PLA/CF print parameters — temperature, bed, cooling and drying

PLA/CF is PLA with carbon fibre — stiffer, matt and dimensionally calmer than plain PLA, with the temperature resistance raised from 60 to 70 °C. Its abrasiveness, however, is marked as very high: without a hardened nozzle you will destroy brass within a few dozen hours of printing.

This is the material for enclosures, brackets and parts that need to be stiff and not shiny. The manufacturer rates colour saturation as low and impact resistance as medium — the fibre stiffens the part but does not make it tougher. Plain PLA and its variants are covered here: PLA print parameters.

Full PLA/CF parameters

Parameter PLA/CF
Nozzle temperature 220–250 °C
Bed temperature 50–70 °C
Recommended nozzle diameter 0.4 mm
Cooling (fan) 60–100%
Drying 4 h at 55 °C
Enclosure (chamber) open frame, no enclosure
Recommended printers all desktop-class FDM printers
Bambu AMS compatibility Yes
Print difficulty level medium
Print speed high
Detail resolution 0.4 mm and above
Abrasiveness (nozzle wear) very high
Warping tendency low
Stringing tendency low
Layer bonding good
Support removal easy
Temperature resistance 70 °C
Impact resistance medium
Flexibility very low
Moisture resistance low
Surface finish matt
Opacity opaque
Colour saturation low
Odour slight
Post-processing easy
Chemical solubility poorly soluble
Spool material recycled plastic
Recycled content in filament no
Recyclability no
Diameter tolerance ±0.03 mm

Source: the official Porima FDM technical data table (FDM Technical Data). The descriptive ratings (none / low / medium / high) are the manufacturer's own labels, not the result of testing to any standard. Temperature resistance is the manufacturer's own declared figure — it is not HDT, nor any other normed test. The ±0.03 mm diameter tolerance comes from the manufacturer's data, not from the FDM table. See also the print temperature table and the filament drying guide.

How to print PLA/CF

A hardened nozzle is mandatory

Very high abrasiveness is the top rating in the table — only PLA/CF and ABS/CF carry it. Carbon fibre reams out the bore of a brass nozzle, and the symptom is prints gradually getting worse at unchanged settings, along with a growing extruded line width. Fit a hardened steel or carbide nozzle before you print the first metre.

Detail resolution: 0.4 mm and above

For PLA/CF and ABS/CF the manufacturer gives a value of 0.4 mm, whereas for every other material it is 0.2 mm. That is a real limitation: fine lettering and thin walls will come out worse than in smooth PLA. Plan your walls as a multiple of the extrusion width, or you will get gaps in thin walls.

Temperature: 220–250 °C and a 50–70 °C bed

Higher than plain PLA (200–230 °C) and with a heated bed whose lower limit is 50 °C, not zero. Warping tendency: low. Difficulty level: medium.

Drying 4 h at 55 °C

An unusual entry — a specific number of hours and a single temperature instead of a range, as with the other materials. Carbon fibre does not absorb water, but the PLA matrix does, and with a composite material moisture shows up mainly as a drop in flow.

Cooling 60–100%

A narrower range than plain PLA, where the manufacturer states a full 100%. On large solid parts drop to the lower limit; on fine detail and overhangs leave it at full.

Bambu AMS: Yes — but that does not excuse you the hardened nozzle

PLA/CF is the only carbon-fibre composite in the table marked as AMS compatible. The compatibility concerns feeding the filament, not nozzle wear — that remains very high.

The most common problems with PLA/CF

  • Clogged nozzle — fibre particles pack together at the nozzle restriction; the risk rises sharply with nozzles smaller than 0.4 mm
  • Under-extrusion — the first sign of a reamed-out nozzle or a damp matrix — at unchanged settings the prints simply get worse
  • Gaps in thin walls — detail resolution is given as 0.4 mm and above, so thin walls have to be worked out against the extrusion width
  • Brittle filament — composites snap on a tight bend in the guide more often than pure PLA does
  • Damp filament — drying 4 h at 55 °C in the manufacturer's FDM parameter table, distinctly harsher than the 30–40 °C for plain PLA
  • Dimensional accuracy — the fibre limits shrinkage, but a reamed-out nozzle changes the real line width and ruins fits

Filament from this page: PLA/CF Porima 1 kg. Categories: technical filaments and PLA filaments.

A carbon-fibre composite needs a hardened nozzle — we say so before you buy, not after. Porima filaments are produced to a ±0.03 mm diameter tolerance, and we publish the manufacturer's full official print data — you don't have to guess it. Our warehouse is near Poznań, in Swarzędz.

PLA/CF Porima · Technical filaments · All print parameters · Clogged nozzle