3D Printing InfoFilament comparison
PA6-GF vs PE
Compare printing settings, strength, heat resistance, dated prices and sources.
2 selected · all documented properties
| Property | Glass-fibre PA6 (PA6-GF)PA | Polyethylene (PE)POLYOLEFIN |
|---|---|---|
| Market snapshot | ||
| Listing priceUSD/kg; dated snapshots | $59.98/kg median; $39.99–$130.00/kg across 6 dated product listings | $87.72/kg median; $87.72–$87.72/kg across 1 dated product listings |
| Identity & Market | ||
| Base polymer / chemistry | PA6 reinforced with chopped glass fibre — Polymaker's grade is 25 wt%[1][2] | Polyethylene — the simplest polyolefin, non-polar and highly crystalline. The one retailed filament grade, Spectrum HDPE, uses what Spectrum calls Low Warp technology and is denser and stiffer than plain HDPE[3][4] |
| Densityg/cm³ | 1.14 (Bambu Lab) and 1.20 (Polymaker Fiberon), ISO 1183[2][1] | 1.10 (Spectrum HDPE filament, ISO 1183) against 0.95 for extruded HDPE stock — the filament is a modified formulation[3][4] |
| Typical priceUSD/kg | 1 kg-equivalent spools span 40–130; the middle of the market is about 60[2][5][6] | 1 kg-equivalent spools cluster near 88[7] |
| Price range across brandsUSD/kg | 40–130 across brands; SUNLU 40, YXPOLYER 45, Polymaker Fiberon and Bambu Lab 60, 3DXTech FibreX 87, Obsidian Nylon 6+GF 130[5][2][8][6][9] | 87.72 — Spectrum's 500 g spools at 3DJAKE are the only PE filament listing found[7] |
| Market availability1–5 | Stocked by most mainstream brands[2][5][8][6][9] | Niche, a handful of specialist brands — Spectrum HDPE in six colours is the only PE filament in the 3DJAKE and igo3d product sitemaps, at MatterHackers or at Printed Solid, but it is a normal stocked item rather than a special order[10][11][12][7] |
| Spool sizes & diameters | 1.75 and 2.85 mm; 0.5, 0.75 and 1 kg spools[5][8][2] | 1.75 mm; 500 g spools in six colours[7][10] |
| Typical applications | Stiff, heat-resistant structural parts where a matte finish and lower cost beat carbon fibre[2][1] | Chemically resistant containers, packaging prototypes and consumer goods where HDPE is the production material[3] |
| Printing Parameters | ||
| Nozzle temperature°C | 260–290 (Bambu Lab)[2] | 240-290 (Spectrum HDPE)[3] |
| Bed temperature°C | Not documented | 80-100 (Spectrum HDPE)[3] |
| Enclosure / chamber requirement1–5 | Enclosure required (passive) — Bambu Lab specifies a 45–60 °C chamber[2] | Enclosure recommended — Spectrum recommends a closed chamber for larger prints[3] |
| Recommended chamber temperature°C | 45–60 (Bambu Lab)[2] | Not documented |
| Part cooling fan | Not documented | 0-50 % part cooling (Spectrum HDPE)[3] |
| Bed surface & adhesion aid | PEI sheet with a glue stick, or a dedicated adhesive such as Magigoo[13][14] | Spectrum states no adhesive is necessary for its low-warp HDPE, depending on geometry[3] |
| Maximum volumetric flow (mm³/s; see test conditions)mm³/s | 10 at Bambu Lab's 130 mm/s cap on a 0.4 mm nozzle at 0.2 mm layer[2][15] | Not documented |
| Warping tendency1–5 | Not documented | Moderate — needs adhesion aid or draught shield. Spectrum's low-warp grade is sold as printable on desktop machines, which is not true of plain polyethylene[3] |
| Bed-adhesion difficulty1–5 | Needs a specific surface plus adhesive[13] | Needs the right surface or a thin adhesive; Spectrum states no adhesive is necessary but recommends a closed chamber for large parts[3] |
| Stringing / oozing tendency1–5 | Moderate — retraction tuning needed[14] | Not documented |
| Overall printing difficulty1–5 | Expert / industrial hardware only[2][16] | Intermediate — dry filament and a tuned profile; Spectrum sells the grade as desktop-printable with no dry box and no hardened nozzle[3] |
| Extruder requirement | 0.6 mm nozzle recommended by Bambu Lab; 0.4 and 0.8 also supported[2] | Not documented |
| Hardware Wear & Reliability | ||
| Nozzle hardness required1–4 | Hardened steel required — Polymaker measures brass nozzle life at about 9 h on PA6-GF25 and recommends hardened steel or ruby[1] | Brass fine indefinitely — Spectrum states a ruby or hardened nozzle is not required[3] |
| Abrasiveness1–5 | Highly abrasive — standard GF composite; Polymaker puts brass nozzle life at roughly 9 h on PA6-GF25[1] | Non-abrasive[3] |
| Nozzle clog risk1–5 | Very high — frequent jams without careful setup[16] | Low — Spectrum lists no drybox and no ruby or hardened nozzle for HDPE, and very low moisture absorption[3] |
| Heat-creep / jam sensitivity1–5 | Moderate — good heatbreak cooling needed[13] | Not documented |
| Hotend requirement | May require an all-metal hot end (Simplify3D)[13] | Not documented |
| Moisture Behaviour | ||
| Moisture absorption (hygroscopicity)1–5 | Very high (>2 %) — 2.56 % saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH (Bambu Lab) and 3.33 % equilibrium (Polymaker Fiberon), the highest in the dataset[2][1] | Negligible (<0.1 % EMC) — Spectrum lists very low moisture absorption and no dry box[3] |
| Equilibrium moisture content at ~50 % RH% | 2.56 saturated at 25 °C / 55 % RH (Bambu Lab); 3.33 equilibrium (Polymaker Fiberon PA6-GF25)[2][1] | Not documented |
| Drying temperature & time | 80 °C for 8–12 h (Bambu Lab)[2] | No drying step published; Spectrum lists a dry box as not required[3] |
| Symptoms when wet | Popping and cracking during extrusion, then hard-to-diagnose defects[17] | Not documented |
| Effect of moisture on strength | 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[1][17] | Not applicable in practice — Spectrum lists very low moisture absorption and no drybox requirement for HDPE[3] |
| Storage requirement | Sealed below 20 % RH with desiccant[16] | Store dry at 18-25 °C out of sunlight; Spectrum quotes a 24-month shelf life[3] |
| Hydrolysis at melt temperature | 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[18][19] | Not documented |
| Mechanical Properties | ||
| Tensile strength (XY)MPa | 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)[2][1][20] | 29 at break (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527; specimen type not stated) against 25.5 at yield on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D638, from 3700 psi)[3][4] |
| Young's modulusMPa | 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)[2][1][20] | 3500 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527) against 965 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D638, from 140,000 psi) — the filament grade is nearly four times stiffer than plain polyethylene[3][4] |
| Elongation at break% | 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[2][1] | 18 at break (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 527) against above 100 on extruded stock (ASTM D638)[3][4] |
| Flexural strengthMPa | Not documented | 27.6 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D790; converted from 4000 psi)[4] |
| Flexural modulusMPa | 3670 ± 140 printed XY, ISO 178 (Bambu Lab)[2] | 3200 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 178) against 965 on extruded stock (ASTM D790, from 140,000 psi)[3][4] |
| Charpy impact, notchedkJ/m² | 10.0 ± 0.7 printed XY dry and 28.0 ± 1.0 conditioned, ISO 179 notched (Polymaker Fiberon); Bambu Lab 7.2 ± 2.3[1][2] | Not documented |
| Other impact data | 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)[2][20] | Charpy 10 kJ/m2 (Spectrum HDPE, ISO 179-1; notch condition not stated); Izod 104 J/m on extruded stock, converted from 1.94 ft-lb/in (ASTM D256)[3][4] |
| Layer adhesion / Z tensileMPa | 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)[2][1][20] | Not documented |
| Brittleness1–5 | Brittle — snaps with little warning; elongation at break 2.4 % in XY[1] | Tough — absorbs impact, yields before breaking; 18 % elongation at break on the filament and above 100 % on extruded stock[3][4] |
| Hardness (scale-specific)Shore A / Shore D / Rockwell | Rockwell M88 / R117 on extruded PA66-GF30 stock (ASTM D785)[21] | Shore D 67 and Rockwell R54 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D2240, D785); Spectrum quotes Rockwell 80 HRM for its filament (ISO 2039-2)[4][3] |
| Creep resistance / sustained load1–5 | 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[21][1] | Not documented |
| Fatigue / repeated-flex resistance1–5 | Good. Ensinger lists high fatigue strength as a headline property of extruded PA66-GF30 stock[21] | Good — Spectrum lists outstanding abrasion and crack resistance for its HDPE, but no repeated-flex or fatigue test data was found for any PE filament[3] |
| Elasticity / flexibility1–5 | Rigid[2] | Slightly flexible in thin sections — Spectrum's low-warp grade has a 3.5 GPa tensile modulus; plain extruded HDPE at 965 MPa is genuinely semi-flexible[3][4] |
| Z strength as % of XY% | 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)[2][1][20] | Not documented |
| Thermal Properties | ||
| HDT at 0.45 MPa°C | 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)[2][1][20] | 75 on extruded HDPE stock (ASTM D648 at 66 psi; converted from 167 °F)[4] |
| HDT at 1.8 MPa°C | 157 (Polymaker Fiberon) and 158 (Bambu Lab), ISO 75 at 1.8 MPa[2][1] | Not documented |
| Glass transition (Tg)°C | 67 (Bambu Lab) and 70.4 (Polymaker Fiberon), DSC; Stratasys measures 51.5 on FDM PA6/66-GF30-FR (ASTM D7426)[2][1][20] | Not documented |
| Melting point / Vicat°C | 214.5 (Polymaker Fiberon) and 219 (Bambu Lab) melting, DSC; Vicat 210–212 (ISO 306)[2][1] | Not documented |
| Continuous service temperature°C | Not documented | 110 stated as heat resistance by Spectrum with no test standard given; extruded stock is rated 120 long-term maximum (converted from 248 °F) and brittle below -76[3][4] |
| Thermal expansion (CTE)µm/m·K | 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)[21][20] | 117 (extruded HDPE stock, ASTM D696; source states 6.5e-5 in/in/°F)[4] |
| Flammability / UL 94 | Flammable; no UL 94 rating published for the grades surveyed[18] | Not documented |
| Environment & Chemical | ||
| UV resistance1–5 | Months outdoors before embrittlement — unstabilised polyamide yellows under UV[14] | Moderate — a season or two. Spectrum describes its HDPE as UV-stable and weather-resistant but publishes no exposure data[3] |
| Chemical resistance | Withstands oils, fuels and alkalis[14] | Excellent chemical resistance to acids, bases, oils and solvents (Spectrum); Ensinger lists broad chemical compatibility for HDPE stock[3][4] |
| Water / humidity resistance in service1–5 | Absorbs water, properties shift[17] | Excellent — essentially unaffected; Ensinger lists low moisture absorption for HDPE stock and Spectrum very low absorption for the filament[3][4] |
| Food contact | Not food-contact certified as filament[14] | Not documented |
| Biodegradability / compostability | Not biodegradable[14] | Not documented |
| Recyclability | Not accepted in household plastic collection[14] | Spectrum states the filament is fully recyclable; HDPE is resin code 2[3] |
| Electrical & ESD properties | Surface resistivity above 10¹² ohm — insulating (Polymaker Fiberon, ANSI/ESD S11.11)[1] | Not documented |
| Health & Safety | ||
| Fume toxicity1–5 | Moderate — measurable VOCs and UFPs, ventilation advised[22] | Not documented |
| VOC emission rateµg/min | Up to 180 caprolactam, the dominant VOC from nylon and the largest single-VOC rate in the study[22] | Not documented |
| Ultrafine-particle emission rateparticles/min | ≈2 × 10⁸ median for nylon — low for particles despite the highest VOC mass measured[22] | Not documented |
| Hazardous species emitted | Caprolactam, at up to 180 µg/min from nylon filament[22] | Not documented |
| Ventilation / filtration requirement1–5 | Ventilated room or enclosure recommended[22] | Not documented |
| Dust & fibre handling hazard | Glass fibre is bound in the matrix; avoid inhaling sanding dust[1] | Not documented |
| Post-Processing | ||
| Sanding & machining | Sands poorly — gums rather than powders[13] | Easy to machine — Ensinger lists machinability as a headline property of HDPE stock[4] |
| Gluing & solvent welding | Cyanoacrylate; no common solvent welds polyamide[13] | Not documented |
| Vapour / chemical smoothing | No practical vapour smoothing[13] | Not documented |
| Dimensional accuracy & detail | Not documented | Spectrum lists a shiny surface finish and no adhesive requirement; shrinkage remains the limit on large flat parts[3] |
| Solvents & Solubility | ||
| Soluble in | Formic acid, phenol, m-cresol and hexafluoroisopropanol dissolve the matrix at 23 °C, leaving the fibre; laboratory reagents.[23] | None at room temperature; xylene dissolves HDPE at about 105 °C and LDPE at 75 °C. Hot decalin does the same.[24][25] |
| Softened or crazed by | Zinc chloride solutions stress-crack the nylon matrix, alcoholic calcium chloride dissolves it, mineral acids attack it.[23] | Toluene, xylene, styrene, chloroform, dichloromethane, MEK and trichloroethylene are all unsatisfactory at 21 °C.[25] |
| Solvent welding & smoothing agent | None — nylon's only solvents (formic acid, phenol, HFIP) degrade the part, and the fibre blocks surface flow anyway.[23] | None — polyethylene has no room-temperature solvent, so joints are made by heat welding.[25][24] |
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
- Fiberon PA6-GF25 Technical Data Sheet V1.1 Polymaker · 2024-12 · tds
- Bambu Filament Technical Data Sheet — PA6-GF Bambu Lab · 2026-08 · tds
- Spectrum HDPE Technical Data Sheet Spectrum Filaments · 2025-10 · tds
- TECAFINE HDPE natural — stock shape properties Ensinger · 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
- Spectrum HDPE Traffic Black, 1.75 mm / 500 g 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DXTech product catalogue 3DXTech · 2026-08 · vendor
- YXPOLYER PA6-GF Black 1 kg — product page YXPOLYER · 2026-08 · vendor
- 3DJAKE product catalogue 3DJAKE · 2026-08 · vendor
- igo3d product sitemap (17452 product URLs) igo3d · 2026-08 · vendor
- Printed Solid product catalogue Printed Solid · 2026-08 · vendor
- 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
- Ultramid Nylon Chemical Resistance guide (unmodified PA6 B27E and PA66 A27E) BASF · 2026-08 · tds
- US 5,278,282 Polymer recycling by selective dissolution — xylene dissolution temperatures Nauman & Lynch, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute · 1994-01 · paper
- HDPE Chemical Resistance Guide (21 °C and 60 °C) INEOS Olefins & Polymers USA · 2026-08 · tds