Prusa Launches Pure PA11 Filament for Functional Parts

Why Prusa Is Releasing a Nylon Without Carbon Fiber

Prusa Research has launched Prusament PA11 Natural, a new filament made from castor oil-derived polyamide 11 without the carbon fiber reinforcement found in its earlier PA11 Carbon Fiber spool. The move reflects a shift in Prusa's printer lineup. When the carbon-filled version came out in 2022, the company did not have enclosed printers with chambers hot enough to handle pure nylons reliably. That changed with the Prusa CORE One+, CORE One L, and Pro HT90, all of which maintain stable elevated chamber temperatures and block drafts. Those conditions are exactly what nylons need to stay flat during a long print.

The pure PA11 is aimed at a different set of parts than the carbon-filled version. Carbon fiber adds stiffness and heat resistance, but it also makes the filament more abrasive and can reduce interlayer bonding. Prusa says PA11 Natural does the opposite: it maximizes layer adhesion and offers low friction between moving surfaces. The practical upshot is a filament designed for gears, bushings, hinges, and linkages that flex or slide, not for brackets that only need to hold shape under load.

What the Material Can Do

PA11 is a semicrystalline thermoplastic sourced from castor oil. Its standout properties include high impact resistance at low temperatures, good wear resistance, UV resistance, and chemical resistance to alcohols, oils, and fuels. Prusa highlights the material's tensile strength anisotropy coefficient, which reaches 0.84 when printed on a Prusa CORE One+. That number is notably higher than most common filaments. PLA and PC Blend sit at 0.33, PETG at 0.38, and even Prusa's own PLA High Speed reaches 0.60. A higher coefficient means the part is harder to break across layer lines, which matters for functional parts that take directional stress.

The heat deflection temperature is 58.7 degrees Celsius in the as-printed state. Annealing changes that picture significantly. Prusa's recommended cycle ramps to 110 degrees Celsius at 1.5 degrees per minute, holds for six to eight hours, and cools at the same rate. Done correctly, the heat deflection temperature rises to 122.5 degrees Celsius. That opens up applications like under-hood automotive brackets and outdoor fixtures that see sun exposure. The catch is that annealing requires an oven or dryer that can sustain a steady temperature for hours and ramp up and down gradually. A basic filament dryer will not handle that cycle.

Printing Practicalities

PA11 is hygroscopic, which means it absorbs moisture from the air quickly. Prusa recommends drying the filament at 90 degrees Celsius for six to eight hours before printing and keeping it in a dry storage box afterward. If your printer has an active dryer, running it during the print helps too. This is more involved than printing PLA, but it is the standard requirement for any high-performance nylon.

Bed adhesion is the other main challenge. Small parts can print on the standard satin sheet with a large brim, but Prusa recommends its dedicated PA Nylon spring steel sheet for larger prints. For big, mostly solid models where adhesion might become too strong, a thin layer of glue stick acts as a release agent. Prusa also warns against cleaning the PA Nylon sheet with isopropyl alcohol, acetone, or any alcohol-based product: those chemicals degrade the surface texture that makes the sheet work.

Polyamide releases odors and ultrafine particles during printing. Prusa recommends printing in an enclosure with active filtration or in a well-ventilated room. The CORE One+, CORE One L, and Pro HT90 all support active filtration accessories.

Pricing and Availability

Prusament PA11 Natural is launching in one color: Natural, a translucent yellowish-white with a slight pearlescent look. More colors are planned. An 800 gram spoll costs 122 U.S. dollars, which works out to roughly 152 dollars per kilogram. That puts it firmly in premium filament territory. Prusa is positioning it as a material that turns a capable 3D printer into a tool for producing end-use mechanical parts, not just prototypes. Whether that value proposition lands depends on whether the parts you need to make justify the material cost and the extra print preparation.