PLA + Carbon Fibre

PLA‑CF – Rigid, Lightweight and Cleaner Prints with Extra Strength

Overview

PLA‑CF is exactly what it sounds like — standard PLA, but reinforced with carbon fibre particles. What does that do? It stiffens the print, reduces warping, and makes your parts a lot more dimensionally stable. You lose a bit of flexibility compared to normal PLA, but what you get back is a part that feels much more like a production-grade plastic.

We use it when customers need something that looks good, stays flat, and doesn’t feel like it’ll snap if you sneeze on it. Perfect for enclosures, brackets, tooling fixtures, or high-quality visual models with a bit more backbone.

Key Technical Specifications (Typical Values)

• Tensile strength: 60–75 MPa

• Elongation at break: 1.5–3%

• Heat deflection temperature: ~65°C

• Density: ~1.3 g/cm³

• Surface finish: Matte, carbon-like texture

• Rigidity: High – low flex, solid feel

• UV resistance: Poor – not for outdoor use

• Abrasion resistance: Better than PLA – thanks to carbon content

This material gives you a solid part straight off the bed — no warping, no messing about, just clean, strong results.

Why Engineers Choose PLA-CF

If PLA is your quick prototype material, PLA‑CF is its more professional cousin. Engineers use it when:

• They want a strong part, but don’t need it to flex

• Surface quality matters — especially for customer‑facing parts

• They’re building jigs, templates, or fixtures for light duty

• They want better thermal stability and dimensional accuracy

• They're trying to avoid post‑print warping

You get stronger, stiffer parts without the printing headaches that come with ABS or Nylon.

Where We Use PLA‑CF

Here’s where it comes into its own:

• Control panel covers and fascia plates

• Visual prototypes with a high-quality surface

• Low-stress mechanical brackets

• Custom-made jigs and alignment tools

• Desktop product casings and mounts

If you're making something that needs to look and feel engineered, but doesn't need to survive a crash test — PLA‑CF is perfect.

What to Watch Out For

Now, it’s not all upside — here’s what we consider when printing PLA‑CF:

• Carbon fibre makes it abrasive — we only run it on hardened nozzles

• A little brittle — it’ll snap instead of bend

• Doesn’t like hot environments (same as standard PLA)

• Slightly more expensive than PLA, but still affordable

We usually go 100% infill if the part needs to be rock solid. If it’s cosmetic or non-load-bearing, we dial it back to keep the cost down — always depends on the job.

Why Buyers Pick PLA‑CF

From a buyer’s point of view, PLA‑CF offers:

• A premium-looking finish

• Fast lead times — same as PLA

• No tooling costs

• Less warping and failed prints = better value

• More durable prototypes without moving up to Nylon-CF pricing

It’s great when you want that “real product” feel without the wait or cost of injection moulding.

Why We Use It at Mitchell & Son

One client came in with a prototype for a desktop machine. They’d tried it in regular PLA, but the part kept cracking under light pressure. I said, “Let’s try PLA‑CF. Same printer, same file, just a stronger result.” We ran the part, and straight away it felt better in the hand — no flex, no cracks, no issues.

That’s what we do — no gimmicks, just real parts made for real use.