The two materials most people print with are PLA and PETG. PLA is easier and cheaper, and it is the wrong choice for anything that lives in a cab or on a truck. Almost everything we sell is PETG, and if you buy one of our STL files we recommend you print it in PETG too.

Heat

PLA starts to soften around 55 to 60 C, roughly 130 to 140 F. A closed tractor cab parked in the sun in July gets there without trying. A PLA cup holder on the dash slowly droops into a new shape, and a PLA bracket under load creeps until it lets go. PETG holds its shape up to roughly 75 to 80 C, which covers a parked cab and a black toolbox lid.

Impact and cold

PLA is stiff and a little glassy. Drop a PLA part on concrete at 10 below and it can crack. PETG has some give, so a magnetic holder that gets knocked off a door usually bounces instead of breaking.

What PETG is not

It is not indestructible, and it is not a structural material. Our parts hold cups, tools, phones and cans. They are not meant to carry a person's weight or hold a load on a moving implement. For things that need to flex, like the SnapFlange hose saver, we use TPU, which is closer to a rubber.

If you print your own

Every STL in the store is the same model we run on our own 140-printer farm. Print it in PETG, 3 or 4 walls, and let it cool on the bed. Most of our parts are oriented so the magnet pockets or the bolt holes are on the bed side, so print them as they come. Questions on settings, ask us.