The material is half the spare part.
A part printed in the wrong material dies in its first summer. Here's what we use, and why.
Why PLA never enters the workshop
PLA — the material in every hobby printer — starts to deform at 55-60 °C. A dashboard or a camper living-cell in Sicily in August passes 80. Any PLA part fitted there is already doomed: it's why the part "printed by a friend" lasts one season.
Sun and UV: ASA and ASA-CF
ASA is the family of the original outdoor components: the filament maker declares it stable against UV and ageing, and it holds beyond 100 °C. It's the material of awning winding handles, of the caps and end pieces that live in the sun. The carbon-filled version (ASA-CF) is about two-thirds stiffer: we choose it for exposed brackets, levers and mounts that must not flex. Our test bench is the Sicilian sun.
Interiors and heat: ABS and ABS-GF
For interiors: ABS, the material of most original plastics — handles, plates, surrounds, trim clips. Where more stiffness or dimensional stability is needed — plates, mounts, flat parts that must not warp — we use ABS-GF, glass-fibre filled: about half again as stiff as ABS.
Mechanical parts: PA6-CF and PA12-CF
Hinges, winding-handle gears, sliders, levers under load: carbon-filled nylon, for stiffness and wear resistance even when hot — these families hold well beyond 150 °C. Two variants, one precise choice: PA6-CF, the stiffer, for mechanics in a dry environment; PA12-CF where there's damp — it absorbs about a third of the water PA6 does, so the part doesn't swell or lose its dimensions. On deck and on board, it's our default choice.
Steady loads, heat and damp: PET-CF
For brackets and mounts that stay under continuous load in hot, damp places there's PET-CF: the most stable of our filled materials — it barely absorbs water — and it holds beyond 200 °C. We don't use it for parts that must take impacts: every material in its place.
Flexible parts: TPU in three hardnesses
For parts that must bend without breaking we print TPU in three hardnesses. Soft (85A): caps, cable grommets, guards. Medium (90A): knobs, end caps, catches. Firm (95A): buffers, anti-vibration feet, rollers and end stops. Never as a guaranteed sealing gasket: watertightness stays with the installer.
Impact and heat: PC
Polycarbonate (PC) is tough and takes heat better than common plastics: guards and shields that must take a knock, technical covers out of sight. Printed on a filament machine it is translucent at most, never glass: no instrument windows, no clear covers. Never the homologated light lenses: those we don't touch.
Colours: black or white, ready to paint
Carbon-filled materials are black by nature — it's the colour of the fibre. Otherwise we print in black or white, ready to paint; other colours on request for ASA, ABS and ABS-GF, with possible extra lead time.
The grain of the fibres — and why we say no
A filament-printed part is anisotropic: it resists strongly along the layers, less between one layer and the next — like wood along its grain. That's why we orient every print to the real stresses. And that's why we refuse safety parts, always: taking the limits of the process seriously is what makes everything else serious.
The invisible reinforcement
We don't copy the wear: where your original broke, the new part comes out reinforced — a rib, a fillet, a little extra thickness — without touching the fixings. Same footprint, longer life.