3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
BVOH vs PA12-GF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | BVOH (soluble support)SUPPORT | Glass-fibre PA12 (PA12-GF)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $165.72/kg median; $165.72–$165.72/kg across 1 dated product listings | $130.67/kg median; $46.00–$140.18/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | Butenediol vinyl alcohol copolymer — a vinyl alcohol copolymer that dissolves faster and in cooler water than straight PVA[1] | PA12 reinforced with chopped glass fibre — 3DXTech's grade is nominally 30 wt%[2] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.23 (ISO 1183)[2] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 166[1] | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 46–140; the middle of the market is about 88[3][4][5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 166 at Fiberlogy's 500 g pricing on 3DJake[1] | 46–140 across brands; IEMAI 3D 46, 3DXTech 131 at 750 g and 130 at 2 kg, PrimaCreator NylonPower Glass Fiber 140 at 500 g[3][4][5] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[1] | Available from several mainstream brands[3][4] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5 kg spools[1] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5, 0.75 and 2 kg spools[3][5] |
| Typical applications | Dissolvable support where PVA dissolves too slowly, and for materials PVA bonds to poorly[1] | Stiff, humidity-stable structural parts — the glass gives the modulus, the PA12 matrix limits the moisture drift[2][6] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[7] | Enclosure required (passive)[8] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[9][8] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[9] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[8] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[10] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning[8] |
| Extruder requirement | A second extruder or a tool changer[7] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[7] | Hardened steel required — no nozzle-life figure is published for a PA12-GF30 grade; Polymaker measures about 9 h of brass nozzle life on its comparable fibre-filled nylons[11] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[7] | Highly abrasive — standard GF composite[11] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[10] | High — jams from moisture, heat creep or particles[10] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[9] |
| Hotend requirement | Not documented | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[9] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — the vinyl alcohol backbone is what makes it soluble[10][7] | High (0.8–2 %) — the PA12 matrix takes up far less than PA6, on the evidence of Polymaker's 1.5 % for PA12-CF10 against 3.33 % for PA6-GF25[12][13] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Not a structural material; no dry-versus-conditioned data is published[10] | Polymaker's PA12 grades change little between wet and dry, unlike PA6; the CoPA dry-to-wet blocks show the PA6-type response[6][14] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant at all times[10] | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[10] |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Not documented | Polymaker specifies an 80–100 °C dry and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the wet data it does publish is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[11][14] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 82 at break (printed XY, ISO 527)[2] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 7800 (printed XY, ISO 527)[2] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 4.5 at break (printed XY, ISO 527) — nearly double the 2.4 % of Polymaker's PA6-GF25[2][13] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 94 (printed XY, ISO 178)[2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 7550 (printed XY, ISO 178)[2] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785); no figure is published for a glass-fibre PA12 filament[15] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger lists high creep resistance for extruded PA66-GF30 stock, and the PA12 matrix absorbs far less water than PA6, so a PA12-GF part holds load better in a humid environment[15][8] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger lists high fatigue strength as a headline property of extruded PA66-GF30 stock[15] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Rigid[2] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 48.6 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D696; source states 2.7e-5 in/in/°F) — no figure is published for a glass-fibre PA12 filament[15] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[11] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[8] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[8] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Dissolves or disintegrates — by design[1] | Good — minor absorption relative to PA6-based composites[6] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food-contact certified as filament[8] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[8] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[8] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Surface resistance above 10¹³ ohm/sq — insulating (ASTM D257)[2] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[16] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[16] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[16] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[16] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[16] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[16] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[16] |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Not documented | Glass fibre is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[2] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Not documented | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[9] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[9] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[9] |
| Support material pairing | This is the support material[1] | Not documented |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Water: about 1 g of BVOH per 20 g of water, several hours; warmer water is faster but must not be too hot.[17][1] | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[18] |
| Softened or crazed by | Nothing else — a vinyl alcohol copolymer resists organic solvents, so IPA or acetone will not touch it.[19] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[18] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — water is a removal solvent, not a welding one.[17] | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[18] |
Material entries describe families or representative grades, not an interchangeable specification for every spool. Test methods, orientations and conditions may differ. Unknown values are marked “Not documented”. Prices and source dates remain historical snapshots; check the linked guide for product details. Differences highlight text, not a universal winner.
Sources for this comparison
- Fiberlogy BVOH Natural — product page 3DJake International · 2026-08 · vendor
- FibreX PA12-GF30 Technical Data Sheet v1.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- IEMAI 3D GF-PA12 3D Printing Filament — store page IEMAI 3D · 2026-08 · vendor
- PrimaCreator SELECT NylonPower Glass Fiber product page PrimaCreator · 2026-08 · vendor
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Fiberon PA12-CF10 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2025-02 · tds
- Fiberon PA6-GF25 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 GF30 black (PA66-GF30) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Emissions of Ultrafine Particles and Volatile Organic Compounds from Commercially Available Desktop Three-Dimensional Printers with Multiple Filaments (Azimi et al.) Environmental Science & Technology 50(3) 1260-1268 · 2016-01 · paper
- Water soluble (BVOH/PVA) — Knowledge Base Prusa Research · 2026-08 · doc
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- Polyvinyl alcohol — KURARAY POVAL application guide Kuraray · 2026-08 · tds