Engineering

Nylon: full cost overview

Nylon (PA6/PA12) is the engineering filament of choice for tough, slightly flexible mechanical parts: gears, hinges, snap-fits, jigs. Absorbs moisture aggressively from the air — must be dried before printing or it pops and strings horribly. Hardened nozzle recommended on PA-CF variants.

Specs

Typical price: ~$45.00/kg
Print temperature: 240–270 °C
Bed temperature: 70–90 °C
Enclosed chamber: Recommended
Food-safe: No
Difficulty: ★★★★★

When to use

• Functional mechanical parts (gears, hinges)
• Jigs, fixtures, tool handles
• Snap-fits that need repeat actuation
• Carbon-fiber composite jobs (PA-CF)

When NOT to use

• Hobbyist printers without filament drying
• Parts that absorb water in service
• Cosmetic prints (nylon prints rough)
• Tight-tolerance prototypes (warping)

Sample calculation

For a 50 g part on a Bambu Lab A1, 6 h print time and 8% failure rate. Currency follows your selection at the top.

Filament$2.25
Energy$0.14
Amortization$0.15
Failures (8%)$0.20
Unit Cost$2.74
Final Consumer Price (3× / 6% / 2%)$11.93

Best printers for Nylon

These models in our catalog handle Nylon reliably out of the box — picked by enclosure, hotend temperature and drive system, not marketing.

Nylon head-to-heads

ABS

~$22.00/kg · 230–260 °C

ASA

~$30.00/kg · 240–260 °C

~$45.00/kg · 260–300 °C