3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
BVOH vs PA6-GF
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | BVOH (soluble support)SUPPORT | Glass-fibre PA6 (PA6-GF)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $165.72/kg median; $165.72–$165.72/kg across 1 dated product listings | $59.98/kg median; $39.99–$130.00/kg across 6 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] | PA6 reinforced with chopped glass fibre — Polymaker's grade is 25 wt%[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | Not documented | 1.14 (Bambu Lab) and 1.20 (Polymaker Fiberon), ISO 1183[3][2] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 166[1] | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 40–130; the middle of the market is about 60[3][4][5] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 166 at Fiberlogy's 500 g pricing on 3DJake[1] | 40–130 across brands; SUNLU 40, YXPOLYER 45, Polymaker Fiberon and Bambu Lab 60, 3DXTech FibreX 87, Obsidian Nylon 6+GF 130[4][3][6][5][7] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[1] | Stocked by most mainstream brands[3][4][6][5][7] |
| 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 1 kg spools[4][6][3] |
| Typical applications | Dissolvable support where PVA dissolves too slowly, and for materials PVA bonds to poorly[1] | Stiff, heat-resistant structural parts where a matte finish and lower cost beat carbon fibre[3][2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | Not documented | 260–290 (Bambu Lab)[3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[8] | Enclosure required (passive) — Bambu Lab specifies a 45–60 °C chamber[3] |
| Recommended chamber temperature°C | Not documented | 45–60 (Bambu Lab)[3] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[9][10] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | Not documented | 10 at Bambu Lab's 130 mm/s cap on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer[3][11] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[9] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[10] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile[12] | Expert / industrial hardware only[3][12] |
| Extruder requirement | A second extruder or a tool changer[8] | 0.6 mm nozzle recommended by Bambu Lab; 0.4 and 0.8 also supported[3] |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass fine indefinitely[8] | Hardened steel required — Polymaker measures brass nozzle life at about 9 h on PA6-GF25 and recommends hardened steel or ruby[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Non-abrasive[8] | Highly abrasive — standard GF composite; Polymaker puts brass nozzle life at roughly 9 h on PA6-GF25[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[12] | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[12] |
| 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[12][8] | Very high (>2 %) — 2.56 % saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH (Bambu Lab) and 3.33 % equilibrium (Polymaker Fiberon), the highest in the dataset[3][2] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | Not documented | 2.56 saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH (Bambu Lab); 3.33 equilibrium (Polymaker Fiberon PA6-GF25)[3][2] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 80 °C for 8–12 h (Bambu Lab)[3] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[13] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Not a structural material; no dry-versus-conditioned data is published[12] | Polymaker publishes dry and wet printed blocks for PA6-GF25 itself: at 4.57 % moisture tensile falls 80.1 → 40.2 MPa and modulus 5357 → 1794 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 10.0 → 28.0 kJ/m²[2][13] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed with desiccant at all times[12] | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[12] |
| 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[14][15] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 75 ± 6 (Bambu Lab) and 80.1 ± 1.8 (Polymaker Fiberon, dry/annealed) printed XY, ISO 527; Fiberon falls to 40.2 ± 2.1 conditioned to 4.57 % moisture. Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives 60.2-61.1 at break and 61.7-62.3 at yield printed XZ (ASTM D638)[3][2][16] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2850 ± 260 (Bambu Lab) and 5357 ± 211 (Polymaker Fiberon, dry) printed XY, ISO 527; Fiberon falls to 1794 ± 84 conditioned. Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives 5600-5830 printed XZ against 3050-3140 in ZX (ASTM D638)[3][2][16] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 2.4 ± 0.2 dry (Polymaker Fiberon) to 3.9 ± 0.8 (Bambu Lab) printed XY, ISO 527; the Fiberon grade rises to 4.2 ± 0.7 conditioned[3][2] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 3670 ± 140 printed XY, ISO 178 (Bambu Lab)[3] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | Not documented | 10.0 ± 0.7 printed XY dry and 28.0 ± 1.0 conditioned, ISO 179 notched (Polymaker Fiberon); Bambu Lab 7.2 ± 2.3[2][3] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Charpy unnotched 27.2 ± 2.2 printed XY (Bambu Lab, ISO 179). Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives Izod notched 74.6-77.1 J/m printed XZ against 17.2-22.1 in ZX (ASTM D256)[3][16] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 27 ± 5 (Bambu Lab) and 60.7 ± 1.1 (Polymaker Fiberon, dry) printed Z, ISO 527 — the two makers differ by more than a factor of two; Fiberon falls to 26.3 ± 1.5 conditioned. Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives 23.7-24.4 at break printed ZX (ASTM D638)[3][2][16] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Not documented | Brittle — snaps with little warning; elongation at break 2.4 % in XY[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785)[17] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger lists high creep resistance as a headline property of extruded PA66-GF30 stock; the rating is held below Excellent because equilibrium moisture uptake of 3.33 % softens the matrix in service[17][2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Good. Ensinger lists high fatigue strength as a headline property of extruded PA66-GF30 stock[17] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Not documented | Rigid[3] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 36 (Bambu Lab) to 76 (Polymaker Fiberon), printed; Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives 39-41 (ZX against XZ tensile at break, ASTM D638)[3][2][16] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | Not documented | 182 (Bambu Lab) and 191 (Polymaker Fiberon), ISO 75 at 0.45 MPa. Stratasys FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR gives 161 printed XY and 185 XZ (ASTM D648 at 66 psi)[3][2][16] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 157 (Polymaker Fiberon) and 158 (Bambu Lab), ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa[3][2] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 67 (Bambu Lab) and 70.4 (Polymaker Fiberon), DSC; Stratasys measures 51.5 on FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR (ASTM D7426)[3][2][16] |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | Not documented | 214.5 (Polymaker Fiberon) and 219 (Bambu Lab) melting, DSC; Vicat 210–212 (ISO 306)[3][2] |
| 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). Stratasys measures much higher on printed FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR — 95.4 over -20 to 5 °C and 214 over 25 to 80 °C in XY (ASTM E831)[17][16] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[14] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[10] |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[10] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Dissolves or disintegrates — by design[1] | Absorbs water, properties shift[13] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Not food-contact certified as filament[10] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[10] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Not accepted in household plastic collection[10] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Not documented | Surface resistivity above 10¹² ohm — insulating (Polymaker Fiberon, ANSI/ESD S11.11)[2] |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[18] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[18] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[18] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[18] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[18] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[18] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[18] |
| 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.[19][1] | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[20] |
| Softened or crazed by | Nothing else — a vinyl alcohol copolymer resists organic solvents, so IPA or acetone will not touch it.[21] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[20] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — water is a removal solvent, not a welding one.[19] | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[20] |
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
- Fiberon PA6-GF25 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet — PA6-GF Bambu Lab · 2026-08 · tds
- Polymaker product catalogue Polymaker · 2026-08 · vendor
- SUNLU Nylon-6 Glass Fiber (PA6-GF) 3D Printer Filament 1 kg — product page SUNLU · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PA6-GF Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- PolyDissolve S1 Technical Data Sheet V5.4 Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Max volumetric speed Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA6-CF20 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
- FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR — Material Data Sheet Stratasys · 2026-07 · 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