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I want to branch out from PLA. Should I try ABS or TPU?
(sh.itjust.works)
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this post was submitted on 09 Mar 2025
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TPU really needs direct drive extruder to work well. ABS needs an enclosure, but you could just make one from an 8x4 sheet of foam insulation and tape for cheap.
I don't know what a direct drive extruder is but I have a Bambu A1
A direct drive extruder is one where the motor that runs the filament sits right above the hotend. Since TPU is squishy, the long tube from a Boden setup gives it too much room to squish.
That's a bowden extruder, you'll have problems with TPU.
Try PETG, just dial up the retractions a bunch and slow it down.
A1 has a direct drive extruder. It does function as kind of a hybrid thing with the AMS though. Use of the AMS with TPU isn't recommended, but there are a couple of harder TPU filaments that supposedly work.
Oh, ok. Every picture I saw made it look like a bowden extruder sitting on the end of the X gantry, with the tube going over to the hotend.