From the Maker’s Bench
Insights from our network of 3d print operators and designers.
ABS needs a printer that keeps the heat in. Buy an enclosed printer with a 100 °C bed and an all-metal hotend, and if you print tall parts, get one with an actively heated chamber. Our pick for most people is the Bambu Lab P2S. For tall ABS and ASA parts, a QIDI with a 65 °C heated chamber is the safer bet. And if your printer is a big open-frame machine, don’t expect it to print ABS well. We learned that the hard way.
| Pick | Printer | Why | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Bambu Lab P2S | Enclosed, filters and recirculates the air for ABS/ASA, easy to live with | sold by Bambu Lab |
| Best for tall ABS/ASA parts | QIDI Plus4 | Actively heated 65 °C chamber, 370 °C hotend, 305 × 305 × 280 mm | Check price |
| Heated chamber + filtration | QIDI Q2 | 65 °C heated chamber, HEPA + carbon filtration | Check price |
| Large parts | Creality K2 Plus Combo | Heated chamber, 350 °C hotend, 350 mm cube | Check price |
| Budget enclosed | FLASHFORGE AD5M Pro | Enclosed, HEPA13 + carbon filter, 280 °C | Check price |
| Budget alternative | Creality K1C | Enclosed, 300 °C hotend, carbon air filter | Check price |
Don’t want to set up a printer for ABS at all? Upload your part for an instant quote and one of our makers will print it in ABS or ASA.
Printing ABS indoors? Read the fumes and safety checklist before your first print.
Our makers use ABS and ASA for parts that face heat, sun or rough handling: car and truck parts, computer cooling parts, mods for espresso machines, helmets, and covers for outdoor gear. If a PLA part would soften on a dashboard or crack when dropped, that’s an ABS or ASA job.
| Feature | Why it matters | Look for |
|---|---|---|
| Enclosure | ABS shrinks as it cools. Drafts make corners lift and layers split. | A fully enclosed printer, door closed while printing |
| Heated chamber | Keeps tall parts warm all the way up, so upper layers don’t crack | An actively heated chamber (about 65 °C) for tall parts |
| Hot bed | The first layers have to stay hot to stick | 100 °C or more |
| All-metal hotend | ABS prints at 240–260 °C | 280 °C or more |
| Filtration | ABS gives off fumes and a strong smell | Carbon filter, ideally HEPA too |
Who it’s for: most people who want ABS and ASA to just work.
What you get: the successor to the P1S. It’s enclosed, with a 300 °C hotend and a 256 mm build cube, and it switches its airflow to recirculate and filter the air inside when you print ABS or ASA. Reviewers rate it nearly as easy with ABS and ASA as with PLA.
Skip it if: you print tall ABS parts often. Its chamber is warmed by the bed, not heated, so tall parts are where the QIDI pulls ahead.
Where to buy: Bambu Lab sells it on its own website.
Who it’s for: anyone printing tall or large ABS and ASA parts.
What you get: an actively heated chamber that holds 65 °C, a 370 °C hotend and a 305 × 305 × 280 mm build volume. A heated chamber is the single biggest fix for warping and split layers on tall prints.
Skip it if: your parts are small and you mostly print PLA and PETG. You won’t use the heated chamber.
Who it’s for: home or office printing where fumes matter.
What you get: the same 65 °C heated chamber and 370 °C hotend in a smaller 270 × 270 × 256 mm machine, with a three-stage filter (pre-filter, H12 HEPA and activated carbon).
Skip it if: you need a bigger build volume. Go with the Plus4.
Who it’s for: large ABS and ASA parts, such as helmets and big enclosures.
What you get: a 350 mm build cube, a heated chamber and a 350 °C hotend, plus Creality’s CFS multi-color system.
Skip it if: you don’t want to keep up with firmware updates. Reviewers recommend staying current.
Who it’s for: a first enclosed printer on a budget.
What you get: a fully enclosed build area with a HEPA13 and activated-carbon filter and a 280 °C hotend.
Skip it if: you print large or tall ABS parts. Its chamber isn’t heated.
Who it’s for: budget buyers who also want to print carbon-fiber filaments.
What you get: an enclosed chamber, a 300 °C hotend with a hardened-steel tip, and an activated-carbon air filter.
Skip it if: you need a bigger build volume or a heated chamber.
Spending more? Bambu Lab’s X1C (120 °C bed) and H2D (65 °C heated chamber and two nozzles) are the step up. Both are sold on Bambu Lab’s website.
From our bench: we ran an ELEGOO Neptune 4 Max, and it was our worst printer for high-temperature materials. Its large heated bed needs a lot of power, and the stock power supply couldn’t keep the bed hot while running everything else. A higher-capacity power supply helped, but ABS and ASA still warped and split, especially on tall prints. Leveling that big bed was slow and fiddly too. Many operators in our network have since replaced theirs with enclosed printers.
The lesson: for ABS and ASA, a big open bed works against you. Buy enclosed, and for tall parts, buy a heated chamber. If you have a small open printer and only print small ABS parts, an add-on enclosure can help. We ran our Prusa Mini inside a YOOPAI enclosure, with an air purifier running nearby and a temperature monitor to keep an eye on the heat inside. On a small printer that setup works; it won’t make a large open printer good at tall ABS.
| ABS | ASA | |
|---|---|---|
| Sunlight | Yellows and turns brittle outside | UV-resistant, holds up outdoors |
| Heat | Good | Good (Polymaker rates its ASA to 100 °C) |
| Smell | Strong | Strong, slightly milder |
| Best for | Indoor parts, car interiors, electronics | Outdoor parts, exterior car parts, anything in the sun |
If the part will ever live outside, print ASA. It prints like ABS on the same settings.
| Filament | Why | |
|---|---|---|
| OVERTURE ASA | Our most reordered ASA. UV-resistant, ±0.02 mm | Check price |
| OVERTURE ABS | Our go-to ABS. Low warping, made for functional parts | Check price |
| ELEGOO ASA | UV- and water-resistant, ±0.02 mm | Check price |
| Polymaker ASA | Rated to 100 °C; we run it in several colors | Check price |
Polymaker’s own starting settings for its ASA: 250 °C nozzle, 90 °C bed, 50 mm/s, and an enclosed printer for large parts.
| Setting | Starting point |
|---|---|
| Nozzle | 240–260 °C |
| Bed | 90–110 °C; glue stick on a textured PEI plate |
| Chamber | Door closed; preheat 10–15 minutes before printing |
| Part cooling | 0–20% (more only for small overhangs) |
| Speed | 40–80 mm/s on most printers |
| First layers | Brim of 5–10 mm on parts with sharp corners |
ABS and ASA starter kit
The spool and the glue we’d buy together: OVERTURE ASA + TEQStone glue stick 6-pack, the glue we keep reordering for first-layer grip.
Add both to your Amazon cartAmazon shows both items for you to confirm before anything is added. Or check the glue sticks on their own.
ABS and ASA give off fumes and a strong smell while they print. Treat it like any hot-plastic process and set up for it before the first print.
Small parts, sometimes. Reliable ABS needs an enclosure, a 100 °C bed and an all-metal hotend. Tall parts need a heated chamber.
Yes, for anything bigger than a small part. Without one, drafts cool the plastic unevenly and corners lift or layers split.
The FLASHFORGE AD5M Pro: it’s enclosed and filtered. The Creality K1C is a good alternative.
ASA is UV-resistant, so it holds up outdoors where ABS yellows and turns brittle. Otherwise they print the same way.
Pick one with a heated chamber and a hotend of 300 °C or more: the QIDI Plus4 or Q2 (370 °C, 65 °C chamber). Dry nylon before printing.
With an enclosed printer, a carbon filter and good ventilation, most people print ABS at home. Keep the room ventilated and avoid sitting next to the printer for hours.
| Pick | Printer | |
|---|---|---|
| Best overall | Bambu Lab P2S | sold by Bambu Lab |
| Best for tall ABS/ASA | QIDI Plus4 | Check price |
| Heated chamber + filtration | QIDI Q2 | Check price |
| Large parts | Creality K2 Plus Combo | Check price |
| Budget enclosed | FLASHFORGE AD5M Pro | Check price |
| Budget alternative | Creality K1C | Check price |
| Filament | OVERTURE ASA | Check price |
Need ABS or ASA parts without the setup? Get an instant quote from our makers.
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