Bambu Lab ABS Filament 1.75mm 1kg

The workhorse engineering plastic. ABS handles heat far better than PLA or PETG, shrugs off UV and water, and takes an impact without cracking — which is why it's what most injection-moulded consumer parts are made from.

Bambu's formulation is tuned to reduce the warping and cracking ABS is notorious for, while keeping the toughness. It also flows well, so it prints fast.

You need an enclosed printer, and it will not run in an AMS Lite. ABS shrinks as it cools, and a draught across the print is enough to make layers split apart mid-job. Bambu specify a 45–60°C chamber, which rules out the open-frame A-series. On an open-frame printer this will warp and delaminate — pick PETG instead.

At a glance

Spool or Refill?

Spool — Comes on a reusable Bambu spool. Pick this for your first roll of a colour.

Refill — Filament only, $2 cheaper, needs an empty reusable spool to mount on. Less plastic in the bin, less money out of your pocket.

Where ABS wins

Heat. Vicat softening is 94°C and heat deflection 84°C, against PETG Basic's 69°C. A part left on a car dashboard in Singapore will survive in ABS and sag in PETG. This is the main reason to choose it.

Impact. 39.3 kJ/m² unnotched, and 21.5 kJ/m² notched — that notched figure is the telling one, roughly three times PETG's. ABS tolerates a part that already has a scratch or a sharp internal corner, which is exactly where brittle materials fail.

Chemicals. Resistant to both acids and alkalis, where PETG is resistant to neither. Note it is not resistant to some oils and greases, which PETG handles well — so for a part living in a gearbox, check which matters more.

What you give up is tensile strength: 33 MPa against PETG Basic's 51. ABS is the tougher and hotter-running material, not the stronger one.

Printing it well

Glue the plate. Bambu list glue as required for ABS, not optional — it is what stops the corners lifting. Engineering, High Temperature or Textured PEI; the Cool Plate SuperTack is not compatible.

Chamber temperature is the biggest lever on warping — but your slicer settings matter too. Start with the chamber: the H2 series controls it actively, and on a P1S or X1C you can preheat the bed to maximum for about 15 minutes before starting. Then check the settings, because too much material is its own problem — Bambu advise keeping infill under 50% and walls to 6 or fewer. Their default 2 walls and 15% infill is enough for most non-structural parts, and piling on more simply adds shrinkage stress for the chamber to fight.

Ventilate the room. ABS releases styrene while printing — the smell people complain about. Print with the enclosure shut and the room aired.

Annealing works well — 80–90°C for 6 to 12 hours relieves internal stress and improves heat resistance further. Larger parts may still distort, so test first.

Storage

Bambu specifies under 20% RH, sealed with desiccant, and 80°C for 8 hours to dry — hotter than PLA or PETG, so a basic dryer that tops out at 70°C won't do the job properly.

Silver is the exception. To keep its gloss, Bambu say to dry ABS Silver immediately after unsealing and to follow tighter conditions — 85°C for 12 hours in a convection oven, or 90–100°C for 18 hours on a heated bed, turning the spool every 6 hours.

ABS absorbs more water than PETG (0.65% against 0.30%), so it matters more here. As filament takes on moisture you'll hear popping at the nozzle, then see stringing and rough surfaces. Dry it and it usually comes back.

Bambu's own usage guide covers warping, chamber temperature, ventilation and printer maintenance in more depth: ABS / ASA / PC Usage Guide · 3D Print Shrinkage: Causes and Solutions