HP PA12 Nylon

HP PA12 Nylon – Production‑Ready Strength Without the Tooling Bill

Overview

PA12 Nylon is one of the most popular materials for industrial 3D printing — especially in HP’s Multi Jet Fusion (MJF) systems. Why? Because it’s strong, lightweight, and consistent. It handles mechanical stress, holds up to wear, and doesn’t warp like some other nylons. And most importantly — it looks and feels like a finished part.

We use HP PA12 when the job needs tight tolerances, repeated use, or clean, repeatable results across batches. It’s the go-to when buyers need more than just a prototype — when they need a real, usable product that goes straight from the print bed into service.

Key Technical Specifications (Typical Values)

• Tensile strength: 48–50 MPa

• Elongation at break: 15–20%

• Heat deflection temperature: ~175°C

• Density: ~1.01 g/cm³

• Impact resistance: High

• Surface finish: Matte grey, uniform across parts

• Chemical resistance: Good – fuels, oils, greases

• Water absorption: Low – more stable than PA6

This is a true engineering-grade thermoplastic, not just a printing material.

Why Engineers Use HP PA12

If you’re an engineer who wants a reliable, high-performance part, PA12 ticks the boxes:

• Excellent mechanical strength with slight flexibility

• Consistent prints — batch after batch

• High thermal resistance – great for under-hood or factory use

• Works well for moving parts and assemblies

• Ideal for snap fits, living hinges, and interlocking parts

It’s not just a prototyping plastic — it’s a full-on production material.

Where We Use PA12

We’ve used HP PA12 for:

• Replacement components for factory machines

• Brackets and mounts for automotive builds

• Lightweight aerospace assemblies

• Medical device enclosures

• End-of-arm tooling and robotics parts

• Small-batch production of functional parts

If you’ve got a discontinued component or a part where you just can’t afford delays — this is the material that gets you out of trouble.

What to Know When Printing PA12

Now, because we run this on HP’s MJF machines, there’s not much room for error — but here’s what we always factor in:

• Parts are printed in a powder bed, no supports needed

• Excellent isotropic strength – meaning strength in all directions

• Surface comes out matte and slightly textured — very consistent

• Minimal warping or shrinkage — great dimensional accuracy

• Post-processing: we can tumble, dye, or even coat for added finish

We’ve produced hundreds of parts at a time with virtually no rejects — that’s how dialled-in this material is.

Why Buyers Like PA12

Buyers love this stuff for one big reason: it just works. You can count on it when:

• You need hundreds of parts, all the same

• You can’t wait for tooling

• You need to show durability AND quality

• You want strength, consistency, and speed — all in one

And because we can run full builds, your unit cost drops fast as quantities go up — ideal for low-to-mid-volume production.

Why We Use It at Mitchell & Son

We had a client who needed production-ready parts, but didn’t want to spend £10k+ on moulding. I told them: “We’ll run it in HP PA12, and you’ll have usable parts in days — not weeks.” They were skeptical until we delivered the first batch. No clean-up, no extra finishing — just straight-up ready-to-use parts. That job turned into a regular order.

That’s the power of having the right machine, with the right material, backed by people who know what they’re doing.