3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
Magnetic vs PA6
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Magnetic filamentSPECIALTY | PA6 (Nylon 6)PA |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $64.99/kg median; $64.99–$64.99/kg across 1 dated product listings | $104.00/kg median; $38.99–$136.00/kg across 3 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | PLA loaded with ferromagnetic iron powder, so printed parts respond to magnets[1] | Polyamide 6, ring-opened from caprolactam — the most hygroscopic of the common nylons[2][3] |
| Densityg/cm³ | About 1.85 (Proto-pasta manufacturer figure) — 1.5× standard PLA[1] | 1.06 (ISO 1183, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg spools cluster near 65[5] | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 39–136; the middle of the market is about 104, though budget unfilled PA6 has now arrived at 39[6][7] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 64–70 across formats; 1 kg spool 65, 500 g 70, 2 kg 70[5] | 39–136 across brands; YXPOLYER 39, 3DXTech iOn Nylon 6 Alloy 104, WearX Nylon 6 136. Unfilled PA6 filament stays rare — most PA6 reaches the market glass- or carbon-filled[6][7] |
| Market availability1–5 | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[5] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands[6] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.1, 0.5, 1 and 2 kg spools[5] | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 500 g and 750 g spools[6] |
| Typical applications | Sensor targets, magnetic fixtures, and props that need to stick to a magnet or rust deliberately[1] | Wear parts, bushings and gears where PA6's toughness and abrasion resistance matter more than dimensional stability[2] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 192 (Proto-pasta)[1] | 220–260 (Polymaker); 225–265 (Simplify3D)[2][8] |
| Bed temperature°C | 60 (Proto-pasta)[1] | 70–100 (Polymaker); 70–90 (Simplify3D)[2][8] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Open frame is fine[1] | Enclosure required (passive)[9][2] |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | Part cooling fan not required (Simplify3D)[8] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | Not documented | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[8][2] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | 1.6–2.4 at Proto-pasta's 20–30 mm/s on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer[1] | Not documented |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Not documented | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[8][2] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[2] |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile; slow, and brittle in filament form[1] | Advanced — enclosure, hardware upgrades, tuning; the filament must be kept dry throughout the print[2][10] |
| Extruder requirement | Proto-pasta advises an extrusion width 0.05 mm larger than the nozzle and warns feeding is inconsistent below 0.4 mm and on Bowden machines[1] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Brass acceptable; hardened steel for volume work[1] | Brass fine indefinitely for unfilled grades[2] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Moderately abrasive — metal fill[1] | Non-abrasive when unfilled[2] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Moderate — needs dry filament and a clean nozzle; Prusa lists metal-filled composites as a higher clogging risk and recommends a 0.6 mm nozzle minimum[11] | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup; wet nylon pops and cracks in the melt[12][10] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[8] |
| Hotend requirement | Proto-pasta recommends a wear-resistant or larger nozzle for longer service intervals[1] | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[8] |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Not documented | Very high (>2 %) — Polymaker groups nylon with PVA as the most moisture-prone class, and its own PA6-based composites reach 2.35–3.33 % equilibrium[10][13] |
| Drying temperature & time | Not documented | 100 °C for 8 h (Polymaker CoPA); storage below 20 % RH[9][14] |
| Symptoms when wet | Not documented | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then defects that Polymaker describes as very hard to diagnose[12] |
| Effect of moisture on strength | Polymaker rates PLA low-sensitivity and publishes no dry-versus-conditioned figures; absorbed water flashes to steam and shows as bubbling and poor layer adhesion[10] | Measured dry against wet on printed specimens at 6.16 % moisture (Polymaker CoPA): tensile 78.0 → 34.3 MPa, Young's modulus 2703 → 724 MPa, flexural strength 109.8 → 22.6 MPa, while notched Charpy rises 6.9 → 27.7 kJ/m² and elongation 12.7 → 13.2 %[9][12] |
| Storage requirement | Not documented | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant; Polymaker says nylon often needs to stay in a dryer while printing[14][10] |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | Not documented | Polymaker requires a 100 °C dry for 8 h and storage below 20 % RH; no molecular-weight loss figure is published, and the published wet data is conditioning rather than melt hydrolysis[9][14] |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | Not documented | 62 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned to 20 °C / 50 % RH gives 67.6 ultimate and 49.3 at yield printed XZ (ASTM D638)[4][15] |
| Young's modulusMPa | Not documented | 2110 (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2232 printed XZ and 1817 ZX (ASTM D638)[4][15] |
| Elongation at break% | Not documented | 9 at break (printed XY, ISO 527, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 38 printed XZ against 3.2 in ZX (ASTM D638)[4][15] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 78 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 97.2 printed XZ and 82 ZX (ASTM D790)[4][15] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | Not documented | 2200 (printed XY, ISO 178, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy); Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned gives 2196 printed XZ and 1879 ZX (ASTM D790)[4][15] |
| Other impact data | Not documented | Izod notched 106 J/m printed XZ against 43 J/m in ZX; unnotched 2873 against 192 J/m (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D256 Method A) — a 15x anisotropy unnotched[15] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | Not documented | 36.5 ultimate and 28.9 at yield printed ZX (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH, ASTM D638)[15] |
| Brittleness1–5 | Brittle — Proto-pasta describes the filament as more brittle than standard PLA and needing extra care in handling[1] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking[2] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Not documented | Shore D 86 and Rockwell 85 (108) — the source does not name the scales on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D2240, D785); no figure is published for a PA6 filament[16] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | Not documented | Moderate[2] |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Not documented | Excellent — living hinges viable[2] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[1] | Semi-flexible[12] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | Not documented | 54 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6 conditioned, ZX against XZ ultimate tensile, ASTM D638); 59 on the yield figures[15] |
| Wear resistance & friction | Not documented | 3DXTech sells a dedicated wear-resistant PA6 grade; abrasion resistance is the usual reason to choose PA6 over PA12[6] |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | Not documented | 93 (Stratasys FDM Nylon 6, conditioned, ASTM D648 at 264 psi)[15] |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | Not documented | 105 (DSC, 3DXTech iOn PA6 alloy)[4] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | Not documented | 81.0 on extruded unfilled PA66 stock (ASTM D696; source states 4.5e-5 in/in/°F); no figure is published for a PA6 filament, and PA6 and PA66 expand almost identically[16] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Not documented | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the unfilled filament grades surveyed[4] |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Not documented | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows and chalks under UV[2] |
| Outdoor durability | Deliberately rustable — Proto-pasta markets the iron content as oxidising when exposed to moisture[1] | Not documented |
| Chemical resistance | Not documented | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis — the usual reason to choose a polyamide[2] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Not documented | Absorbs water, properties shift — a conditioned part is measurably softer and larger than the same part dry[12][9] |
| Food contact | Not documented | Polymaker notes medical-grade variants exist, but standard filament is not food-contact certified[2] |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not documented | Not biodegradable[2] |
| Recyclability | Not documented | Mechanically recyclable but not accepted in household plastic collection[2] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Ferromagnetic: Proto-pasta states it responds to magnets and behaves similarly to pure iron[1] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Low hazard — minimal VOC and particle emission; none of these materials was in the chamber study[3] | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[3] |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Not documented | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon; total VOC reached nearly 200 µg/min, the highest of the nine filaments tested[3] |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | Not documented | ≈2 × 10⁸ median — low for ultrafine particles despite the highest VOC mass of any filament tested[3] |
| Hazardous species emitted | Not documented | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament — the largest single-VOC emission rate measured in the study[3] |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Open a window / occasional ventilation[3] | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[3] |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Polishing and deliberate rusting are the intended finishes[1] | Sands poorly — the toughness makes it gum rather than powder[8] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Not documented | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[8] |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | Not documented | No practical vapour smoothing[8] |
| Support material pairing | Not documented | PVA dissolves cleanly against nylon; Polymaker sells a break-away PolySupport for PA12[8] |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Parts grow as they absorb moisture after printing; Polymaker declines to publish a standard dimensional allowance because it depends on geometry and infill[12] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Chloroform dissolves the PLA matrix and leaves the iron powder behind; laboratory reagent, not workshop stock.[17][1] | Dissolved at 23 °C by formic acid above ~50 %, phenol, m-cresol, 96 % sulphuric acid or hexafluoroisopropanol — laboratory reagents.[18] |
| Softened or crazed by | Acetone and ethyl acetate plasticise the matrix rather than dissolving it; water attacks the exposed iron.[17][1] | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack it — 10 % marginal, 37 % not resistant; alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it.[18] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — PLA has no workshop-safe solvent, and the iron loading blocks the surface flow smoothing needs.[17] | None — nylon's only solvents are formic acid, phenol and HFIP, all of which degrade the part they wet.[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
- Magnetic Iron PLA — product page and technical data Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · tds
- PA (Nylon) — material basics Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- 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
- iOn PA6-based Nylon Alloy Technical Data Sheet v2.0 3DXTech · 2026-08 · tds
- Proto-pasta product catalogue Proto-pasta · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PA6 Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- Nylon — Ultimate 3D Printing Materials Guide Simplify3D · 2026-08 · doc
- PolyMide CoPA Technical Data Sheet V5.4 (dry and wet status blocks) Polymaker · 2024-11 · tds
- Wet Filament — signs, causes and drying Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Composite materials with metal or wood particles Prusa Knowledge Base · 2026-08 · doc
- Moisture Conditioning — effect on printed nylon properties Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · doc
- Fiberon PA612-CF15 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- PolyMide CoPA — Technical Data Sheet page Polymaker Wiki · 2026-08 · tds
- FDM Nylon 6 — data sheet (conditioned 20 °C / 50 % RH) Stratasys · 2017-11 · tds
- TECAMID 66 natural (PA66) — stock shape properties Ensinger · 2026-08 · tds
- Solubility Study of Ingeo Biopolymer Grades in Common Organic Solvents (NWPD003) NatureWorks · 2019-10 · tds
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds