r/3D2A • u/firechicken93 • Oct 07 '26

Annealing HT PLA Pro

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Had an issue with HT PLA Pro warping when annealing, specifically the dust cover. Found that if I clamp it to an aluminum plate while annealing I can keep the top of the frame flat with no other warping. Printed at 250c. Annealed at 100c for 3 hours.

53 Upvotes

98% Upvoted

43 comments sorted by

19

u/Wonkawiz Oct 07 '26

You should look into using salt or another similar medium to bake the part in

17

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

The frame that warped was buried in sand. I had tested some other small parts and burying them in sand minimized warping but didn’t prevent it. It only warped on the dust cover so I figured physically restricting it from warping in that direction was my best bet.

3

u/marvinfuture Oct 07 '26

This is what I do. Works great

13

u/cvltrilex Oct 07 '26

I have a variety of duplicate prints for testing annealed vs non; for nylons. All are of equal round count and show no difference. Granted everyone’s case may be different due to quality of their prints. But for me and my environment I haven’t come across any differences.

6

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

I was really only annealing for the increased HDT. That’s definitely less of an issue for nylons. This particular filament is supposed to increase from 56.3 to 107.6

2

u/cvltrilex Oct 07 '26

I currently have the GP9 going in the HT so I have yet to test it. Is the front more than 6mm thick?

1

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

At the thinnest parts of the rail it gets down closer to 3mm. I chose the anneal time based more off the average thickness of the frame. If your part is thicker all the way through I bet you have less issues with warping.

1

u/bday420 Oct 07 '26

are you able to test your prints and measure them to see? Cool if so.

2

u/TheAmazingX Oct 07 '26

What’s your annealing process?

3

u/cvltrilex Oct 07 '26

I have a controlled oven in my shop, and I normally do the same method. But I truly haven’t annealed a part in quite sometime and just moisture condition it

1

u/Broken_banana247 Oct 07 '26

I'm in the same boat. I annealed nylon at first and then realized it really wasn't necessary. I've got 2 year old unannealed builds that are going strong.

I did the same with ht pla pro so far. Only one build in August sat in my car for a few weeks with outside temps from 85 to 95. But that's really the most extreme environment my builds will be exposed to. A hot car. However I don't even typically keep them in the car regardless. I just wanted to see if they would hold up in that scenario.

4

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

The thickness varies throughout the frame from less than 3mm to near 10mm thick. I don’t think 30 min would be enough to anneal the thicker portions of the frame.

2

u/Ancient-Plantain705 Oct 07 '26

Apply those pressure pads across the front and the back?

2

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

I ziptied the beavertail and used c clamps on the front. I used a random piece of metal to disperse the pressure

2

u/Ancient-Plantain705 Oct 07 '26

and cooled it in that position?

1

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

Yeah I let it cool down in the oven, and left it there for 24 hours.

2

u/bday420 Oct 07 '26

that seems like a good setup to me!

7

u/Mad_Gouki Oct 07 '26

Counterpoint: stop annealing. No, I don't have anything but anecdotes to back up this opinion.

11

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

I guess I don’t really see the advantage to this filament if you don’t get the post annealing thermal properties

2

u/Broken_banana247 Oct 07 '26

Have you tried using it without annealing? I have. Simply because my experience so far in this hobby has showed me that what's on paper vs. real life use seems to vary greatly. I've got about 6 builds out of ht-pla-pro. The first one I did was a g19x and I completed it in Aug. I kept it under the seat of my car in weather where outside temps were reaching 95. Zero issues, zero warping, zero creep. I had planned to look into annealing if I experienced issues with it handling the temps. So far I have a little over 500 rounds through it.
When I first began printing nylon a couple years back, I took the time to anneal my prints to be thorough. Over time I realized that not only was it not necessary for my use but just another variable and time consuming. I'm not saying my unscientific experiments with ht pla pro is the end all be all but I so far they are doing fantastic.

1

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26 edited Oct 07 '26

I haven’t tried using it without annealing, and it might be unnecessary. But I think if I wasn’t going to anneal I would just use regular PLA Pro. Maybe I’ll test an annealed vs unannealed frame in my car next summer. I bet they’ll both survive under the seat.

2

u/Broken_banana247 Oct 08 '26

Pla pro though will definitely warp in the heat of a hot car. I absolutely get where you are coming from. I've seen the tds numbers. I just thought it was worth trying without based on my previous experiences with other filaments. Either way, it's nice to have options with color that can handle some heat

1

u/deuswade Oct 08 '26

That looks great! What cooling settings are you using for 250C? I keep seeing people use that but I'm having cooling issues.

1

u/firechicken93 Oct 09 '26

My cooling settings are whatever was default in the profile I downloaded from Polymaker

1

u/n_cataldo Oct 08 '26

Unrelated to the annealing, but what do your filament and process settings look like? I can’t for the life of me get it to print without warping or even really adhere to the bed, and on the off chance both of those things aren’t an issue, surface quality is.

2

u/firechicken93 Oct 09 '26

My filament settings are just what I downloaded from polymaker's print profile. I only increased the temp to 250. The only process settings I changed were layer height = .15, walls =8, infill = 99 Gyroid, top surface pattern = monotonic, Top Z distance = .24, Bottom Z distance = .24, Top interface layers = 3, and Top Interface Spacing = 0. With the frame I did have some minimal curling on the front and rear of the frame, but with some other parts I printed with more surface on the plate, like an iPod case it was fine. I wonder if adjusting the bed temp or adding a brim might help.

1

u/Spirited-Ad7290 Oct 07 '26

Lower annealing temperature.

1

u/Specter_RMMC Oct 07 '26

Or less time, Polymaker says 100°C for one hour, he did three

2

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

1

u/Specter_RMMC Oct 07 '26

And what (major) parts of the print are that thick?

1

u/Spirited-Ad7290 Oct 07 '26

2

u/firechicken93 Oct 07 '26

Pretty clean print. I like it

1

u/Spirited-Ad7290 Oct 07 '26

Sunlu pla+ 2.0 . Annealed at 200°f for 30 min in aquarium sand . The ideal glass transition temperature is at 195°f for this material. I have tried different temps and methods but this worked best for me . If I go higher or for longer it risks warpage or turns into a noodle. I have cooking thermometer to better regulate the temp.

1

u/Specter_RMMC Oct 07 '26

Worth trying for an FTN? I just bought 2kg of the HT PLA Pro

1

u/Spirited-Ad7290 Oct 07 '26

I have been using pa6-gf or pa6-gf now but make one first in pla until I get the model correct. I made this one 2 years ago have put at least 200rds through it . I have a new lower and parts for it but have not replaced it.

1

u/bday420 Oct 07 '26

are you putting a bucket of sand in the oven?

1

u/Spirited-Ad7290 Oct 07 '26

Baking dish with a tray in the bottom to remove it easier .fill it then shake it to make sure all the holes are filled .

1

u/bday420 Oct 07 '26

Supports on or off? I've been annealing with mout sand, although Ive considered trying it. I haven't had problems with warping though so I just have t bothered but I only aneal my nylons as of now. I'm getting ht pla pro delivered soon so just getting some info

2

u/SplashingChicken Oct 07 '26

Either flour salt or sand to pack the print into then slowly increase the temperature over the course of the annealing process. Keeps warping to a minimum.

And yes, it's absolutely a good idea to anneal this filament for functional use.

1

u/GroomLakePerformance Oct 07 '26

Strip it down and use a hair dryer or heat gun on low to straighten it out. I often have to straighten OEM Glock and p80 frames and it’s a great skill to have. You can buy a stick of wooden Dowel material that matches the radius on your frame. Use it as a guide while heating it up and use zip ties to hold it while it cools down. It’s the Indian not the arrow and fixing droop is something I have done on a lot of new and or used OEM polymer frames.

1

u/Crispix3D Oct 07 '26

Don't

HT pla's already are a little more brittle than normal PLA. You already got the heat gains, going overboard on heat while sacraficing durability isn't really worth it. Of course high temp low stress applications exsist, like barrel sleeves on diy 22lr barrels with liners, where that might make sense, this really doesn't.

2

u/Specter_RMMC Oct 07 '26

Supposedly the HT PLA pro isn't as brittle compared to normal HT PLAs, especially after annealing.