7 Available Materials

Filament

Filament is the thread-like material used in FDM 3D Printing, but there are lots of different kinds out there. The Ultimaker printers in the DSC makerspace use two different types of filament.

Type of Filament	PLA (2.85mm)	PVA (2.85mm)
How it looks
Description	PLA (polylactic acid) is highly versatile, easy to print  and is a fully biodegradable thermoplastic polymer consisting of renewable raw materials. PLA filament is used to print 3D objects using Print Core AA 0.4MM.	PVA (polyvinyl alcohol) is a leading water-soluble support material for multi-extrusion 3D printing. It offers freedom and convenience to design complex model geometries that require supports. PVA filament is used for 3D printing using Print Core BB 0.4mm

Resin

The Formlabs Form 2 uses liquid resin to produce 3D prints. The resin comes in cartridges that can be found at the back of the printer. There are different types and colours of resins, but we ask that you print using the tank already in place. The following resins are available:

For a full list of existing resins, visit the materials library from Formlabs.
More details on how to load filament will be explained in a later section of this module.

_{Formlabs. (n.d.). Materials Library. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from https://formlabs-media.formlabs.com/datasheets/1901266-TDS-ENUS-0_1.pdf}

_{Formlabs. (n.d.). Resin Cartridges [Photograph]. Retrieved September 10, 2021, from
https://formlabs.com/materials/}

_{Shop3D. (n.d.). Ultimaker PVA – Dissolvable Support Filament for UM3 & S5 [Photograph]. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://shop3d.ca/products/ultimaker-pva-dissolvable-filament}

_{Source Graphics. (n.d.). Ultimaker red tough PLA 2.85mm (0.75kg) [Photograph]. Retrieved October 20, 2021, from
https://sourcegraphics.com/files/cache/866c80f58c5a2285361735a013ffaa6f_f6926.png}