1 Topic by milks

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Topic: ABS/PLA for water container

Ello


I'm currently awaiting the arrival of the Da Vinci 1.0 AIO printer on the market to take my first steps into 3D printing. In the mean time I'm taking the opportunity to do research as well as get to grips with 3D modelling software.

Anyway I've read quite a bit of the hazards of exposing ABS and PLA filament to high humidity but was wondering it either material would be suitable for fabricating a container for water? I collect orchids and would be interested in making some bespoke orchid pots with integrated reservoirs



Thanks in advance smile

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2 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

I would say PLA. One of the uses for PLA is surgical implants. If it is safe to the body, it will be fine for plants.
I just printed some pots for air plants (search Thingiverse for air jellyfish) in ABS. I am slightly concerned about the lifespan, but figured it may be fine since the Tillandsia is a dry plant.
Be safe with your orchids and stick to PLA or T-Glase

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3 Reply by elmoret

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

Printed parts are typically not watertight unless vapor smoothed.

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4 Reply by wardjr

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

elmoret wrote:

Printed parts are typically not watertight unless vapor smoothed.

I don't know I have cranked out some pretty nice shot glasses with T-glase wink  Seriously I have made many water tight containers with ABS.  It's all in the math of the design and getting wall thicknesses that allow a particular number of perimeters to create solid infill without having any actual infill.  The other trick is slight decrease in extrusion widths can really help seal things up.  Of course the easy route is to just smooth it with Acetone which works quite well wink

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5 Reply by AZERATE

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

wardjr wrote:

  It's all in the math of the design and getting wall thicknesses that allow a particular number of perimeters to create solid infill without having any actual infill.

+1
Standing next to a failed zombie skull I printed in PLA I turned into a shotglass for New Year's Eve. Now it's a dish for guitar picks smile Id held water for almost 2 days before I dumped it out.

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6 Reply by DePartedPrinter

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

wardjr wrote:

I don't know I have cranked out some pretty nice shot glasses with T-glase wink

Pictures? Have you tested them with alcohol?

What were your settings for doing shot glasses in T-glase?  I had a roll sitting around and shot glasses were pretty much all I was printing with it.

I probably did at least 5 or 6 before I got something that was water tight. I kept bumping my extrusion multiplier till it held water without leaking for 3-4 hours.

Then I put alcohol in one and realized that the surface tension of alcohol and water are different...back to square one

*Apparently I forgot about basic middle school chemistry.

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7 Reply by ggunners

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

Yeah, but they are great "dribble" glasses. smile

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8 Reply by wardjr

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

My very first print with T-Glase was a simple single wall cylinder using spiral vase.  I drew one up that would just fit over the top of a bottle of Pendelton.  We drank shots from it all night and never a drip.  At least not from the shot glass wink on phone so can't post a quick picture but they are on some of my other posts.  Ask Lydmox to post a link she's seen them.

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9 Reply by SolidUser

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

PLA will tend to dissolve over a long period (months). ABS and PET will not.

10 Reply by gr3g

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

One shouldn't make a pot out of PLA as it's supposedly biodegradable.... ?

To help determine a suitable wall thickness for retaining water, I have a wall thickness tester part up on Thingiverse smile

11 Reply by grob

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

Not sure it's biodegradable in the typical "stick it in the garden and it will disappear" sense, maybe more the industrial "cook it up with enzyme x" sense...

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12 Reply by SolidUser

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

I do think it's compostable, but not sure what the lifetime is.

13 Reply by michael.t.albers

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

One solution to this environmental disaster is biodegradable plastic. There are two types currently on the market -- plant-based hydro-biodegradable plastic and petroleum-based oxo-biodegradable plastic. In the former category, polylactic acid (PLA), a plastic made from corn, tops the list as the most talked-about alternative. PLA decomposes into water and carbon dioxide in 47 to 90 days -- four times faster than a PET-based bag floating in the ocean. But conditions have to be just right to achieve these kinds of results. PLA breaks down most efficiently in commercial composting facilities at high temperatures. When buried in a landfill, a plastic bag made from corn may remain intact just as long as a plastic bag made from oil or natural gas.

Taken from this article: http://science.howstuffworks.com/scienc … egrade.htm

14 Reply by accusedmonk

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Re: ABS/PLA for water container

It's not necessarily wall thickness, but how well everything is bonded.  The side walls aren't too big of an issue, where the problems arise is the bottom layers, making sure there aren't gaps there.  I printed this vase out in PLA awhile back, made a post about it too.  Held water for a week on my bathroom sink, no drips at all.  1 single layer going up, had 3 layers on the bottom.

http://i.imgur.com/phwpnco.jpg

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