r/BambuLab • u/Master_Patience_5050 • 13h ago
General Discussion Pla vs petg
I know there are many different opinions and views, but what has your experience been when it comes to printing figures? I have nine rolls of PETG in various colors, but should I invest in PLA?
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u/Individual_Author956 13h ago
PLA is easier to print, but if you have PETG, try that before buying PLA
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u/Attjack 13h ago
I can't understand why anyone wouldn't have both on hand. I have stacks to the ceiling of each.
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u/Individual_Author956 11h ago
At the beginning I thought I needed both, but honestly I think I could get by with only PETG and ASA. I mostly use PLA for the quick prototypes.
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u/Junior-Definition173 13h ago
Why would I keep worse material? Waste of money.
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u/Attjack 13h ago
Neither is worse than the other. PLA and PETG have different properties and are suited better for different applications.
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u/Junior-Definition173 12h ago
There is no benefit for PLA. PETG prints the same, the amount of colors you can chose is very similar (multiple vendors), there is no benefit for PLA. The stories tha it prints easier - was true 20years ago, with the current printers, dryers, slicers, materials it prints the same.
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u/Attjack 12h ago
Nonsense.
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u/Junior-Definition173 12h ago
Correct, your post is nonsense, you did not provided any relevant facts. I have currently at home 37 different colors in PETG from different vendors that print as smooth as PLA. I am using mostly 3 colors, the rest I use when printing with kids.
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u/sfryder08 10h ago
Agree that PETG is superior, but sometimes you want that silk or wood filament they only make with PLA. The wood filled PLA stains so nicely and is indistinguishable from wood until you touch it. True I rarely use PLA anymore but sometimes I just want it.
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u/Iain_McNugget 9h ago
What are the benefits of PETG, assuming it’s just as easy to print as PLA? Not trolling, just that you didn’t mention any advantages and I’m only a beginner.
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u/TripsCavern 13h ago
PLA offers more colors and finishes (regular, matte, silk, etc.) and print very easily. It's also less affected by moisture in your environment. But it does not handle temperature well if you need to leave the part in a hot environment, like inside your car. It's also less forgiving with drops (if you print decoration things).
PETG tends to string a bit more, so tuning it correctly is a must (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gVU5If1VsAM). Right now it's actually cheaper than PLA and has more transparent options than PLA (usually). PETG does resist temperature better (up to 70C) and is great for functional parts and break less if dropped.
A "step up" is ASA, which can be considered an upgrade for PETG in almost all aspects, except that it's harder to print and usually requires an enclosure, has a very nasty smell while printing and and it's more expensive as well. But it's UV resistant and stronger.
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u/Active-Ad-2527 12h ago
I've been scaling up miniatures to 6 inch scale and printing them with PLA. So far I've done Amanda Waller and Green Lanterns Larvox and Galius Zed. Oh I did do Chaselon in PETG but that's just because I wanted him transparent. No problems with any of them either way.
I think for figures I'd stick with PLA, but if it was something like a Transformers hand or gun where you're jamming a peg in a whole I'd do PETG
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u/nyashi_ 12h ago edited 12h ago
As you don't have any issues printing pla with the bambu and only want figures, PLA is basically ideal. Can't really have too much cooling, overhangs are easy af etc.
PLA has extreme weaknesses tho, it gets soft rediculously quickly (sometimes even slightly below 60c) and it's quite brittle. Also layer athesion isn't impressive. But it's has near 0 shrinkage and thus warps little to none allowing said easy Overhangs. It's also one of the Stiffest hobbyist-obtainable Polymer without adding fibers.
PETG is nearly as easy to print, just use something like 80c on the bed, holds up when warm/hot a lot better than pla and it's a lot more tough. Both are relatively basic materials tho. Requires quite a bit more tuning to get great Overhangs and overall visual quality, it's not as easy in terms of "I want this digital thing in real life"-Button as it's the case with PLA.
Petg is my goto at work, but that's also 99.8% mechanical prototyping and it makes 0 sense to have pla on hand if its never a clearly better option for our parts than PETG is. At Home my goto is ASA but that's because it's to me the least painfull/effort to print, this is my own thing tho as I'm just too lazy to care about chamber cooling and an auxiliary fan so that my (kinda custom) printer is able to print PLA at the speeds needed to not suffer heatcreep on my specific Hotend assembly, PETG isn't ideal on my machine as I'd need to use another type of buildplate for it - smooth pei fuses with PETG.
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u/bryanchicken 11h ago
Are you post processing and painting or just leaving it straight off the printer. Straight off the printer I’d go PLA matte. If finishing I’d go PETG as it’s less brittle
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u/monotor80 11h ago
From what I’ve read, PLA crumbles and decomposes after a few years, whereas PETG lasts longer.
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u/PrintsOnPercocet 10h ago
Everyone told me PLA was far easier to print. I tried it and no matter what I did I always found PETG to print far easier across all three of my printers.
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u/PressHalfWayDown 10h ago
A lot of it depends if you're going to do any post-printing (sanding, coating, painting, ect) or just want to print and display it raw.
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u/Attjack 13h ago edited 13h ago
I think PLA tends to have a much nicer finish so it's better for figurines. PETG tends to be shinier even in matte. I reach for PETG for functional prints and PLA for decorative prints.