When comparing 3DXSTAT ESD-Safe ABS Filament vs NinjaFlex Flexible Filament, the Slant community recommends 3DXSTAT ESD-Safe ABS Filament for most people. In the question“What are the best filaments for 3D printing?” 3DXSTAT ESD-Safe ABS Filament is ranked 3rd while NinjaFlex Flexible Filament is ranked 5th. The most important reason people chose 3DXSTAT ESD-Safe ABS Filament is:
Due to its properties, ABS is a very appropriate material to use for prototyping enclosures for electronic equipment and this filament is no exception. It was specifically designed to provide high-grade protection from ESD (electrostatic discharge) that can damage sensitive electrical components. It can prevent charge from building up on its surface, useful if the printed pieces come into contact with sensitive microelectronics
Specs
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Pros
Pro Suitable to be used with electronic equipment
Due to its properties, ABS is a very appropriate material to use for prototyping enclosures for electronic equipment and this filament is no exception. It was specifically designed to provide high-grade protection from ESD (electrostatic discharge) that can damage sensitive electrical components. It can prevent charge from building up on its surface, useful if the printed pieces come into contact with sensitive microelectronics
Pro Suitable for hot and humid settings
You can use this filament in standard ABS applications, such as for printing objects and parts that need to withstand hot and humid environments.
Pro Stronger than the majority of ABS materials
This ABS is tougher than the majority of ABS materials out in the market. Its tensile strength (maximum stretching pressure the material can withstand) is 42 MPa, according to its datasheet. Material property data website MatWeb has stated that the highest-quality ABS withstands at least 40MPa, and 3DXSTAT’s filament goes beyond this value.
Pro Filament's package provides good protection
The packaging of this filament is outstanding and protects the filament from external factors very well. The product comes packed in a very stylish 3DXSTAT box that, besides protection, gives it a premium feel. The spool itself is sealed in vacuum film with a silica packet.
Pro Can be used with virtually any standard 3D printer
You can use this filament with pretty much any standard 3D printer, since it's available in the two most commonly used diameters: 1.75 mm and 3.0 mm. Unlike other filaments, 3DXSTAT offers both sizes for the same price (1.75 mm is usually more expensive).
Pro Recovers original shape after deformation
This is truly elastic material, which means that the material will deform under stress (stretched or compressed), but the moment stress is removed, the material original shape is restored. The exception is if tensile/compressive yield point is reached: in this case permanent deformation occurs. This filaments tensile yield point takes place at 660% elongation, which means it's very hard to break this material only by applying tensile stress.
Pro Good chemical resistance to a variety of substances
This filament has limited resistance to a variety of alcohols, alkali and organic substances (fuels, oils, etc.). This contrasts with what happens with many other 3D printable material, that can't even withstand contact with water.
Pro NinjaTek has published several case studies of filament applications
Several examples of how NinjaFlex was used in real-world applications are available. This is a great move from NinjaTek, since, even though it is useful to see how good a product is “on paper”, it’s even better to see examples of how it was actually used. All case studies are well documented and provide visual evidence of successful use.
Pro Can be used with virtually any standard 3D printer
You can use this filament with pretty much any standard 3D printer, since it's available in the two most commonly used diameters: 1.75 mm and 3.0 mm. The 3.0 mm spools are cheaper than the 1.75 mm ones. This is because it’s generally cheaper to produce 1 kg of 3.0 mm filament than 1 kg of 1.75 mm filament.
Pro Available in 10 different colors
This filament is available in 10 different colors, all of which are of very high quality and look rich.
Pro No heated printed bed required
This filament can be used with a printer without a heated bed, which is very convenient, since many 3D printers don't come with a heated bed by default or don't even have the option of adding one. Nevertheless, if your machine does have a heated bed, you can set it to 40ºC (recommended) and improve surface adhesion.
Cons
Con Expensive
With a minimum price tag of $90.00/kg of filament, most 3D printing enthusiasts will have to consider this a serious investment for their high-end 3D printers. The price is somewhat offset by the fantastic quality of the filament, though.
Con Only available in black
Black is the only color available for this filament, which may be disappointing for some users. 3DXSTAT seems uninterested in adding more color options for their filaments.
Con Complicated to print without a direct-drive extruder
The filament itself is very flexible, which means that non-direct-drive extruders will have the issue of their bowden tubes clogging up. This is normally fixed by experimenting with the material feed rate and the extruder temperature (this tweaking process takes some time and effort). Double check if you have a direct-drive extruder before purchasing this filament, which avoids this bothersome process.
Con Unprotective filament packaging
The filament packaging doesn't provide adequate protection for the material, which is quite surprising, considering its high price. The spool is shipped simply sealed with a vacuum film (without a silica pack) contained in a simple box. There's no proper external packing to protect the filament from mechanical damage. If the film breaks, the filament becomes vulnerable to air humidity, absorbing water and, consequently, compromising the printing process.
