3d printing, which of these would be my best option?

[mackemforever]

So I'm looking to get into building bots, planning to start on antweights to cut my teeth and work my way up from there. I know the basics about what I'm doing but had a question regarding materials.

I'm lucky enough to know somebody who has an Ultimaker 2 3D printer so am looking to go down that route for chassis building, but I'm a little bit lacking in knowledge on material choice. The machine can apparently handle PLA, ABS, CPE, CPE+, PC & Nylon.

Now with my extremely limited knowledge my best guess for material choices would be:

PLA or ABS for my initial forays into building. The first few that I put together aren't ever going to be fought, they're just going to be for experimenting and figuring things out.

Nylon or PC for later bots that I actually intend to fight.

Is that about right or am I completely missing the mark?
Thanks.

[James Williams]

Hi Alex

I know very little about 3D printing but I do know that many antweights use ABS for their main chassis & use stronger materials such as polycarbonate for armour. There is also a thread on the robotwars101 forum dedicated to 3D printing. Perhaps you can find something useful there? http://www.robotwars101.org/forum/vi...php?f=5&t=2221

[Roboteernat]

ABS is 'difficult' for most printers due to warping and climate control requirements.

PLA is great at printing but brittle.

PETG is good rounder of both PLA and ABS, and most find it easier to print with than PLA and give nicer results.

Nylon is good, but difficult to store, as absorbs moisture quickly, so use it but make sure its nice and airtight with dessicant. Good against attack from battles

PC needs all metal hotend but is great for battle ants.

The ultimaker should handle PETG fine.

I print my ants and have had printers since 2007, so i have a bit of background knowledge id like to think

[typhoon_driver]

PLA for prototypes and yes nylon or PC for chassis.

If you want to jump to onyx (nylon with chopped bits of carbon fiber in it) feel free to drop me a message