Nylon PA12 print settings
Polyamide 12 · Advanced
Nylon PA12 (Polyamide 12) prints at 240-270°C with the bed at 70-90°C. It needs an enclosure. Dry the filament before printing.
The easier nylon. Absorbs less water than PA6 and moves less after printing, at some cost in stiffness.
Settings at a glance
Ranges are typical manufacturer-published figures for this material class, not measurements we took. Always start with your filament maker’s own numbers where they differ. The price is an indicative street price for a 1 kg spool, not a live quote.
Good for
- Functional prototypes
- Parts needing dimensional stability
- Snap fits
- Wear surfaces
Avoid for
- Budget builds
- Printers without an enclosure
The problem people actually hit
Poor bed adhesion. Nylon does not like PEI. A garolite or PA-specific sheet, or a glue stick layer, fixes what temperature tuning will not.
Drying
Hygroscopic. Dry at 70-80C for 8-12 hours and keep it in a dry box.
If your printer cannot run Nylon PA12
Nylon PA12 needs an enclosure, a dry box and a hot end comfortable at 240-270°C. That is a real hardware investment for a single part. If you need one bracket rather than a new capability, buying the machine time is usually the cheaper answer.
A print service already owns the machine. You upload the model, choose Nylon PA12, and a part arrives. For a one-off this is almost always cheaper than the equipment, and it is the only route if your printer tops out below 240°C.
Industrial supplier with the widest confirmed engineering-material range, including certified work.
Low-cost industrial capacity. Usually the cheapest route for a one-off part.
Confirm the service actually offers Nylon PA12 before uploading. Material menus change, and a service that lists dozens of options may not carry this one. We have no commercial relationship with any of these companies, and these are ordinary links.
Buying Nylon PA12
Nylon PA12 is easy enough to find, though from fewer brands than PLA or PETG. Stick to sellers who publish a diameter tolerance. Typical street price is $40-90 per 1 kg spool.
Check before you order
- Diameter 1.75mm unless your printer takes 2.85mm. Check before ordering, not after.
- Published diameter tolerance. ±0.02mm is good, ±0.05mm is loose and shows up as inconsistent extrusion.
- Vacuum-sealed with desiccant. Hygroscopic filament that shipped open has already absorbed moisture and will need drying before its first print.
- Confirm you have an enclosure before buying. Without one this material will warp regardless of spool quality.
Specialist suppliers
Deep engineering-material catalogue and published spec sheets, including grades general retailers do not stock.
Specialist stockist with strong coverage of nylon and carbon-fibre filled materials.
Named because they stock this class of material and publish specifications. We have no commercial relationship with either, and these are ordinary links.
Not sure this is the right material? Compare all materials.
What you need to print Nylon PA12
Gear that Nylon PA12 genuinely requires, with the specification that decides whether a given unit will actually work.
Filament dryer
Must reach at least 70C
Nylon PA12 will not print cleanly wet, and many budget dryers stop at 55-60C. Check the maximum temperature before buying, not the marketing copy.
See filament dryer on AmazonPrinter enclosure
Fully closed, with a door
Nylon PA12 warps when a draught cools the part unevenly. An enclosure holds chamber heat steady, which fixes lifting corners and split layers more reliably than any slicer setting.
See printer enclosure on AmazonBed adhesion
PEI sheet sized to your bed, or a PVP glue stick
Nylon PA12 lifts at the corners before it fails anywhere else. A textured PEI surface plus a thin glue layer holds the first layer down while the chamber comes up to temperature.
See bed adhesion on AmazonHeat-set threaded inserts
Brass, M3 unless your design says otherwise
Printed threads strip. If you are making functional prototypes out of Nylon PA12, melting brass inserts in gives you a metal thread that survives being undone more than once.
See heat-set threaded inserts on AmazonAirtight storage with desiccant
Sealed container plus rechargeable desiccant
Drying a spool once achieves nothing if it sits open afterwards. Storage is what keeps the filament usable between prints.
See airtight storage with desiccant on AmazonAs an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. Links above are affiliate links, and using them costs you nothing extra.
Nylon PA12 questions
- What temperature do you print Nylon PA12 at?
- Nylon PA12 prints at a nozzle temperature of 240-270C with the bed at 70-90C. Start at the lower end of the nozzle range and raise it in 5C steps until layers bond cleanly.
- Does Nylon PA12 need an enclosure?
- Yes. Nylon PA12 needs an enclosure. Without one the part cools unevenly, corners lift off the bed and layers split partway up the print.
- Do you need to dry Nylon PA12?
- Hygroscopic. Dry at 70-80C for 8-12 hours and keep it in a dry box.
- What is Nylon PA12 good for?
- Nylon PA12 suits functional prototypes, parts needing dimensional stability, snap fits, wear surfaces. Avoid it for budget builds, printers without an enclosure.
- How much does Nylon PA12 cost?
- A 1 kg spool of Nylon PA12 typically sells for $40-90. That is an indicative street price rather than a live figure, so check the retailer for today's cost.
Nylon PA12 or Nylon PA6?
Nylon PA6 (Polyamide 6) prints at 230-260°C with a 70-90°C bed and needs an enclosure. Tough, abrasion resistant and self-lubricating. Stronger than PA12 but noticeably thirstier, which makes it the harder of the two nylons to run well.
Read the Nylon PA6 settings guide →After the print
The workshop steps that matter most for Nylon PA12.