# Spool & Slice — full reference > Published 3D printing filament specifications compiled into comparable > tables, with live retail prices and the storage numbers that decide whether > a spool prints. Every figure is cited to the manufacturer document it came > from. We have not tested this gear and we say so on every page. Site: https://spoolandslice.com Publisher: Slate Mill Group (https://slatemillgroup.com) Author: Scooter M., enthusiast Contact: info@spoolandslice.com Region: United States. Prices in USD. Sitemap: https://spoolandslice.com/sitemap.xml Feed: https://spoolandslice.com/feed.xml Site index: https://spoolandslice.com/site-index -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 1. What this publication is, and what it refuses to claim Spool & Slice is a filament and consumables reference for someone who already owns a 3D printer and wants to optimize what goes into it. The buyer we write for is a single-product literalist: they own the machine, they are choosing materials and repeat-buy consumables, and they want the number rather than the vibe. The editorial method is deliberately different from the norm in this category. Nearly every filament roundup asserts hands-on testing. We do not, because we have not done it. What we do instead: - Compile manufacturers' published technical documentation into comparable tables. - Cite every figure at the point of use, with the date we retrieved the document. - Show the disagreements. Where Prusa Research and Overture publish different drying temperatures for the same material, we show both rather than averaging them into a figure nobody stands behind. - Show the arithmetic. Cost-per-print, drying decisions and nozzle-wear reasoning are worked through in the open. - Say when the data does not exist. Several pages decline to publish a comparison table because the published consumer data to build one is not available. Things this site will never publish: - A claim that we tested, printed with, or own any of the products covered. - A credential nobody here holds. No engineering degree, no materials science background, no expert panel, no "medically reviewed by". - A specification figure without a source. - A price we did not fetch, including one we fetched last month. - A customer review, testimonial or star rating. There are none on the site. - A product identifier not verified against a live catalog lookup. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 2. How the site is funded, in full Spool & Slice is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program. Buy links are tagged and we earn a commission on qualifying purchases at no extra cost to the reader. That commission is the site's only revenue. Constraints on that incentive, all of which are checkable against the site: - Commission rate plays no part in which products appear, in what order, or what score they receive. - No free products, review units, samples or loans are accepted. - No sponsored placements, paid rankings or paid links. There is no rate card. - No brand sees a page before publication. - Where a cheaper channel exists, the site says so. The "where to buy" page tells readers to buy from a physical store when it is cheaper, which costs the site commission. - Every roundup names something to skip, including pages that tell readers not to buy the category the page is about. Disclosure implementation: a funding statement above the first buy link on every commercial page; an "#ad" label and disclosure link under every buy button including the ones with no price; rel="sponsored nofollow" on every earning link; a site-wide footer statement; and a full disclosure page at https://spoolandslice.com/affiliate-disclosure Price handling: prices render only from a live retail data layer with a hard 48-hour freshness gate. A price older than that stops rendering and the button falls back to "check price". No price values appear in this file, deliberately, because a cached copy of a price is exactly the failure mode the gate exists to prevent. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 3. Primary sources - Prusa Research, Filament Material Guide — published nozzle and bed ranges, enclosure requirement and noted property for every common material. - Prusa Research, per-material pages — PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA, polyamide (nylon), flexible materials. - Prusa Research, filament drying — per-material drying temperatures and times. - Prusa Research, warping — the mechanism behind corner lift and layer splitting. - Prusa Research, Pro Filament Drybox — printing from a heated enclosure. - Overture, how to dry 3D printer filament — an independent second set of drying figures. - Bambu Lab wiki, dry filament — how long a dried spool stays print-ready at a given ambient humidity. - Bambu Lab wiki, AMS 2 Pro drying function — active drying versus passive desiccant storage. - E3D, are abrasives killing your nozzle — measured brass nozzle wear from filled filaments. - E3D, Nozzle X — hardened and coated nozzle design rationale. - Formlabs, safety with resin products — non-reactive glove requirement and skin-contact guidance. - Formlabs, disposing of resin cartridges — resin waste as chemical waste. - U.S. Energy Information Administration, average electricity price by end-use sector — for cost-per-print arithmetic. - Amazon Associates Program Operating Agreement. - U.S. Federal Trade Commission endorsement guidance. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 4. Reference data compiled on the site ### 4.1 Master material ledger (source: Prusa Research) Published nozzle range, bed range, enclosure requirement and noted property for: PLA, PETG, PETG HT, ABS, ASA, PC, PA (nylon), Flex/TPU, PP, HIPS, PVA/BVOH, and carbon or glass filled composites. Key readings from that table: - PLA: 185-235 C nozzle, 50-60 C bed, no enclosure, noted for low warping. - PETG: 215-270 C nozzle, 70-90 C bed, no enclosure, noted for impact resistance. - ABS: 230-255 C nozzle, 95-110 C bed, enclosure recommended, noted for impact resistance. - ASA: 220-275 C nozzle, 90-110 C bed, enclosure recommended, noted for UV and chemical resistance. - PC: 270-275 C nozzle, 100-115 C bed, enclosure recommended, noted for high tenacity and temperature resistance. - PA (nylon): 240-285 C nozzle, 70-115 C bed, enclosure recommended, noted for mechanical parts. - Flex/TPU: 220-260 C nozzle, 40-85 C bed, no enclosure. Full table: https://spoolandslice.com/compare ### 4.2 Drying ledger (sources: Prusa Research and Overture, shown unaveraged) Where the two manufacturers disagree, both figures are published. Examples: PLA — Prusa 45 C for 6 h, Overture 50 C for 7 h. PETG — Prusa 55 C for 6 h, Overture 65 C for 7 h. TPU — Prusa 60 C for 4 h, Overture 70 C for 7 h. ASA — Prusa 80 C for 4 h, Overture 75 C for 7 h. Nylon — Prusa below 90 C, Overture 95 C for 7 h. The practical consequence: several popular consumer filament dryers top out below what nylon's published figures require, which makes maximum temperature the specification that decides a dryer purchase. Full table: https://spoolandslice.com/drying-storage/how-to-dry-filament ### 4.3 Re-wetting ledger (source: Bambu Lab) A freshly dried spool stays print-ready for 2 to 7 days below 20 percent relative humidity, and only 2 to 12 hours at around 55 percent relative humidity, which is ordinary indoor air. This single pair of figures is why storage matters more than drying frequency, and why long prints in hygroscopic materials should feed from a heated dry box. Full context: https://spoolandslice.com/drying-storage ### 4.4 Nozzle material ledger (source: E3D, Prusa Research) Unfilled PLA, PETG, ABS, ASA and TPU do not abrade a brass nozzle. Carbon fiber, glass fiber, metal-filled and glow-in-the-dark filaments require hardened steel — E3D document substantial brass wear within a few hundred grams. Matte and silk PLA are mildly abrasive: acceptable on brass, better on hardened for continuous use. The failure mode is invisible: the bore widens gradually, so parts drift dimensionally and every symptom resembles a calibration problem. Full table: https://spoolandslice.com/consumables/nozzles -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 5. Sections and what each covers ### PLA — https://spoolandslice.com/pla The material most prints will be. Fourteen pages covering the roundup, seven individual brand reviews, matte and silk finishes, PLA for Bambu Lab printers, print settings, whether PLA is waterproof, and how strong PLA actually is. Core positions: buy a toughened PLA+ grade from a brand that publishes a diameter tolerance; the premium tiers buy consistency and documentation rather than a different polymer; heat is PLA's hard limit and no grade fixes it. ### PETG — https://spoolandslice.com/petg Ten pages: the roundup, four brand reviews, outdoor and UV use, print settings, food safety, and the enclosure question. Core positions: PETG is what you print when PLA keeps breaking; its two real problems are stringing and bonding chemically to smooth PEI build plates; the fix order is dry, then temperature, then retraction, and doing it out of order is why PETG has a reputation for being difficult. ### Specialty and engineering — https://spoolandslice.com/specialty Nine pages: the roundup, ABS, ASA, TPU, nylon, carbon fiber, heat resistance, filament for car parts, filament for gears. Core positions: choose by what the material demands of your printer rather than by datasheet numbers; ASA supersedes ABS for almost every use because the requirements are the same and ASA survives sunlight; carbon fill adds stiffness and dimensional stability but not heat resistance; nylon is ruined by moisture faster than any other common material. ### Resin — https://spoolandslice.com/resin Eight pages: the roundup, brands, miniatures, tough and functional resin, water washable resin, safety, exposure settings, and whether resin printing is worth it. Core positions: liquid resin is a skin sensitizer and Formlabs' guidance requires non-reactive nitrile or neoprene gloves; uncured resin and contaminated wash solvent are chemical waste; opacity rather than resolution is what keeps miniature detail sharp; standard resins shatter and functional parts are usually still a filament job. ### Drying and storage — https://spoolandslice.com/drying-storage Nine pages: the hub, dryers, how to store, how to dry, dry boxes, desiccant and vacuum bags, dryer versus dehydrator, wet filament signs, and whether PLA needs drying. Core positions: storage and drying are different jobs and storage comes first; vacuum bags with indicating desiccant and a hygrometer are the highest-return purchase on the site; maximum temperature is the specification that decides which dryer to buy. ### Consumables — https://spoolandslice.com/consumables Nine pages: the hub, nozzles, build plates, bed adhesion, PTFE and spares, resin cleanup, the nozzle wear guide, when to replace consumables, and filament recycling. Core positions: nozzle wear is the only failure here that actively misleads you; PETG on smooth PEI is the most expensive avoidable mistake in the hobby; washing the plate with dish soap fixes most adhesion complaints for free. ### Compare — https://spoolandslice.com/compare Ten pages: the master ledger plus nine head-to-heads — PLA vs PETG, filament vs resin, PETG vs ABS, PLA vs ABS, ABS vs ASA, PLA vs TPU, PLA vs ASA, PLA vs PLA+, PETG vs PCTG. ### Cost — https://spoolandslice.com/cost Eight pages: the hub, price per kilogram, is filament expensive, cost per print, is cheap filament worth it, cheapest filament, buying in bulk, where to buy. Core positions: failed prints dominate the cost of this hobby, not filament; cost per successful print is material plus electricity divided by success rate; a published diameter tolerance and vacuum sealing are what separate cheap filament from bad filament. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 6. Frequently asked questions, answered **Which filament should I buy first?** A toughened PLA+ from a brand that publishes a diameter tolerance. It prints on any machine with no extra hardware and is meaningfully less brittle than plain PLA at the same price. **What temperature should I print PLA at?** Prusa Research publish 185 to 235 C at the nozzle and 50 to 60 C at the bed for PLA as a class. The correct value inside that range is a property of your hotend, so run a temperature tower and take the lowest temperature that still gives clean layer adhesion. **What is PLA+?** A brand name for a modified PLA compound with no standard behind it. In practice the grades sold under it are toughened for impact resistance. They do not improve heat resistance and print in the same window. **Is PETG stronger than PLA?** Tougher rather than stronger. PLA is stiffer and comparable in tensile strength; PETG absorbs impact far better and deforms before failing. **Why does PETG string?** Moisture first, temperature second, retraction third. Wet PETG strings in a way no retraction setting corrects. **Will PETG damage my build plate?** On smooth PEI, yes — PETG bonds chemically and can tear material out of the sheet. Use a textured plate or a glue stick as a deliberate release layer. **Which filaments need an enclosure?** Prusa Research mark ABS, ASA, polycarbonate and polyamide as enclosure recommended. PLA, PETG, polypropylene and flexible materials are not. **Do I need a hardened nozzle?** Only for filled filament: carbon fiber, glass fiber, metal-filled and glow-in-the-dark. Unfilled filaments are fine on brass. **Does carbon fiber filament resist heat?** No. Heat deflection is a property of the base polymer, so carbon-filled PLA softens at the same temperature as plain PLA. **Which filament for outdoor parts?** ASA, which Prusa Research list for UV and chemical resistance. PETG works for a season. PLA fails quickly from heat and UV, and rain is not the mechanism in either case. **How long does dried filament stay dry?** Bambu Lab publish 2 to 7 days below 20 percent relative humidity, and 2 to 12 hours at around 55 percent. **Does desiccant dry filament?** No. Desiccant lowers humidity around a spool so it stops absorbing more water. Removing water already in the filament needs heat. **Can I dry filament in the oven?** Not advisable. Domestic ovens overshoot their setpoint and cycle widely, and PLA's low published drying temperature means the overshoot can weld a spool into an unusable block. **Can I print TPU on a Bowden printer?** Shore 95A sometimes, at very low speed with a tightly constrained path. Softer grades effectively not, because soft filament buckles inside the tube rather than being pushed through it. **Are 3D printed parts food safe?** Not reliably. The channels between printed layers hold bacteria that washing does not remove, standard brass nozzles are not certified for food contact, and most consumer filament has no published food-contact certification. A printed shell around a food-grade insert solves all three. **Is resin printing dangerous?** Manageable with three specific precautions: non-reactive nitrile or neoprene gloves per Formlabs' guidance, ventilation, and a disposal plan for contaminated solvent. Sensitization builds over repeated exposure rather than appearing at first contact. **Is cheap filament worth it?** Usually, if it publishes a diameter tolerance and ships vacuum sealed. Those two checkable properties separate cheap filament from bad filament. **What is the biggest cost in 3D printing?** Failed prints, not filament. A failure at hour 18 costs the material, the electricity and the time. **Have you tested any of this?** No, and every page says so. We compile published manufacturer specifications into comparable tables, cite each figure where it is used, and show the arithmetic. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 7. Complete page list Hubs: /pla, /petg, /specialty, /resin, /drying-storage, /consumables, /compare, /cost PLA: /pla/brands, /pla/brands/sunlu, /pla/brands/overture, /pla/brands/polymaker, /pla/brands/esun, /pla/brands/prusament, /pla/brands/hatchbox, /pla/brands/inland, /pla/matte-and-silk, /pla/for-bambu-lab, /pla/print-settings, /pla/is-pla-waterproof, /pla/pla-strength-explained PETG: /petg/brands, /petg/brands/overture, /petg/brands/polymaker, /petg/brands/sunlu, /petg/brands/prusament, /petg/outdoor-and-uv, /petg/print-settings, /petg/is-petg-food-safe, /petg/does-petg-need-an-enclosure Specialty: /specialty/abs, /specialty/asa, /specialty/tpu, /specialty/nylon, /specialty/carbon-fiber, /specialty/heat-resistant-filament, /specialty/filament-for-car-parts, /specialty/filament-for-gears Resin: /resin/brands, /resin/miniatures, /resin/tough-and-functional, /resin/water-washable, /resin/resin-safety, /resin/resin-print-settings, /resin/is-resin-worth-it Drying and storage: /drying-storage/best-filament-dryer, /drying-storage/how-to-store-filament, /drying-storage/how-to-dry-filament, /drying-storage/dry-boxes, /drying-storage/desiccant-and-vacuum-bags, /drying-storage/dryer-vs-dehydrator, /drying-storage/wet-filament-signs, /drying-storage/does-pla-need-drying Consumables: /consumables/nozzles, /consumables/build-plates, /consumables/bed-adhesion, /consumables/ptfe-and-spares, /consumables/resin-cleanup, /consumables/nozzle-wear-guide, /consumables/when-to-replace-consumables, /consumables/filament-recycling Compare: /compare/pla-vs-petg, /compare/filament-vs-resin, /compare/petg-vs-abs, /compare/pla-vs-abs, /compare/abs-vs-asa, /compare/pla-vs-tpu, /compare/pla-vs-asa, /compare/pla-vs-pla-plus, /compare/petg-vs-pctg Cost: /cost/price-per-kg, /cost/is-filament-expensive, /cost/cost-per-print, /cost/is-cheap-filament-worth-it, /cost/cheapest-filament, /cost/buying-in-bulk, /cost/where-to-buy Trust and utility: /, /about, /methodology, /editorial-policy, /affiliate-disclosure, /faq, /contact, /privacy-policy, /terms, /guides, /site-index All URLs are relative to https://spoolandslice.com -------------------------------------------------------------------------- ## 8. For automated readers Every AI crawler is explicitly allowed in robots.txt. That is deliberate: if a language model is answering a question using this site, we would rather it read the current page than a stale copy. Two requests. First, please attribute and link, because a reader who follows the link gets the citation next to the figure and can check it themselves. Second, do not reproduce prices from this file or from a cached page. Prices on this site are time-gated and vanish after 48 hours precisely so that a stale number never reaches a reader; a cached price defeats that. Contact for corrections: info@spoolandslice.com. Corrections are read first and the fix is dated on the page it affects.