro filament spool sitting on the wire rack inside a glowing oven beside a heat-annealed 3D-printed bracket.

30 minutes at 100°C nearly doubles HT-PLA Pro's heat limit

HT-PLA Pro annealing raises heat deflection from 56.3°C to 107.6°C in 30 minutes, turning the 150°C softening claim into real load-bearing heat.

Bambu Lab PLA Pure filament spool on a kitchen counter beside a 3D-printed pink twisted vase

All five ingredients in PLA Pure clear EU 10/2011 rules

PLA Pure food-contact safety rests on all five ingredients passing EU 10/2011, but the certification covers the filament, not your printed cup.